Strictly Come Dancing Week 9 Prediction and Betting Tips: The best bet for Blackpool elimination

The Strictly show is taken on the road this week with its annual Blackpool edition.

The Blackpool Tower Ballroom is the home of ballroom dancing here in the UK, famed for its architecture and bouncing floor. 

It’s the perfect location for our seven remaining couples to lay down their marker for the rest of the series, with our man Guy Evans running through each of their credentials for this weekend's show.

Strictly Come Dancing Week 8 Elimination Recap

Krishnan Guru-Murthy won’t be in Blackpool to soak up the atmosphere.

He and partner Lauren Oakley were voted off on Sunday night following a close dance-off with Angela Rippon; head judge Shirley voted to save Krishnan, so the newsreader only needed one other judge’s vote to stay in the competition. 

Strictly Come Dancing Winner Odds

After two weeks in second place, Layton Williams returned to the top of the leaderboard with an Argentine tango that scored 39 points. The crowd were baying for a 10 from Craig but he wasn’t to be swayed by the fever pitch of the Strictly floor.

Odds on Layton to win have incredibly shifted back up to 14/1 – that’s a best price offer from Unibet. 

In terms of dancing quality, it’s currently a two-horse race between Layton and Ellie Leach. She and partner Vito Coppola scored 35 for their rumba – remarkably their lowest score for three weeks. 

Ellie has been the bookie’s choice for a while and is now overwhelmingly the favourite according to our betting partners. A best price on her to win can be found at 2/5 from both Unibet and Betfred. 

Sat between Ellie and Layton are Nigel Harman (6/1, William Hill) and Bobby Brazier (9/1, Boylesports, bet365, William Hill, BetVictor and Parimatch). This is the second successive jump in price for Bobby, who started the show as heavy favourite but has yet to really fulfil that early promise. 

Angela Scanlon returned to some form with a waltz that scored 33. In a tricky field she now moves to a best price of 33/1 to win from William Hill and Betfred. 

Annabel Croft stays at 100/1, while Angela Rippon jumps dramatically again to a best price of 150/1 from Betfred, Boylesports and bet365. 

Next Elimination Odds

I think this week will be a battle of the American smooths – both Angela Rippon and Annabel are dancing the smooth, and whoever performs it best will stay in the competition. 

Best price elimination odds on Angela come from BetVictor and Parimatch at 1/2, while Annabel can be backed to leave at 3/1.

I backed Angela for elimination last week and I’m afraid I’m doing so again. She’s done incredibly well to reach this stage but I think her race might be run. 

Don’t miss the magic of Blackpool this weekend – I’ll be back next time with more Strictly betting tips.