The winners and the losers

Probably right up there with the winners are chippies, with a vast store of sanctimonious bile to wrap up the forthcoming week's fish and chips.

Following closely behind are Mssrs Murdoch (Junior and Senior) and Dacre. They must be thinking that Christmas has come early this year.

The obvious face of the losing team is Alesha. At the end of the day she is just a young woman trying to do a new job in the glare of public attention. I have been vacillating between irritation at, and sadness for, Alesha all week, and hope that this debacle does not have a lasting effect on her career.

Apparenly Matthew Cutler was asked by a fan is he was worried about Alesha becoming a judge, and he replied that no, the BBC would not allow Alesha to be badly produced. I think the Divine Mr C had a little too much confidence in his employers and that Alesha has been badly let down by the invisible decision-makers and PR people.

The one seemingly to come out looking best from this whole sorry mess is Arlene. Asked on The One Show about the reaction to Alesha's first week, she was all beatific smiles and reminded the public that Alesha was a new girl amidst a panel that of seasoned pros, and that she too would soon be a new girl on her upcoming new venture. Just brilliant. Magnanimous towards the pretender who had replaced her, a little reminder that Strictly has been going a long time (6 years is positively middle aged in TV terms) and finishing with a little plug for her own bright, shiney, new future. I think that is game, set and match to Ms Phillips.