Political correspondent John Sergeant repeatedly avoided being sent home in spite of coming bottom of the score table for weeks in a row. Even though the "Strictly" judges ranked his dance skills as nigh on non-existant, the public had fallen head over heels in love with John and voted for him time and time again. What had started as a "joke" vote went on to cause some serious scandal with judge Arlene Philipps stating flat-out that she would be "desolate" if he actually won. Admist all this scandal, John Sergeant decided to leave the show stating that, "I am sorry to say I have decided to leave Strictly Come Dancing. The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far". In fact, the "Strictly" judges were so keen to stop a "Sergeant-situation" happening again that they considered introducing a three-strike rule: any contestant who finishes bottom of the judges' leader board for three weeks running will automatically be sent home!