Bobby Brazier has been hit with a setback just days before the Strictly Come Dancing final.
The EastEnders actor was a strong frontrunner before the 2023 cast even performed their first routine, which is not something he felt entirely comfortable with remarking: ‘We haven’t even started yet’ when asked about it on This Morning.
It’s a good job he didn’t let it get to his head as the Strictly finale odds have dramatically changed – and things aren’t looking good for him.
Alongside partner Dianne Buswell he’s found himself in the dance-off twice – most recently in Saturday’s semi-finals against Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe – and now he has been deemed least likely of the final three couples to win by bookies.
According to Ladbrokes, he currently sits at odds of 12/1 to lift the glitterball trophy, while his competitors Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola are firm favourites at 1/9.
Layton Williams, 29, and Nikita Kuzmin, 26, who are the only couple to score a perfect 40 on the dance floor, are second favourites at 8/1.
Bobby, 20, will be trying to turn his luck around by channeling his inner Ryan Gosling with a Showdance to La La Land’s soundtrack. He’ll also be bringing back his Romeo and Juliet themed Samba, and his tribute to his late mum Jade Goody performed to Maxwell’s This Woman’s Work for a second outing.
Despite a strong lineup of dances, Alex Apati from Ladbrokes said: ‘Anything other than an Ellie Leach win next weekend would be a complete miracle as far as the odds are concerned.’
‘We’ll likely look back on this series and say Bobby peaked too soon in the competition. Leading from the offset and going all the way is something only a handful of stars have managed to do over the years… it looks like Bobby’s race has very much been run,’ he told Metro.co.uk.
Bobby was installed as favourite to win the series at 7/2 and continued to lead the way in the betting – for a brief stint he was joined by Nigel Harman and Katya Jones at the head of the betting.
The pair were forced to pull out of the competition due to injury.
At his peak, Bobby was as short as 7/4 to win the series but things turned on week seven, when he slipped to fifth on the leaderboard.
Alex added: ‘Ellie, on the other hand, peaked just at the right time and, coupled with a potential love story playing out, fans and punters are convinced this year’s Glitterball Trophy has her name on it.’
Whatever the result – one thing is for sure Bobby can be proud of himself for making it to the final week of the series.
One person who is very chuffed at his efforts is partner Dianne, 34, who song his praises in a recent Instagram post.
She wrote: ‘Looking back I couldn’t be prouder of all the dances we have performed! You all see the glitz and glam of the Saturday nights polished performance but what you don’t see and what is actually my favourite part of all of it is seeing the struggles on a Monday.
‘It just shows me that with hard work perseverance and determination ANYTHING can be possible,’ she concluded.
Ellie, 22, and Vito, 31, are looking particularly strong going into the final show on Saturday as they’ve never faced a dance-off.
This stands them in good company as 75% of previous show winners have also never had to perform on the Sunday results show in order to save themselves. In fact, for the past six series the winning couples have all been part of this elusive no dance-off to winners narrative.
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Joe McFadden and Katya Jones, Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton, Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, as well as Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystał have together kept the streak going and Ellie and Vito will be hoping to continue it.
To borrow an expression from Hunger Games – Strictly finalists, may the odds be in your favour.
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The Strictly Come Dancing final airs Saturday at 7pm on BBC One
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