Rose Ayling-Ellis and John Whaite Top the Strictly Betting List
Strictly Come Dancing 2024 has already seen two celebrities eliminated. A third, Robert Webb was forced to withdraw mid-week with health concerns. At 7/4 Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf contestant to take part in Strictly, is joint-favorite. John Whaite, one part of the first all-male same-sex pairing in the show’s 18-year history, joins her at the top of the betting list.
Which couple will punters and the Strictly Come Dancing judges finally agree on? ©GettyImage
They say ‘all news is good news’ which should bode well for Strictly Come Dancing. The BBC’s top-rated show made the papers when it was revealed three of its professional dancers had not had their covid jabs.
Two weeks later The Mail ran a story highlighting accusations the broadcaster was using the show to promote its own employees. It pointed out eight of the 15 Strictly contestants are on the BBC payroll. That number includes rugby player Ugo Monye who recently became a new team captain on the long-running A Question of Sport series.
The ‘all news is good news’ argument appears to be groundless as Strictly’s viewing figures have taken a sizeable drop compared to last year. So far two live shows have attracted under ten million viewers, the corresponding 2020 broadcasts had an audience in excess of 11 million.
A 48.5 percent share of the UK television viewing audience is still massively impressive. Amongst that number, many will have supported their favorite act with a small wager on the outcome.
Points Are Not Making Prices
In an unusual turn of events, popularity seems to outweigh results when it comes to Strictly 2024 betting. Rose Ayling-Ellis may be one of the punters’ favorites, but the judges have given AJ Odudu higher average scores. A clear lack of betting support makes him available at 9/2 with the best betting firms.
Rhys Stephenson is another contestant who is in favor with the show’s judges but not its gambling viewers. With a total points haul of 94, the CBBC presenter has outscored Rose in all three dances to date. Nevertheless, he can currently be backed at 14/1 with BetVictor to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
Total Points Scored by All Remaining Contestants After Three Dances:
| AJ Odudu | 100 |
| John Whaite | 100 |
| Rhys Stephenson | 94 |
| Rose Ayling-Ellis | 84 |
| Tilly Ramsay | 82 |
| Sara Davies | 79 |
| Ugo Monye | 74 |
| Greg Wise | 73 |
| Judi Love | 73 |
| Dan Walker | 71 |
| Adam Peaty | 69 |
| Tom Fletcher | 53* |
*Missed week two due to Covid.
As with the favorites, there are some anomalies at the bottom of the betting. Greg Wise has not finished amongst the bottom three dancers in any of the three shows. He also has a better combined score than Judi Love, Dan Walker, and Adam Peaty. But strangely he is considered the biggest outsider of the field and can be backed at 250/1 with some brave bookmakers.
Is Fletcher Going Straight to the Top?
Tom Fletcher is a contestant to consider at a tasty price. The McFly singer and his partner, Amy Dowden, were diagnosed with Covid-19 after their first dance and consequently missed week two.
A 21-point haul for his first effort may not have been outstanding but the 36-year-old put up a much-improved performance last time during ‘movie week’. The couple jived to ‘Johnny B, Goode’ from ‘Back to the Future’ to garner 32 points. They had nine celebrities behind them in the points standings on the night.
Strictly Schedule
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One on Saturdays at 6:45 pm and on Sundays at 7:05 pm. The Sunday program is an elimination show where the bottom two acts from Saturday ‘dance off’ before the judges who then vote on who to cull from the series.
13 episodes have been scheduled for Strictly 2024. This means the final show is currently due to air on December 18th.
