TV’s Celebrity Gameshow Season Has the Bookmakers in a Spin
Author:
Roy Brindley
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here will return to our screens on November 21. This will be the 21st series of the massively popular ITV show. For a second consecutive year, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, it will be filmed and broadcast from Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Wales.
So far, no celebrity contestant has been confirmed for I’m a Celebrity. But this has not stopped bookmakers from taking wagers on the event. Currently, the most popular I’m a Celebrity market is ‘who will take part’ in the primetime show presented by Ant & Dec.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner ‘The Vivienne’ is top-priced 2/7 to take part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here 2021. ©GettyImages
Bookmaker’s odds vary wildly but they are in agreement RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner ‘The Vivienne’ is very likely to be amongst the lineup. The drag queen – otherwise known as James Lee Williams – is top-priced 2/7 to enter the castle.
Perri Kiely, a member of dance troupe Diversity, is also long odds-on to take part. Others trading shorter than even-money include Lucy Fallon – better known as Bethany Platt in Coronation Street – and former footballers Roy Keane and John Barnes.
Bookmakers Are Not Dancing on Thin Ice
One show that has confirmed its cast members is Dancing on Ice. The field for the forthcoming TV show, which will get underway in mid-January, is as follows:
| Ben Foden | England Rugby Union player |
|---|---|
| Bez | Happy Mondays musician |
| Brendan Cole | Former Strictly Come Dancing professional |
| Connor Ball | The Vamps musician |
| Kimberly Wyatt | Pussycat Doll musician |
| Kye Wyatt | Olympic BMX racer |
| Liberty Poole | Love Island contestant |
| Rachel Stevens | S Club 7 singer |
| Regan Gascoigne | Paul Gascoigne’s son and dancer |
| Ria Hebden | Lorraine TV presenter |
| Sally Dynevor | Coronation Street’s Sally Webster |
| Stef Reid | Paralympic athlete |
Bookmakers are taking no chances here. Fully aware novelty acts do not fare well in shows of this nature, they have experienced dancer Brendan Cole at the head of their betting. William Hill is offering the industry best price of 7/2.
Regan Gascoigne describes himself as a professional dancer. And while it is fair to say he would probably not have his place in the field if it were not for his celebrity father, the bookies like him too. 8/1 is his best price.
Splitting this duo is Liberty Poole. The former Nando’s waitress found fame during a 54-day stint in this year’s Love Island. At 22 she is certainly young enough to learn how to ice dance well. Vitally the Brommie has a massive social media following and a share of this fanbase can be expected to support her via phone votes. Resultantly, 5/1 looks a fair price.
At the other end of the betting list is 57-year-old Bez and 58-year-old Sally Dynevor. Both can be backed at 33/1. It is noteworthy only one of the 13 previous Dancing on Ice winners have been aged over 40.
Strictly Looks a Done Deal
Of course, Strictly Come Dancing is well underway. This TV show, from a betting perspective, already looks over. Rose Ayling-Ellis and her professional dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, danced a Halloween-themed tango to ‘Shivers’ by Ed Sheeran last weekend. It earned them the first set of perfect scores of the current series.
Bookmakers have trimmed Rose Ayling-Ellis odds down to the bone during the past week. The actress, who plays Frankie Lewis East Enders, was 8/1 at the outset, she is now a probative 2/5 favorite to prevail. Eight rival celebrity dancers remain.
Who Will Be Next Doctor?
The betting market on the next Dr Who is far more open. The betting list is very long but the two names at the top of it are stars from the same show – Channel 4’s It’s a Sin.
Olly Alexander and Omari Douglas are 3/1 joint favorites to become the official fourteenth Doctor. Alexander is probably best known as the Years & Years singer.
Omari Douglass, 27-years-old from Wolverhampton, made his breakthrough in It’s a Sin – a drama about the Aids crisis of the 1980s. He is currently filming a role in Midas Man. It is a biopic movie about Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
An interesting contender at a big price is Kelly Macdonald. The actress found fame playing Dianne in 1996’s Trainspotting. Since then, she has had a prolific career across TV and film, most recently taking on a key role as DCI Joanne Davidson in series six of Line of Duty.
However, with comedians such as Sir Lenny Henry, Catherine Tate and Russell Brand also quoted in some bookmaker betting lists, it is safe to say this market features a lot of red herrings.
