Strictly Come Dancing standout Layton Williams is no longer the favourite to win the BBC One dance contest.
Actor Layton, 29, and his pro partner Nikita Kuzmin have stormed this year’s series. The pairing have topped the leaderboard four times in eight weeks of the 2023 run.
And when they haven’t been dominating the scores, the duo have been placed second a further three times.
However, despite this success – and very nearly cracking the first full house of 10s from the judges this series last weekend – the bookies are now eyeing up another Strictly star as the 2023 winner.
Strictly news: Layton Williams odds to win
That’s because William Hill fancy Ellie Leach to claim the Glitterball trophy.
The former Corrie actress is currently priced at 2/7 with the oddsmakers – the shortest any contestant has been to win the show.
Ellie, who dances with pro Vito Coppola, was regarded as a top pick previously, too. Last week William Hill rated her as 4/6 to win.
And that means other show and betting faves Nigel Harman and Layton have seen their odds lengthen. Soap actor Nigel – who dances with Katya Jones – is considered a 7/1 shot.
Furthermore, Layton has dropped to third favourite at 8/1.
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‘Asserting dominance’
A William Hill spokesperson said: “Ellie Leach has really started to assert her dominance in this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing and is now our firm favourite to win the show.”
Layton Williams is now the third favourite at 8/1.
They continued: “Nigel Harman has drifted from 4/1 to 7/1, despite scoring a personal best of 34 points on Saturday. Layton Williams is now the third favourite at 8/1 after scoring a near-perfect 39 points on Saturday.”
‘I was really overwhelmed’
Despite his and Nikita’s incredible performance, some fans believe Layton may have been ‘out of sorts’ last Saturday.
One fan wrote as they addressed Layton on social media: “You didn’t seem like your usual bubbly self tonight after your dance.”
But Layton replied to the worried fan: “It was just super emotional and I was really overwhelmed.”
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 continues on Saturday November 18, on BBC One at 6.40pm. It Takes Two airs on weekdays on BBC Two, at 6.30pm.
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