Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has said he "would love to be asked" to fill John Sergeant's shoes on Strictly Come Dancing.

He said: "I was cheering for John Sergeant on Saturday and I have to say watching with a degree of envy."

Asked if he would like to take part himself he replied: "It would be nice to be asked".

He would only smile and chuckle when he was asked if he would rule out appearing on the dancing show.

Broadcaster Sergeant made it through to the next round at the weekend on a wave of support from the public vote despite coming bottom of the score table.

The show's judges have been less than complimentary about his performances but a string of fan groups have sprung up across Facebook in tribute to the political journalist's efforts, one dubbed: "We only vote for John Sergeant to annoy Craig (Revel Horwood, one of the judges)."

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