Can't delete SHAPE_Length and SHAPE_Area from table, not feature layer

v10.0 SP5. I exported the table from a feature layer. It's now a table, so no spatial objects. And yet still ArcGIS won't let me delete the two fields SHAPE_Length and SHAPE_Area.

Why is this? I understand you can't get rid of these for spatial layers, but surely for tables I should be able to delete them. What gives?

How can I permanently get rid of them? I don't want them in my joins further downstream.

Thanks