Strictly star Sergeant to cash in on public's adoration

JOHN Sergeant may have quit Strictly Come Dancing but he will be waltzing all the way to the bank.

The 64-year-old is set to make hundreds of thousands of pounds in public appearances and after-dinner speeches.

Agents acting on behalf of the former political journalist are hoping he will cash in on his new-found public adoration and say he could now command up to £15,000 for entertaining guests.

Before his hapless dancing on the BBC prime-time show reinvented him as the nation's favourite underdog, Sergeant charged between £5,000 and £10,000 for each engagement.

But experts now say he can double - and even triple - his old fees as corporate event organisers clamour to hire the witty star to share his anecdotes from the show.

The former BBC political correspondent, who is signed up with at least six agencies, has already been booked for an all-expenses-paid Caribbean cruise, in which he will give speeches and show off his dance skills for £10,000, six days after he gives his final performance on Saturday's show.

A spokesman for Kruger Cowne, which promotes Sergeant, told the Standard: "Without a shadow of a doubt people will want to listen to the inside story about his time on the show. He could quite possibly charge up to £15,000 now. He has always been a very funny and entertaining speaker but now there's this added element."

Now You're Talking, another agency that represents him, said his price tag would now be at least £12,000. It comes after his shock exit triggered a huge backlash from viewers.

The BBC revealed today that it had received more than 2,000 complaints about Sergeant's shock exit in less than 24 hours. The BBC was forced to close part of the Strictly Come Dancing website after it was overwhelmed with complaints from angry fans. The official online message board was pulled late last night because moderators could not cope with the number of comments.

Fans are also demanding a refund for the money they spent voting for him to stay on the show, which could leave the BBC with a bill running into tens of thousands of pounds.

Mr Sergeant told fans he left the programme to avoid a "bloody battle".

Defending his move to quit the show yesterday, he said: "We had fun dancing and dancing is a wonderfully enjoyable thing, but if the joke wears thin, if people begin to take things very seriously and if people are getting so wound up that it is very difficult to carry on the joke, then it is time to go."

Bex Langbant, one of the hundreds of people who have joined online campaigns to support Mr Sergeant, said: "I think it's outrageous that we all wasted our money voting ... seems like another swizz by the BBC."

BBC1 controller Jay Hunt said that anyone who had voted for Mr Sergeant and wanted to be reimbursed would be. Mr Sergeant's fellow former contestant Andrew Castle said: "He leaves undefeated, his flag flying high, and the programme will be worse off for it because at the end of the day it's an entertainment show and some people have failed in a spectacular fashion to see that."

Conservative leader David Cameron, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Cilla Black and comedian Les Dennis have all spoken out in support of the ex-ITV political editor.

Mr Cameron said: "Along with the rest of the country I am devastated. Strictly will not be the same without him."

Mr Sergeant will end his dancing career with a last waltz on Saturday with his dance partner Kristina Rihanoff.