John Sergeant (journalist)

John Sergeant
Born	14 April 1944 (1944-04-14) Oxford, England
Residence	Ealing, London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Great Tew Primary School Bloxham School Millfield School
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford Darlington College
Occupation	Journalist, broadcaster
Employer	Freelance
Television	Strictly Come Dancing The One Show Grimefighters John Sergeant's Tourist Trail Argumental British Indian Railway - On tracks of Empire
Spouse	Mary Smithies (m. 1969-present)
Children	2 sons

John Sergeant (born 14 April 1944) is a British television and radio journalist and broadcaster.

Biography

The son of a missionary who was also a distinguished linguist, Sergeant is of Russian Jewish origin on his mother's side. Sergeant's early life meant that he followed his father's work, and was raised in locations including Jerusalem and Oxford. Sergeant was educated at Great Tew Primary School, briefly at the independent Bloxham School near Banbury, in Oxfordshire, and then at the independent Millfield School in Street, Somerset.

He graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Sergeant made a name for himself in student comedy revues, with the result that, after graduation, he starred with Alan Bennett in a series of sketch shows on the BBC entitled On the Margin and wrote comedy scripts. He then trained as a journalist at Darlington College while reporting for the Liverpool Echo.

Journalism career

Sergeant started his journalistim career as a correspondent for the Liverpool Echo where he worked for around three years before joining the BBC as a radio reporter in 1970. He was tasked to join the international desk, covering stories in over 25 countries. He then worked as a war reporter in Vietnam and Israel and reported the death of the first British soldier during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. He later covered the opening sessions of the European Parliament and became a Political Correspondent in 1981. He then worked on a documentary called "The Europe We Joined" and has presented BBC Radio 4 programmes Today and The World At One. Having progressed through newspaper, radio and television journalism, he became the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent from 1992 until 2000.

In 2000 he joined ITN as Political Editor, replacing the retiring Michael Brunson. Sergeant retired himself in 2002 and was replaced at ITN by Nick Robinson.

Journalist highlights

In 1987, in Moscow following Margaret Thatcher, he made a comment implying that she had already started campaigning for the General Election in June 1987, despite not having officially declared the contest. "I am serving my country", Thatcher replied.

One of his most memorable moments was when he waited outside the British embassy in Paris for Thatcher, in the hope of hearing her reaction to the first ballot in the party leadership contest of 1990, only to be pushed aside by her press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham, when Thatcher emerged from the building. For this broadcast, Sergeant won the British Press Guild award for the most memorable broadcast of the year, beating Paul Gascoigne who had been nominated for bursting into tears during the 1990 Football World Cup Semi-Final against West Germany.

Another political scoop was gained when he was granted the only interview with the then Welsh Secretary, Ron Davies, after he had been forced to resign following his "moment of madness" on Clapham Common in October 1998.

After journalism

After retirement from political journalism, Sergeant's appearances on programmes such as Have I Got News For You have made him a sought-after participant in television comedy and satire shows.

He is currently a reporter for The One Show. When the hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley were on holiday John hosted the show alongside Myleene Klass for a week starting on 24 August 2009. Sergeant has been a guest in Countdown's Dictionary Corner with Susie Dent. In February 2009 he appeared on QI. He is also a very popular after-dinner speaker and spoke to the Isle of Man Junior Chamber of Commerce [2] on 8 July 2011.

Strictly Come Dancing

Sergeant competed with partner Kristina Rihanoff in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing which began on 20 September 2008. Although he repeatedly finished bottom of the score board after the judges' votes, the public consistently voted to keep him in the competition, prompting criticism of the viewers' voting by the judges and some dancers. He left the show in Week 10 following a farewell dance saying ""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."

He is well-known for a repeated clip showing him pulling Rihanoff across the floor as part of a dance routine.

After Strictly

After Strictly Come Dancing Sergeant saw a boost in his career. He has since subsequently been engaged by Mentorn TV to produce a number of documentaries that include a three-part series entitled John Sergeant's Tourist Trail in which he asked the question "why do tourists come to Britain?" He is currently filming a new two-part documentary for Mentorn TV where he explores Indian Railways. Sergeant was also the host of Argumental, a comedy debating game on Dave. In 2011 Sergeant was the narrator for the ITV television series Grimefighters.

British Indian Railway - On tracks of Empire

Sergeant presented this BBC Series on the humble beginnings of the British Indian Railway and its legacy. He follows the path of the early Railway Engineers and also presents the use of the Railways in the extensive growth of India now.

Personal life

Sergeant married Mary Smithies on 4 January 1969; the couple have two children: Will Sergeant (a TV producer/director/writer) and Mike Sergeant (a BBC news reporter).^{[citation needed]} He lives in Ealing, West London.^{[citation needed]}

He was president of the Johnson Society in 2003. Interviewed by Sophie Lam in The Independent in June 2008 about his holiday memories, he stated: "I'm programmed not to be disappointed by holidays."

External links

• Biographical details and 2003 address to the Johnson Society