All You Need to Know About Strictly Come Dancing 2024

by Roy Brindley, 17 September 2024

The BBC’s long-running smash hit TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, has returned to British television screens. Fifteen hopefuls, loosely labelled as ‘celebrities’, have been paired with professional dance partners who, for the next 12 weeks, mostly on a one-a-week basis, will be eliminated until a new champion is crowned.

The cast of Strictly Come Dancing 2024 consists of 15 hopefuls. The bookmakers make JB Gill their 7/2 favourite, but 9/1-shot Jamie Borthwick has form in the book. ©BBC

Last year, the final show attracted over ten million viewers, and the 13-part series had an average audience in excess of 8.5 million per episode. Understandably, the UK’s novelty betting sites adore ‘Strictly’, and there is always an abundance of betting opportunities on the show’s various outcomes.

In 2023, Ellie Leach became only the second winner of the show aged under 25. Like most previous winners, she was the betting favourite long before the home straight was reached. The Coronation Street actress took her place at the head of the betting in November, and her odds shrunk week-on-week until she lifted the trophy.

Strictly Come Dancing 2024 Celebs

Will the betting be the best guide to the competition’s outcome once again in 2024? Join us as we look at Strictly Come Dancing’s 2024 contestants and their betting odds. Furthermore, we will make a shortlist based on interesting facts and form pointers ahead of the opening week’s performances.

• Jamie Borthwick, 30, is an 18-year EastEnders veteran who plays the character ‘Jay Brown’.
• Tom Dean, a 24-year-old swimmer, has won three-time Olympic gold medals.
• Montell Douglass, 38, is an Olympic sprinter, bobsledder and Gladiators star.
• Wynne Evans, 52, is an opera singer and BBC Radio Wales presenter.
• Tasha Ghouri, 26, was born deaf. In 2022, she was a Love Island contestant and has modelled.
• JB Gill, 37, is best known as a JLS singer and Songs of Praise presenter.
• Sarah Hadland, 53, is an actress who starred in Miranda and The Job Lot.
• Nick Knowles, 61, has presented DIY SOS for 25 years.
• Dr Punam Krishan, 41, is a regular Morning Live guest, doctor and author.
• Chris McCausland, 47, is a blind comedian best known for playing Rudi in the CBeebies show Me Too!.
• Paul Merson, 56, is a retired Arsenal and England footballing star turned TV pundit.
• Sam Quek, 35, is an Olympic gold medal-winning field hockey player and television presenter.
• Shayne Ward, 39, won X Factor in 2005 and acted in Coronation Street between 2015 and 2018.
• Pete Wicks, 35, was a series regular on The Only Way is Essex between 2015 and 2022.
• Toyah Willcox, 66, is an enduring pop star with eight top 40 hits during a 40-plus year career.

What Are the Strictly Come Dancing Odds?

7/2 JB Gill, 5/1 Tasha Ghouri, 6/1 Shayne Ward, 9/1 Jamie Borthwick, 9/1 Sam Quek, 10/1 Montell Douglass, 12/1 Sarah Hadland, 12/1 Pete Wicks, 16/1 Chris McCausland, 25/1 Toyah Willcox, 33/1 bar.

Strictly Roll of Honor

Tasha Has a Tough Act to Follow

Tasha Ghouri has some big shoes to fill as she steps up to the Strictly Come Dancing floor as the second-ever deaf contestant. The first was Rose Ayling-Ellis, who won the Stricty in a veritable landslide alongside pro dancer Giovanni Pernice in 2021.

With a background in professional dance, she would appear to have a huge advantage and an outstanding chance of lifting the Glitterball Trophy. That experience can also be a poisoned chalice, and it has already generated negative comments, which Ghouri has been forced to rebuff.

At short odds, we are passing the Love Island contestant by. Any Strictly hopeful aged over 50 is also being struck out of calculations. That may be an ageist take on proceedings, but it is a fact that in 21 previous seasons of Strictly, only one winner has been in their late 40s or older.

Our Best Bet for Strictly Come Dancing

JB Gill may be the favourite, but his odds are fair, given he has stage and dance experience. A sizeable positive is his regular appearances on the BBC’s Songs of Praise program, as the audience demographic of the shows cross over nicely. Those with long memories will also know he won 2012’s Strictly Christmas Special performing the Jive with Ola Jordan.

However, long memories are not required to recall when Jamie Borthwick fared best in a Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. It was less than 12 months ago, and he won the one-off show, scoring a perfect 40 points alongside pro Nancy Xu, performing a Quickstep.

Surely, this represents the best line of form. If Borthwick were a racehorse and Strictly Come Dancing was a race, he would be a clear favourite. Thrown in his age – 30 is almost the average age of a Strictly winner – and his 9/1 odds offered by the best novelty betting sites appear to be an early Christmas present.