John Sergeant's Biography

Who is John Sergeant?

He went to Oxford University and briefly performed with Alan Bennett, Michael Palin and John Fortune.

John Sergeant was the Political Editor of ITN and before that he was the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent.

In 2000, John Sergeant joined ITN after 30 years with the BBC. He had initially started at the BBC as a radio reporter in 1970, having worked in newspapers.

After around three years with ITN, John Sergeant left and focussed on fulfilling his book deal with PanMacmillan.

John Sergeant has appeared in various entertainment shows including Have I Got News For You, QI, and Room 101 on TV and the News Quiz on Radio 4.

In 2002 John Sergeant published his autobiography, Give Me Ten Seconds.

He also wrote a book about Margaret Thatcher entitled Maggie: Her Fatal Legacy.

Arguably, one of John Sergeant's most striking TV moments was in November 1990, when, as The Guardian described it:

"He was bundled down the steps of the Paris embassy by Sir Bernard Ingham. Broadcasting live, Sergeant was caught on the hop by an indignant Mrs Thatcher rushing out to declare her intention to fight on against Michael Heseltine in the Conservative leadership battle. It was a wonderful TV moment: the bumbling TV reporter, the furious spin-doctor, the regal premier. 'It made my career, and it finished hers,' as Sergeant proudly recalls."

Strictly Come Dancing

In the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing, John Sergeant partnered Kristina Rihanoff.

Their success with the general public brought amazement from the Strictly Come Dancing judges and after surviving week 9, on 19 November 2008, John Sergeant released a statement:

"I am sorry to say I have decided to leave Strictly Come Dancing. It was always my intention to have fun on the show and I was hoping to stay in as long as possible. The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far. I would like to thank Kristina and all those viewers who have been rooting for me through the series."

Life after Strictly

In December 2008, John Sergeant along with singers from Kettering's Masquerade choir, former Squeeze frontman Chris Difford, and BBC's The One Show hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley sang a song Let's Not Fight This Christmas, which was put together by The One Show as a potential Christmas number one.

On 2 May 2009, John Sergeant switched to drama when he was cast as a journalist in Casualty.

In 2009, ITV commissioned a three-part series John Sergeant on the Tourist Trail.

In 2011, the BBC announced that it had commissioned a series Britain's First Photo Album, presented by John Sargeant, for BBC Two Daytime, about Francis Frith, a pioneer Victorian photographer.

Subsequently, he hosted the returning ITV series Barging Round Britain with John Sergeant.