His performance may have been panned as toe curling by the Strictly Come Dancing judges but his personality has won the hearts of the nation.
Former ITN journalist John Sergeant, who lives in Ealing, came bottom of the scoreboard with only 16 points with his samba on Saturday but still sailed through the third round after the public vote.
Actor Don Warrington finally fell at the last hurdle, the dance-off, and was hoisted shoulder-high by his fellow celebs after being voted out by the judges.
The judges were particularly harsh about John Sergeant's performance, with Arlene Phillips saying: "This was supposed to be a party dance. There's more fun at a party conference. It was like a go-slow on the railways."
Bruno Tonioli said: "You need a hip replacement", and Craig Revel Horwood said: "It was dreadful. You tiptoed through the tulips."
Len Goodman was the only one with a good word to say: "I would be voting for you. It was neat but lacked a bit of carnival spirit."
But John, 64, who dances with sultry Russian Kristina Rihanoff retorted: "I know the public will save us."
It was clear John had put a tremendous effort into his performance. During his training a group
of Brazilian showgirls who thought him "charming" turned up to put him through his paces.
When asked on Monday if he was crushed by the judges' comments he said: "Not really. I thought we had a good chance of getting through if the public thought we were going out."
He is now gearing up for the paso doble tomorrow and said he was bearing up well considering his age.
He said: "It is very dramatic and good fun, but hard work in such a short space of time. It is getting more physically demanding, but I am getting fitter and a lot leaner. I have lost one and a half stone in the past couple of months."
That could be down to his diet. Kristina, 30, who described him as "cute, adorable and like a father-figure," said: "He used to have a large glass of wine with lunch. Now he just has a chicken Caesar and no wine.
"He says: 'I am a dancer now.'"
