Sergeant said: "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."
There was speculation online that he had been forced to quit by the BBC as the judges of the show applied pressure to stop the latest series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' becoming a laughing stock.
The judges have placed Sergeant and his partner Kristina Rihanoff at the bottom of the leader board week after week, but thanks to votes from the public the pair have remained in the competition.
Lead judge Len Goodman said that Sergeant's dancing made a "nonsense of the show" while Arlene Phillips described his performance as "outstandingly bad".
On last Saturday's show, former favourite Cherie Lunghi was voted out of the competition after finding herself in the bottom two.
Jay Hunt, controller of BBC One, said: "John has told us of his plans to leave 'Strictly Come Dancing' and we are very sad to see him go.
"He has been an entertaining contestant and is hugely popular with the viewers. We would have liked him to stay but we respect his decision to leave.
"John and Kristina will be performing a farewell dance this Saturday on the show."
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