David Cameron joined a nation turned upside down by an unexpected loss: John Sergeant’s waltz away from Strictly Come Dancing.
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“Along with the rest of the country I am devastated,” the Tory leader said in the Commons. “Strictly will not be the same without him.”
Sixty-four-year-old political correspondent John, whose astonishingly rhythm-devoid moves snapped up a loyal, millions-strong voting base, forfeited the competition over fears he’d actually win.
Now Johnny is off on an all-expenses paid Caribbean cruise, and not a moment too soon. He said at a press conference at the BBC TV Centre yesterday: “The reasons for leaving – well it is like, when do you leave a party? You leave before the fight starts and I think that is what has happened on this occasion.
“We had fun dancing and dancing is wonderfully enjoyable. But if people begin to take things very seriously and if people are getting so wound up that it is difficult to carry on the joke, then it’s time to go.”
Show insiders told the Daily Mirror that judges snarkily nicknamed the dancer Eliot Ness, for the Untouchables FBI agent, because his sloppy moves never left him at risk with the public. Other contestants reportedly complained his routines were too easy and his popularity made him pompous.
The insider told the Mirror about one particularly atrocious number: “It was like seeing Winnie the Pooh coming on to end a routine worthy of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.”
John’s final steps will be in a waltz with partner Kristina Rihanoff on Saturday. He’ll dance to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dance Floor and fire imaginary bullets over the judge’s heads.
– Jill Hilbrenner
