Lewis Cope and partner Katya Jones has been in a pretty strong position on Strictly so far… But it appears as if his race for the Glitterball Trophy might have hit a bump in the road.
During Blackpool Week, the pair scored their second 40 of the series, leaving them at the top of the leaderboard. But could the Emmerdale actor’s luck be about to run out?
Latest Strictly odds see Lewis Cope slip
In new odds provided by SportsCasting, Lewis has been overtaken in the race to lift the coveted Strictly Come Dancing trophy.
With 10/11 odds, George Clark remains the top choice to win Strictly — but a SportsCasting spokesperson notes that after her “sensational” Paso Doble, Karen Carney has “surged” into second place with 7/4 odds, overtaking Lewis.
So, where does that leave Lewis?
“Despite securing another perfect score of 40, Lewis and Katya have slipped back to 4/1, suggesting viewers may be leaning toward a winner without professional dance training,” spokesperson Shane Orton told us.
“George and Alexis (10/11) remain the dance pairing to beat, but there have been notable shifts further down the leaderboard. Karen and Carlos have surged into 7/4 second favourites following a sensational Paso Doble in Blackpool this past Saturday night,” Shane added.
Alex Kingston and Amber Davies both have 33/1 odds on winning, while Balvinder Sopal is the rank outsider with odds of 200/1 of lifting the Glitterball Trophy.
What is Lewis Cope’s dance experience?
Like Amber Davies, Lewis has faced a lot of backlash from fans on account of his dance training and experience.
When he was 11 years old, Lewis performed in the West End production of Billy Elliot. He later joined hip hop dance crew Ruff Diamond and competed in Got To Dance. However, he has played down his dance experience, explaining that he hasn’t danced professionally for at least eight years.
“Look, I did do dancing when I was a teenager. I did a couple of years of it, really. I was obviously in Billy Elliot, but I didn’t play Billy Elliot. I wasn’t good enough, so I play Michael, which is basically, I don’t know if you saw the show, but he basically acts all the way through the show and he has one tap dance, that was it,” he explained.
“And then after that I was with a hip hop dance crew for a couple of years. But then I actually went off and trained professionally as an actor. I didn’t go and train professionally as a dancer. I went and did just straight acting for three years, and then probably for the last eight years or something now I’ve only ever acted, so it’s been brilliant actually going back into a dance studio.”
Bookies reveal who leaves next
SportsCasting also provided odds for the next round of eliminations.
“After the unfortunate withdrawal of La Voix and Aljaz from the competition, viewers enjoyed a break from the usual elimination drama,” Shane said. “Performances in Blackpool will now count towards the upcoming Week 10 exit.”
The odds suggest that Balvinder is on “borrowed time”, and that she’s likely to face a dance-off against Alex or Amber.
“Anything can happen under pressure, and a single slip could see someone sent packing,” he warned.
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