John Sergeant's leaden feet, clumsy turns and hangdog look might have endeared him to the viewing public, but the Strictly Come Dancing judges have been distinctly underwhelmed by his success on the show.
The 64-year-old lumbered round the dancefloor like a hippo, and even his glamorous Russian partner Kristina Rihanoff, who flitted round him like a bird, was not enough to please the panel who clearly felt viewers were not taking the dancing seriously.
Week after week the judges gave the couple low scores for their dances, and week after week the public voted for Sergeant to stay on the show.
Here are some of the judges' comments:
:: After Sergeant and Rihanoff scored a wretched 12 out of 44 for the cha-cha-cha, head judge Len Goodman said: "That was more ha ha ha than cha-cha-cha. If somebody deserving gets knocked out because the public like you, it makes a nonsense of the show."
:: Last weekend, the public voted for Sergeant to stay on the show despite him receiving the lowest marks from the judges. The panel were forced to kick out either actress Cherie Lunghi or model Lisa Snowdon. Goodman said he felt "terrible" at having to make the decision because "neither should be going".
:: Another judge, Craig Revel Horwood, even went on the BBC Breakfast show to plead for Sergeant's eviction.
He said: "I think John should go. I still maintain that this is a dance competition.
"You need people that can dance."
:: Some of the harshest criticism came from judge Arlene Phillips. After Sergeant came bottom of the points table for the third week in a row and was still saved by the public, she said there was "nothing correct" about his performance.
"His posture's wrong, his feet are turned in, he hasn't got the rise and fall, his head's on one side," she said.
"In terms of dance, everything is wrong with it."
:: Phillips also bemoaned Sergeant's lack of application in training.
"When the performers and celebrities put hours in the studio they are constantly working," she said.
"They do not sit down, and I know with John he sits and reads the Guardian.
"I think a lot of the time he and his partner spend fooling around.
:: Phillips said she would be "desolate" if Sergeant - whom she likened to a "non-dancing Mickey Rooney" - won the show.