Some people take their dancing too seriously – and their reality TV even more so. One person you could not accuse of taking their dancing too seriously though is John Sergeant.

John quickly became the favourite – the underdog – in Strictly Come Dancing this time round with the public continually voting for him to return to dance each week.

Now John is no Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, and he will readily admit this himself. But he was a tryer, he had a go, and he was entertainingly amateurish. This is why the public loved his efforts each week. He is not dashing, suave or handsome – but he is endearing in the way your granddad is. This is what appealed to the voting public.

Each week John danced a little better than the previous and yet withstood with dignity and humor the constant insults from the resident judging panel. Remember these dancers are celebrities, non-dancing celebrities at at that, and the judges are there to point out their shortcomings on the dance floor in the most humorous way possible.

It’s a SHOW for gods sake !!

But the judges were becoming more savage with John each week and the public continued to vote him back. The problem is John has now pulled out of the show fearing the public would vote him to ultimately win the series. He was feeling pressured by the growing criticism of his dancing efforts and probably embarrassed by his repeated success with the audience. He obviously feels he is doing his competitors a favour by doing the fair thing and resigning.

What a shame – if those are his reasons…

The professional ballroom dancing industry itself is an extremely bitchy and cut throat game. A TV show featuring clumsy, inept and sometimes capable celebrities presenting themselves as swish ballroom dancers – all in the name of fun – is not supposed to be all that serious.

It is not supposed to be ‘strictly’ ballroom - now it seems it is. The fun element has gone.

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