Strictly Come Dancing Week 3 Tips: Nikita Kanda and Jody Cundy could both be in trouble

After successfully tipping poor Les Dennis to be the first contestant to get the boot off Strictly Come Dancing last weekend, Guy Evans returns to assess the latest in the betting ahead of Week 3.

Strictly Come Dancing Winner Odds Update

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu were the first couple to be eliminated from the competition during Sunday night’s results show. They amassed a miserly 31 points across the first two shows and were voted off by the judges following a dance-off with Nikita and Gorka. 

At the other end of the leaderboard the show was stolen by Layton Williams and his partner Nikita Kuzmin. Their quickstep oozed confidence and scored 36 points – more or less unprecedented at this stage of the competition. Strangely this doesn’t seem to have cut Layton’s odds of winning: Unibet currently has him priced at 10/1, with five other celebrities at lower odds.   

Actress Amanda Abbington was the second-best performer on Saturday night, receiving 32 points for a tricky salsa routine. She was one of five couples placed within three points of each other on the leaderboard after aggregating the scores from both shows, and you can back her to win at a best price of 8/1 at bet365. 

Coronation Street’s Ellie Leach also looks like a serious contender – she scored 31 points for her elegant foxtrot alongside partner Vito Coppola and can also be backed at 8/1. 

The other current title contenders according to the bookies include Nigel Harman, whose odds have been slashed to 15/8. He’s the show’s outright frontrunner at the moment, although he scored five fewer points for his Viennese waltz on Saturday night than he did for his paso doble in week one.

Bobby Brazier and Angela Scanlon have seen their odds shift marginally and can be backed at 4/1 and 6/1 respectively.

I’d be remiss not to mention Angela Rippon. She’s turned in a combined score of 59 points over the first two weeks, including three eights for her foxtrot on Saturday night. 78-year-old Rippon and her partner Kai danced to Sinatra’s You Make Me Feel So Young and of all the celebs, she looks like she’s having the most fun. A best-price of 28/1 to win might be too much of a stretch, but I think she’ll at least make it to the Blackpool show around the series’ half-way mark.

Looking ahead to this week’s show, Nikita Kanda will need to improve if she’s to avoid a consecutive dance-off appearance.

Kanda was only five points better off than Les over the two shows and our bookmakers have her as the favourite to be voted off this week, with bet365 offering 4/6 on this outcome.

I think Jody Cundy might also be in a bit of trouble. bet365, William Hill and Betfred all have him as 3/1 to be eliminated, and he’s looked uncomfortable during the early parts of the series.

It’s not easy for the Paralympian – who’s dancing, incredibly, with only one foot – but the voting public will want to see him enjoying the Strictly buzz a little more.   

Tune in this Saturday and Sunday to catch the latest Strictly action, and be sure to check back next week for our round-up of the show.