Kelvin Fletcher was a last-minute addition to the Strictly Come Dancing 2019 line-up, but now he’s the hot favourite to take home the glitterball after setting a new betting record.
The ex-Emmerdale star soared to the top of the leaderboard this weekend with a sexy samba alongside dance partner Oti Mabuse.
Scoring 32 out of 40 in week one with their performance to La Vida Es Un Carnaval, bookmakers Ladbrokes have revealed that a flurry of interest has now made him an odds on favourite to win.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes confirmed the news and said: ‘There’s a long way to go in this series but someone will have to pull something pretty spectacular out of the bag if they’re to pip record-breaking Kelvin Fletcher to the post.’
Slashing his odds from 6/1 to 11/8, the other 13 contestants are left lagging behind with Karim Zeroual next up on 4/1.
James Cracknell has the lowest odds of winning at 100/1, with David James and Anneka Rice not too far behind and both at 66/1.
The revelation matches the currently leaderboard, which sees Kelvin and James on the top and bottom of the list respectively.
But there’s still time for that to change with the upcoming week’s competition, when the first dance off and elimination will take place.
The first live show on Saturday promised one of the closest competitions in Strictly history, after all.
While Kelvin was riding high in the competition, his wife Eliza is making sure he’s being kept grounded and mocked him online for only shaving one leg ahead of his debut.
But she also hared a sweet message of support for her husband as he prepared to take to the Strictly dancefloor.
Alongside a selfie of them together, Eliza wrote: ‘I’ve spent a lifetime watching you on dance floors at 3am, usually half naked!’
The next morning, she filmed herself as she asked him: ‘How do you feel, darling?’
He responded: ‘Good. Can’t quite believe what happened last night. Did the judges watch the same dance that I did? Because it didn’t feel like it.’
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 7pm on BBC One.
Current Strictly Odds (according to Ladbrokes)
Kelvin Fletcher – 11/8
Karim Zeroual – 4/1
Emma Barton – 5/1
Alex Scott – 8/1
Saffron Barker – 10/1
Catherine Tyldesley – 16/1
Dev Griffin – 16/1
Emma Weymouth – 20/1
Michelle Visage – 20/1
Will Bayley – 25/1
Chris Ramsey – 50/1
Mike Bushell – 50/1
Anneka Rice – 66/1
David James – 66/1
James Cracknell – 100/1
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