Posts Tagged ‘Strictly Come Dancing’

John Sergeant and dance partner

There are two stories that have dominated the UK media today. My colleague Nick has addressed one of them in the post below and I am going to turn my attention to far less weightier issues - John Sergeant pulling out of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing competition.

A few months ago he was a respected but straight-laced political correspondent, famous mostly for being the reporter shoved out of the way by Maggie Thatcher’s goons when she announced her resignation. Fast forward a few months and he is approaching national treasure status thanks to his comically bad dancing, chubby-faced charm, way with a quip and position as the nation’s favourite underdog.

The manner of his departure was exquisite too; it was dignified and timed with a perfection he couldn’t quite manage on the dance-floor, as he realised that his continued presence on the show was starting to grate. He has left with reputation not just intact but hugely enhanced and it’s an exit strategy that people from many other walks of life would be wise to follow.

Good on you John!  And good luck to Christine Bleakley, my personal strictly favourite on the show.

At the time of writing there were around 1,000 articles about this on Google News and Bruce Forsyth had just been on the Six O’Clock news to talk about John’s decision. If this story is worthy of the media frenzy it has generated is another matter entirely, but it has to be said that the whole thing has been an absolute PR triumph for John Sergeant.