Dancing With The Stars is America’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing. In fact so similar is the show that they have the same theme music, two of the same judges and even an identical glitter ball!

This year some of their contestants seem familiar to me too, Steve Wozniak in particular stands out as the new American John Sergeant.

On last years Strictly John won the hearts of viewers with his crap dancing and funny ways, in the end he dropped out of the competition for fear that he might actually win. From the moment Apple founder Steve Wozniak stepped onto the dance floor, resplendent in his pink feather boa, it was clear that he intended to play the Sergeant card. Instead of stomping like John, Steve minced about the floor but his skill level was about the same. He made funny gestures, pulled strange faces and minced about the floor for almost two minutes.

It’s not yet clear how long these antics will work for Steve, after all Todd Carty on Dancing On Ice tried the same but ultimately failed. However I suspect that the whole Sergeant debacle has now set a precedent, maybe next year we will see John Candy hamming it up on the dance floor in a bid to reignite his career.

Capital Radio DJ, Lisa Snowdon has said that she would have been happy to lose to John Sergeant had he not left the show last month.

“I wouldn’t have minded if John had beaten me,” she told Metro. “Not at all. It’s an entertainment show and popularity counts.

“The dancing is only 50% of the show, the public is the other half. We can’t control how much viewers like us.”

John Sergeant’s Strictly Come Dancing partner, Kristina Rihanoff, has claimed that he was “savaged” during his time on the show

John announced his decision to leave the show last week after it became clear that he maight actually
win the series.

“Some judges’ remarks crossed the line of taste and respect and they became harder for him to take. Yet it was because the judges were so mean that the public kept us in,” Rihanoff told the News Of The World.

“John was like a lamb led to the slaughter. They just let him be savaged. In the end we felt like we were caught in a war zone between the judges and the public.”

John Sergeant’s wife is said to be glad that he left the show, as she was unprepared for the media attention his persistence created.

“After last Saturday’s show, it was clear John was in the show for the long haul. The public were taking to his hopeless dancing and there was a desire to see him continue,” a source told The Mirror.

“For Mary this was all too much and she urged John to reconsider his position. John going on the show was a great idea to begin with and the whole family thought it was a hoot.

“But as the weeks went on, and the media attention grew, Mary was becoming increasingly uneasy with the whole situation. She is a very private person and this was not what she expected.”

This weekend has seen the departure of two of the biggest characters in reality TV right now; Rachel Hylton and John Sargeant.

Rachel was pushed by the judges who – finally – voted her off while John voluntarily jumped, but the ironic thing is, while we the voting public were all studiously voting to keep the very likeable John in Strictly, many of us were equally studiously avoiding voting for the noxious Rachel. And while she was saved several times by the judges, poor John took the judges opinion into account over the public’s and left.

Fortunately, Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole finally recognised that given that Rachel had been in the bottom two no less than three times, it was probably a fair indicator of the fact that she isn’t liked by the public. They also wisely acknowledged that although Rachel can undoubtedly sing, her talent wasn’t enough to carry her through what is as much a popularity contest as one about talent, and that’s where Strictly came unglued over John.

Those of us who sit at home on a Saturday night have most likely never had anything to do with the world of professional performing; we just know what we like and what we don’t. That old joke, ‘I know everything about art, I just don’t know what I like’ seems to apply to the judges of these shows though and they are only looking at the technical abilities of the person whereas we either like a person or we don’t.

We don’t really care if they can pas de duex or hit top C or whatever… if we like them, they stay, if we don’t, they go. In theory…

But that all went a bit awry with John and it took way too long to sink in over Rachel.

I personally think that the judges shouldn’t be allowed to vote in any of these shows, or at least if they do, it shouldn’t actually affect whether the contestants stay or go. Only the public vote should do that because unfortunately, the judges do tend to forget that these shows are primarily entertainment, not pro-singing and dancing workshops.

John left because he feared he could win which, he thought and so did the judges, would make a mockery of the show. I think they have it the wrong way round! I don’t care about who has the fanciest footwork – I watch because I like the people in the show.

Likewise with X Factor, Leon Jackson was the winner last year but the fact is, Rhydian was in a league way above Leon in terms of singing ability, but he came second. Why? Because we liked Leon more. Yes, most people liked Rhydian too but on technical ability, he should have won.

Similarly, Ray Quinn only missed out on winning the X Factor because Leona Lewis is both a world class singer and a very pleasant and likeable girl. If he’d been up against Rachel Hylton in the final, he’d have won hands down… because he’s likeable and she isn’t.

So I think the judges on reality TV shows need to start taking a bit more notice of us, the viewing public, and act accordingly. We don’t only care about how well a person can sing or dance, we care about the person just as much. Unlike the judges, we don’t have an ulterior eye on a recording contract or a live tour, we just know who we like and why, and at the end of the day, we are the ones who keep these shows on air by our phone voting.

