John's departure signals the end of what used to be an "enteratinment" show and makes a mockery of the public vote - why bother giving the public the power to keep in who they want to only for such a furore to be created that people feel compelled to leave because of the repurcussions if they won - nonsense. Thoughts please!

My thoughts which I've copied from the other thread are these

John is not a delicate flower he is a strong intelligent man who wouldn't be bullied he's made the choice himself,unless he says otherwise respect his decision and not turn it into something its not

John quit so no. He wasn't booted out.

I think he's in an untenable position. He was criticised for still being in the competition and now, having resigned graciously, he's being criticised for that too - mostly, it seems, by the same people who criticised him for staying in. It seems to me that he can't win either way.

He has effectively been forced out and this is very bad news. This could be a jump the shark moment because the show's credibility, as a fun light-entertainment platform, is shot. The judges should have been reigned in a few weeks ago because this looks like nothing more than a witch hunt.

He himself said that him winning would be 'A joke too far'

Therefore even he can't see why people are bothering to vote for him.

I don't really share your concern for John "The Man" - i'm more annoyed that his deprature means that our votes for the person we would like to see win the competition count for nothing - and i'm not a John fan.

I think people should stop blaming the judges and everyone else before we know the full facts.

I still think a voting scam has been discovered.

This series is now tarnished....and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I totally agree, the criticism of him got too far out of hand I think. It wasn't even just the judges, James Jordan criticised his presence in the show in a way I've never heard another pro do in all 6 series', not even when Chris Parker made the final. I don't know what the show has become seriously, I kind of thought something like this would happen because I've never felt someone be made so unwelcome before, even when other bad people have made the latter weeks of the show there hasn't been the same level of outrage amongst judges/pros imo anyway.

This makes a mockery of the whole thing.

If someone who the public support but the judges do not think is good enough is forced to leave, then whats the point of voting at all!

I'm not a John fan either but I am annoyed that many are turning this into a bullying issue as if John is not more than capable of standing up for himself and fighting his own corner.For heavens sake this man has dealt with top politicians for years he isn't going to cave in to a few mean judges...get real people!

on the subject of the show I am annoyed that it will probably be a 2 person final again,that does spoil the show

Here, here! It's no longer light hearted, next yr they might as well exclude the public participation and leave all the power in the judges hands.

John has not been forced out anywhere.

He's made a decision to step down.

This stinks and will damage the show for the coming weeks. You can't laugh it off because scd fans will say he's left partly because of the judges ire.

Theres no precedent for this anyway , Christopher Parker didn't leave and he was a poor dancer who could have won. John's such a nice bloke the sympathy will go to him and the jury will be hated.

I know but don't you think it spoils the part that we have to play in who stays/goes. I'm not supporting John but if the same thing happened to someone I was supporting I would be angry because my vote which should have an influence is made worthless..

I don't think John would have won. He's just another Chris Parker that the media has hyped up beyond reason. I feel sorry for those many people who obviously supported him that he has pulled out rather than stayed in.

For God's sake IT'S ENTERTAINMENT

The only thing that has been a mockery is people voting for John not because of the wonderful chemistry he has with Kristina, not because of his dancing abilities but because it annoys the people who enjoy the show as a dance competition

This show needs to decide what it wants to be. If it wants to be classed as light entertainment it needs to come down out of its own backside before it loses a large portion of its audience. If it wants to be a serious dance competition, get it off the Saturday evening light entertainment slot and onto BBC2 at 9pm Tuesday, and remove the phone vote side of it whilst doing so.

I'm disappointed. Not sure yet whether I'm interested in watching the rest of this series. It feels a bit tainted right now.

Open your eyes. He was on this show for a reason and it wasn't to quit if he got so far into it. Otherwise why bother?

Personally, I suspect he's finding two dances too much for him, trained on Sunday with the group, trained on Monday with Kristina, and has now suddenly quit

SCD does not require any pre-talent in dance nor any latent potential to progress in it, otherwise there would/should be auditions, as there were for Strictly Dance Fever where the prize was a contract to dance in a West End show - not a glitter ball trophy.

The reason he 'decided' to leave is because of how he's been treated. Whether or not he felt 'bullied'

It does for me! This is up there with Emma Bunton's 10 from Bruno. It really smacks of "you can vote for your favourite, as long as it's the same as ours". Which when you think about it doesn't necessarily mean that the best dancer will win SCD anyway! The judges aren't objective so why the hell do they demand that the public are. All four of them will be skating on very thin ice with me this week, and I sincerely hope that their comments are based on the dancing they see and not on what they hope we miss.

In which case I think he's a decent enough bloke to say that's why. I think his statement is bland enough to suggest to me that he is being very tactful in what he says.