Brendan Cole: 'John Sergeant was an idiot'

Brendan Cole has claimed that there is no comparison between John Sergeant and Ann Widdecombe on Strictly Come Dancing.

Cole described 2008 contestant Sergeant as an "idiot", but defended Widdecombe's position on the show, praising her "comedy value".

Speaking on Lorraine this morning, the New Zealand pro dancer said: "People are going to hate me for saying this, but Ann Widdecombe is actually brilliant in many ways.

"Okay, she's not the best dancer out there but this competition is not just about that, it's become very much an entertainment show and I look forward to seeing her on the show - she's brilliant. The pair of them, [the] comedy value is just priceless."

When asked whether he thought Widdecombe might pull out of the programme like Sergeant did two years ago, he replied: "I hope not, because John Sergeant , for me, was a bit of an idiot on the show. He didn't try very hard, he took the mickey out of it and then he left halfway through for no reason."

He also dismissed the suggestion that Sergeant withdrew from the programme because he did not want to stop better dancers winning. "Rubbish. [It was] planned to the end," he added.