... imo

Let's be honest - SCD is NOT The X Factor. The winner doesn't get a life changing career move. It's supposed to be about entertainment, and John Sargeant entertained.

OK, so he wasn't the best dancer - that much was obvious. But was he the most charismatic? The most fun?

If the powers that be want to keep making money out of Joe Public, then they have to accept Joe Public's choices.

SCD seems to be taking itself way too seriously, and so do some of the contestants.

When will people stop complaining about a public vote - it's called democracy, whether we like it or not.

Well said Rosie.

The magic has been taken out of the show.

The message being sent out to future participants is - be a decent mover or be prepared to be bullied out of the programme.

I agree.

After this year the only celebs who will sign up will be amateur/trained dancers.
The heart of the show will have stopped and the ratings will take a dive.

Rosie red: "SCD seems to be taking itself way too seriously, and so do some of the contestants."

Yes they do! Of course they have to work hard, do their best and improve etc but oh those men are prima donnas!

The girls are alright though.

Well said Sid and Rosie!

Half of the fun is that you get a varied selection of contestants...and the fact that some can't dance should be a part of it.

Well said Rosie. Unfortunately it is a tradition not to vote and then to complain about the result - anyone know an expert on voting patterns that we can get to verify this?! Had to turn off ITT, just about got through Arlene and a lagged Len, but when Claud said that they were about to speak to Craig, OH removed the beeps from my hand and turned the tape off. So sad, Strictly has been such a part of Saturday nights leading up to Christmas, but think it might have lost a lot of appeal now.

I doubt the complaining will ever stop....but part of the reason for that is that it's only a form of democracy. There are gaping flaws.

John himself realises this (naturally given his career) which is why he made the point about the absence of a 'stop-John' candidate.

With televotes come allegations of political voting, sympathy voting, tactical voting, regional voting...and, yes, vftw.

Nothing can be proved either way...which is why I think the complaints will continue.

It certainly has for me

John himself pointed out, the fact of their being no Stop John candidate meaning the votes, leaving aside those who were genuinely for his dancing and I've never had a problem with that, were entirely weighted in his favour against the rest of the contestants which is hardly fair either. Unfortunately there has been a lot of backlashing over the past fortnight that has also been whipped up by the medja who share the blame.

I'm prepared to say that he's seen the voting stats and realised that it's untenable to continue and causing even more bad feeling, not just among certain people in the show, but also many many people in the outside world who do watch SCD for the dancing/comp element. Otherwise, why bother to train at all, and why bother to try and improve?

Also the fact of doing two dances would have weighed very very heavy on him.

My dance teacher said the whole thing was ludicrous.

All I can say now that they've all completely shot themselves in the foot, is that they must eat humble pie, scrap the dance off and the Sunday show and return the result to what it was when nobody cared who were the two least popular and we could all go and have a cup of tea.

Edit: Everyones forgetting that the actual number voting NOW is still very small compared to those who just watch. If it was a million at this stage, I'd be astounded.

Well said Rosie

I wasn't a supporter of John, but I agree 100% that this news hasn't done SCD any favours.

I think there will be a strange feeling when Saturday's show is on

Very well said.

I fully agree, Strictly is classed as a "light" entertainment show and as far as I know "light" means it shouldn't be taken as seriously as it currently is.

I miss the Saturday TV of the 90's. Everything was light entertainment and nothing could be taken that seriously.

I used to like both Strictly and X Factor but they are both getting as bad as each other and to be perfectly honest I may not be watching either for much longer.

I'm glad he's gone and now the show can get back to some sort of quality entertainment - there's plenty of other car crash TV around for those of you that enjoy that sort of thing.

It's called "light" entertainment because it's not heavy drama - at least it's not supposed to be, but who on earth are you and all these other people to tell anyone how seriously they should take it???

People take it as seriously as they take it, there's no room for "should" or "shouldn't". If people choose to take it seriously, then other people should respect that instead of saying "oh, you shouldn't take it seriously". Where in the rules does it say that you shouldn't??? I really am fed up with this over-quoted nonsense.

THE TRUTH!!

SCD would now be full of wannabes, how long before we have chanelle, jodie marsh and all the heat magazine crew.

I have nothing against people who want to take it as a serious competition, but I've known some people who get really irate over results which I personally feel is just a bit over the top. And some of these same people I know complain about how football is taken far too seriously!!!

I personally just watch Strictly for the entertainment value.

Weekends were put on hold last year for SCD.

This weekend I am going to a baby shower Saturday night and out for a meal Sunday.

You know what? It's no fun anymore. I have felt like this for weeks but today was just horrible.

What a nasty bunch of people the likes of James and Arlene are. Who in their right mind would want to take part in a future series?

I think there's taking something seriously and then there is taking something to a completely ridiculous obsessive level. Strictly used to be a bit of lighthearted fun. This year, it's all about winning and getting tens and being top of the leaderboard. That sense of fun and frivolity has gone and I think that this series is poorer because of it.

I love the show and enjoy it hugely, but I find some people to get a bit too precious about the show. The whole shouts of travesty because Cherie is eliminated and tirades against John for staying in the competition are just ridiculous. This show was supposed to be a bit of a laugh. Nobody wins anything other than a plastic glitterball and maybe a chance to further their stagnant careers!