John Sergeant, who entertained the nation with his disastrous appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, has revealed he paid back a book advance worth tens of thousands of pounds, because he could not face writing another volume of memoirs. Skip related content
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Strictly's Sergeant 'paid back book advance'
The former TV political editor, who became the unlikely star of the BBC show, said he had a change of heart after accepting the cash because it would have been too "boring".
Sergeant has told the new edition of Radio Times that he felt an enormous sense of relief when he had paid back the cash.
He said: "What I was really expecting to do when I left ITN was to write books, because I had a two-book contract with Macmillan." But he said he got cold feet after taking the upfront payment for a third book.
"Had I been less well known, I could have written a book on the history of the police, or something that would have interested me hugely, but all they really wanted was my memoirs.
"And you can't go on writing the same book. Not only is it boring, it's a terrific strain, too. You get trapped. So I paid back the advance - a vast amount of money - and then I felt incredibly free."
Sergeant, 65, is soon to be seen in new TV series John Sergeant on the Tourist Trail for ITV1.
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