Strictly Come Dancing 2021 Preview

Here we take a look at the Strictly Come Dancing betting odds for each contestant who will be looking to take the crown of the best dancer on this year’s show from Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse who will not be competing in this season’s show. Mabuse made history at Strictly last year by becoming the first contestant to win the show twice and to do it back-to-back having won it in 2019 with Kelvin Fletcher.

Tom Fletcher is the favourite to win the show at 4/1 in the Strictly Come Dancing odds.

The 36-year-old Harrow born musician has been involved with many notable acts, such as Busted, McFly and James Bourne, co-writing ten UK number one singles such as “Crashed the Wedding” and “Thunderbirds” in his Busted days.

Alongside Fletcher’s music career, he is also a talented children’s author, writing books such as The Christmasaurus, The Creakers and There’s a Monster in Your Book.

There is a lot of household pride at stake for Fletcher as his wife, Giovanna, managed to win I’m a Celebrity, so you can only imagine the jibes that the famous musician will receive back home if he fails to win Strictly Come Dancing. Tom’s group member Harry Judd also won the show back in 2011, just to add a little more pressure.

With pressure mounting up on Fletcher he said: “I think the fact that I’m actually going to be dancing on Strictly this year has only just started to sink in while I’m writing this! I’m incredibly excited, of course, but also totally terrified!”

Fletcher, 36, also joked about his dancing capabilities by saying “My kids were excited too until I started showing them my best dad-dancing in the kitchen. I’m not sure how far they’ll get me in the competition but I can’t wait to add some new moves to my embarrassing dad-dancing repertoire.”

Robert Webb comes in at 6/1 on the Strictly Come Dancing betting odds.

Webb is a 48-year-old comedian, actor and author who is best known for his role in Channel 4’s Peep Show alongside the likes of David Mitchell. As an author, he published “This Mitchell and Webb Book” in late 2009 which was a comedy book.

Upon joining the show Webb said: “My goal is to try and survive from week to week without causing serious injury to myself or innocent bystanders. I know it’s going to be a challenge. To do well in this competition is a test of character, although mainly it’s a test of dancing.”

Rose Ayling-Ellis was announced as the 12th star to be in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The 31-year-old actress comes in at 6/1 on the Strictly Come Dancing odds and is well known for her roles in notable television programmes such as Casualty, where she played the role of Bianca Sinclair for one episode in 2017 and her recent introduction to Soap Opera EastEnders, where she Frankie Lewis and has been a series regular since 2020.

Notably, if you’re very observant, she also appears in some notable music videos such as The Vamps music video for Middle of the Night and in the short Almost with Vilma Jackson.

Upon joining Strictly Come Dancing she said: “To be the first deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing is sooooo exciting.. and a little bit scary,” she explained. “It is the hardest secret I have ever had to keep so it feels amazing to finally have this out in the open! I hope I will do the deaf community proud and break down more barriers”.

Ayling-Ellis further added that: “I am also very excited to learn an incredible new skill and even better I get to learn whilst wearing beautiful dresses made especially for me!”

The final contestant on this list of candidates to win the show is Adam Peaty who’s Strictly Come Dancing odds stand at 8/1.

Peaty is an Olympic swimmer and made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title having also won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke at Rio 2016. The Uttoxeter born swimmer has broken 14 world records throughout his career in the pool and will be looking to add another accolade to his list of impressive achievements by competing to win Strictly Come Dancing.

Following the announcement that Peaty will be joining this year’s show the 26-year-old said: “I’m really looking forward to doing something totally different and challenging myself away from the pool. I’m hoping my competitive nature is going to compensate for my dancing abilities!”

Peaty is priced at 8/1 on the Strictly Come Dancing odds list to win this year's show - click on the link to claim this bet in your bet slip!