The favourite for Strictly Come Dancing 2022 has been revealed following an action-packed week one.
Will Mellor has become the outright favourite to bag the Strictly crown this year following his performance on Saturday night.
The Two Pints actor topped the leaderboard alongside Hamza Yassin, with 34/40.
As a result, bookies have adjusted their odds and Will has found himself comfortably at the top.
Strictly 2022 favourite revealed
Will and his professional dance partner Nancy Xu’s 34-point routine to Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca has seen support for them to lift the Glitterball Trophy grow.
Former favourites Helen Skelton and Fleur East now stand close behind at 4/1 and 5/1, respectively.
William Hill spokesperson Tony Kenny, said: “With 15 dances on the opening night it can be hard to stand out from the crowd, but Will Mellor’s dazzled on the dancefloor and he’s been very well-backed as a result.
“At 6/4 after just one dance, Mellor is one of the shortest-price favourites we’ve ever had at this point.”
However, sadly for Tony Adams, his performance has cemented his position as the rank underdog.
“Fleur East still has her supporters and remains steady in the betting at 5/1, while at the wrong end of the table Tony Adams looks in big trouble at 100/1.”
Meanwhile, actress Kym Marsh is holding at 8/1, Tyler West is close behind with 9/1 and Hamza Yassin is sitting pretty at 12/1.
As with every year, however, things could change week-on-week depending on how the celebs tackle different genres of dance.
Strictly ratings slide
Following Saturday’s show, the ratings showed a major drop from last year.
The first live show was watched by an average of 6.8 million viewers.
That reportedly represents a huge drop on last year’s first live show’s 7.9 million viewers.
To make matters worse, Friday’s launch show attracted an average of just 5.4 million viewers – peaking at 5.6 million.
In contrast, last year’s launch was seen by seven million viewers with a peak of 7.3m.
Despite the ratings dropping, many viewers appeared to be over the moon to have the dancing competition back on their screens.
One person said on Twitter: “Strictly – it’s BACK, thank goodness!!! And once again I LOVE it!! Keep dancing!”
A second entertained viewer gushed: “So happy #Strictly is back – was a wonderful show! Love the new dancers!”
“Love that #Strictly is back! Can’t wait to get annoyed when someone rubbish but popular stays for weeks and weeks and someone brilliant gets kicked out at week 4,” said a third excited fan.
Read more: Strictly fans stunned by Kaye Adams’ dramatic transformation: ‘Did not recognised you!’
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One next Saturday (October 1) at 6:30pm.
Meanwhile, spin-off show It Takes Two will begin on BBC Two, Monday September 26 at 6:30pm.
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