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.