IT IS not unusual to see controversial figures wheeled out at press conferences to be grilled by top investigative journalists.

When a resignation is in the air, these question and answer sessions are all the more compelling.

And so it was yesterday as the man dubbed the dancing pig faced the media.

It is good to know, amid all the economic gloom and turmoil, that the British still have a wonderful sense of the absurd.

It was hilarious to see John Sergeant questioned by, among others, Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman over his decision to quit the TV reality show Strictly Come Dancing.

The former BBC political correspondent has become the star of the programme – kept in the competition every week by the viewing public despite his dire attempts at dancing.

Now Mr Sergeant has kicked himself off the show because he says he does not want to continue “irritating and annoying people and causing controversy”.

We think he misses the point. The show’s charm and success is built on the way in which viewers can infuriate the programme’s judges by backing those who are popular rather than those who can dance well. Mr Sergeant fell into the former category.

It is a shame he is going because we all love being entertained – but he ended on a high with questions in the Commons and the likes of Lord Mandelson urging him to stay on.

John Sergeant has become a peculiarly British celebrity.