Snowdon: 'I tried to make Sergeant stay'

Lisa Snowdon has revealed that she tried to convince John Sergeant not to walk away from Strictly Come Dancing.

Political analyst Sergeant this week quit the show over fears that his popularity with voters could see him win the contest, despite the fact that his dancing has been regularly panned by the judges.

"I left this long rambling message on his answerphone, but it turned out that he'd already made his mind up. I was stunned. I'm really sad to lose him, we all are," Snowdon told The Sun.

"John was brilliant because in the midst of all of us doing our dance routines, he comes along and entertains us. It's fantastic - and that's what people want to see on TV."

Snowdon and partner Brendan Cole will be performing a Quickstep on tonight's show, while Sergeant will dance a farewell Waltz with Kristina Rihanoff.

> Minister: 'Get rid of judges not John'