So do you think the judges should be allowed to make the final decisions or should our votes be the only deciding factor in who stays and who goes on reality TV shows? Let us know.

After Lisa Snowdon claimed today that John Sergeant was adored by his fellow competitors on Strictly Come Dancing, The Daily Mail has claimed that he was in fact detested by the lot of them.

John quit the show this week after claiming that he didn’t think it would be fair on the other dancers if he won, but other sources suggest that his decision was actually made because of the bad atmosphere between the celebrities backstage.

An insider told the Daily Mail: "John knew he had to walk out before he was completely destroyed. He has put a brave face on it but he has been made aware of just how loathed he has become on the show.

"In public, everyone on Strictly makes out how much they love him, but in reality you are dealing with some very fragile egos. They are jealous of him because he has managed effortlessly to win over the public. Some people on the show can’t forgive him for that.

"Naturally, Cherie was devastated to be knocked out, but some of the professionals seemed to take up her cause personally and were distinctly chilly around John after the show," the source added. "I think that was the point when John decided enough was enough."

Strictly Come Dancing competitor, Lisa Snowdon has revealed that she tried to get John Sergeant to stay on the show.

John quit earlier this week after he realised that he might just win over some of the more talented dancers. But Lisa revealed that John was well loved by his fellow dancers, who wanted him to continue.

"I left this long rambling message on his answerphone, but it turned out that he’d already made his mind up. I was stunned. I’m really sad to lose him, we all are," Snowdon told The Sun.

"John was brilliant because in the midst of all of us doing our dance routines, he comes along and entertains us. It’s fantastic – and that’s what people want to see on TV."

Now, I know John Sergeant’s decision to leave Strictly has already been debated to death, but I can’t resist putting my twopennorth in as well.

The judges should all be ashamed of themselves and should realise that this show is watched by millions of people who couldn’t give a toss what their opinion is and actually judges, it’s US who pay your wages!

Since John announced that he was going to leave, several of the judges have furiously back-pedalled. For instance, Arlene Phillips is quoted on the BBC’s news website as saying,

“I’m always sad if a contestant leaves of choice, because you are always expecting to let the public vote them in or out – but John is his own person and he has his own reasons for doing this.”

Erm, yes, and his reason is because all of you judges kept telling him he was a joke and shouldn’t be there!

A couple of weeks ago, Arlene said that John was “outstanding at dancing really badly” and Craig Revel Horwood gave John the lowest possible score – one point – and called his dancing a “disaster” and it’s been well documented that the judges campaigned to get John out.

It seems to have failed to come to your attention judges that we, the viewing public, liked John and wanted him in the competition. Was he a good dancer? No, he was appalling. Was he entertaining? Yes, most definitely and if we wanted to watch a show that was just about the technicalities of pro-dancing and pro-performing, we wouldn’t have kept John in for so long and we might have taken a look – Arlene – at the absolutely terrible Britannia High. That’s all about training pro-performers and frankly, it’s so boring I’d rather watch wood warp or paint dry and I’d most definitely rather watch John mincing around a dance floor any day.

John was fun; he showed that even someone slightly over the hill and something of a tub of lard can not only get fitter, lose weight and gain muscle tone, they can have a good time while doing so.

So next time we get a contestant who isn’t built like a racehorse, isn’t slim and buff and can’t pirouette to order, maybe you judges could bear in mind that perfection on the dance floor isn’t necessarily the only thing we the paying public want to see and that sometimes, watching someone have a go and have a good time doing so is far more important.

Strictly Come Dancing presenter, Bruce Forsyth has revealed that he is shocked by John Sergeant’s decision to quit the show.

Forsyth told the BBC: “I feel sorry for John because he was put in the most awkward position. He looked at all the other dancers and knew they were better than him. Over the last few weeks he must have felt guilty in a way.”

Forsyth also has sympathy for the other dancers and judges who were put in a slightly awkward postition.

“It’s all ended up a bit sad in a way. John is such a lovely guy and the whole team adore him. But then I felt sorry for poor Cherie [Lunghi] who worked so hard,” he said.

“[Viewers] don’t realise how hard the contestants work learning the dances for up to seven hours a day.”

Strictly Come Dancing judge, Craig Revel Horwood has branded John Sergeant as having no courage after he decided to quit the show this weekend.

After spending weeks saying that John should not still be on the show, that he couldn’t dance and was making a mockery of the series, Revel Horwood is now saying that John should have stuck it out.

“I was quite shocked to hear the news,” Revel Horwood told Claudia Winkleman on spinoff It Takes Two.

“I think it’s very odd that someone enters a competition and then does not have the courage to go all the way with it.”

Way to go with the hypocritical Craig!