Two of the Strictly Come Dancing judges who helped force out John Sergeant may be axed if viewing figures plummet.

Sergeant attracted 11.7million viewers to his final show at the weekend after announcing his departure.

A BBC source said: 'The BBC's head honchos were furious that John Sergeant fell on his sword. He was the most enormous ratings winner and executives think the judges overstepped the mark.

'Arlene and Craig have the axe hanging over them depending on how ratings do in the rest of the show over the next month.'

But Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman are thought to be safe, aided by their position as judges on Dancing With The Stars, which is made by BBC Worldwide in the U.S.


Sunday's result show received 10.5 million which is average for this series so no sign of a major drop yet.

So I think we can take this with a pinch of salt.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...ants-exit.html

I wonder if we will ever see a photo of Miss/Mrs/Mr A Source one day - he or she must be worth a fortune selling all these exclusive stories to every red top going.

Arlene should go. Her comments are useless. Craig sometimes gives precise advice which is helpful.

Arlene has often given great advice about posture, arms & legs and I'm sure plenty of celebs who have followed her advice of taking ballet lessons will agree - Christine for one this series. She's OTT at times but to say her comments are useless is not true imho.

Mr/Miss/Ms Source is the bored journalist sat at the desk in the corner trying to pad out a very badly researched article. I believe this is how the Sun work when it gives its "Telly exclusives" which never appear on TV

I think you are being generous - I think Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms A Source is the cleaner's donkey (no insult intended to any cleaners).

Clear them all out and get some professionals in..........

I have no idea why being part of the american production would mark Len as being safe, but he has played it clever. Some of the most venomous remarks have come from Len and yet he has kept them to the main shows (as far as I know).

I wouldnt mind if they all left, even Bruno who only spoke publically in defence of John's right to be in the show.

I also wish people would stop dismissing EVERYTHING we read in tabloids.

I see the Mail are up to their old tricks again with all those anonymous sources.

I've never thought of Len as being venomous - what kind of comment are you thinking of? He's been much grumpier this series than normal, but I don't recall him saying anything that could be described as venomous. Now if you'd said that of Craig I would have been less surprised.

Oh Smokey we meet again.

What you don't seem to realise is that when people have facts and sources (like I did the other night) they publish them (like I did). And although they might still be accused of making things up (like I was) they still are proved right.

In the example of "a source" it's something being made up by the paper. You see, every tabloid needs to have an X Factor Strictly I'm a Celebrity story every day. Why? Because all the others do. And if you are said journo sitting there wanting a story what do you do? You make it up.

Welcome to the world of tabloid journalism my friend. As a journo friend of mine once told me...

"Anyone who believes everything they read in the papers basically makes my job easier"

Hope this helps

I'd be thrilled if Arlene went. She really annoys me.

I like Craig though. At the very least, he is nearly always consistent.

I think if they went and Len and Bruno stayed would be a disaster

I don't generally believe much that is printed in the Mail unless it is an unadulterated interview with someone.

Obviously the viewing figures would not have dropped on Saturday and Sunday because people wanted to see Kristina and John's farewell dance and also how the situation was handled.

People will most likely still tune in to SCD on a Saturday night if they are not going out and don't fancy anything that is on another channel. What I believe will happen is that many who would never have missed a show in the past will now not worry if they have something else to do, like going out.

The BBC should take note of what the general public have said - actually put in writing to them - not just viewing figures.

If the report is true, Len has had a lucky escape though I agree he was less nasty and I don't believe he talked to the press. He also said he would be voting for John if he was sitting at home watching on TV.

I'm glad Bruno has not been implicated.

Still this may be just rumours. It is the Mail after all. They don't have a direct quote from someone who is prepared to be named.

This sounds like utter rubbish to me. What - Craig and Arlene may be in danger if ratings plummet? Yep and I may go in for the Mr Universe contest if I suddenly develop muscles the size of Australia and turn into a man.

, a novel idea. You have cheered me up.

But why should ratings be anything to do with C and A anyway. I absolutely detest the way they (and JJ) treated JS but if I love the series and the other celebrities and pros why should I stop watching?

The BBC should look at the moral fibre of the show not the ratings figures.

Whether the DM or not is right I ma pleased they didn't pick on Bruno and Len also tried to deflate the episode not inflate it. Len was no worse than previous years comments and they were fair do's IMO.

"sources suggest" means the bloke at the next desk and I dreamt this up.

"Souces close to the PM "may mean the PM or his cleaner.......

I took it to mean that he's making money for the BBC in the US too so they can't upset him.

I got the impression the BBC head honchos decided that JS had to go as he would make the show impossible to run i the future. The anti-judge vote carrying on would make it pointless trying to dance well and turn the show into a complete panto where only celebs who hadn't got a panto would turn up. The judges would have to be paid more to be ignored and teh pros would probaly go and find something more positive to do. Very surprised if they think the ratings re in danger or that the judges need blaming for pointing out the obvious.

That is quite interesting. Arlene has always been acid tongued. I thought that Len over-stepped the mark too. He forgot that SCD is a television show and was supposed to be raising money for Children In Need which was rarely mentioned this year. Len Goodman has his own dance schools to run so I assume he is only on the show for the money.
Havng said all that I have like Bruno's comments because he injects some humour into that miserable line-up of supercillious judges. Not one of which stood for the John/Kristina applause of course.

I would prefer it the other way round - keep Arlene and Craig and get rid of the other two. Although I might be lenient towards Bruno. It is Len who is the fly in the ointment.


No it isn't. Haven't you seen the numerous threads about this?

I think this bit of the article is true:

Good, get rid of them both. Craig and Arlene have egos the size of houses. The show isn't about them. It's about the dancers.

I really can't help feeling the whole John Sergeant fiasco is the fault of the gobby judges. If they'd been a little more restrained in their criticisms, and marked more kindly, he'd have gone weeks ago. The turning point (apart from the spiteful comments) was Craig's "1", and the aside that he'd have given them "0" if he could. So the public was up in arms because the judges were seen as being far too big for their boots.

Why the hell didn't the BBC advise them to take the line from the SCD website and say "Well, he's not very good BUT he's an example of someone who can't dance but is trying to learn with a pro teacher - even YOU [the public] could do this - that's what SCD is all about".

I think they should stay, but they need a bullet up the arse and to be told straight to keep all comments to constructive critisism, not nasty wind ups

They are professionals in their own field of expertise which isn't necessarily ballroom dancing apart from Len. It would be quite boring if all 4 judges came from the professional dance world and commented only on the technique of the dancing.