Strictly Come Dancing’s Nancy Xu and her celebrity dance partner Shayne Ward are facing a tough challenge just hours before the live show.
The remaining 10 celebrities are gearing up to dazzle on Saturday with Icon-inspired performances. However, the odds are not in Shayne and Nancy’s favour, as bookmakers suggest they could be the next to leave the dance floor despite escaping elimination last week.
The ex-Corrie actor and singer has been pegged at 6/4 to be sent packing.
Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “Shayne Ward is the 6/4 favourite to be exiting the show this week, but he has company in the danger zone with Sam, JB and Wynne following hot on his dancing heels in the elimination betting.
“Meanwhile, despite finishing joint bottom of the leaderboard last week, Chris McCausland has not put many punters off, and he remains the strong odds-on favourite to win the show,” reports Wales Online.
Last weekend, Dr Punam Krishnan said goodbye to the competition after finding herself in the bottom two alongside the X Factor alumni. Yet, the judges were unanimous in their decision to save Shayne.
Reflecting on her Strictly journey with Tess Daly, Punam expressed: “I am really proud of myself. You know, I’ve taken on something that’s so out of my comfort zone.
“The one thing that I’ve very much learnt is to say yes more and that there is no point in your life when you can stop learning new skills. I’ve learnt more than dancing. I’ve learnt so much from Gorka.
“Everyone’s been so incredible, and it’s just memories that I’ll take home forever, and I am very proud. I’ve made my family very proud, I’m just really grateful.”
She added: “This is just one of those things that I have dreamt about for years, and I think to have one of your dreams genuinely come ‘true’ is just a surreal feeling,”.
Gorka showered his partner with praise: “Week after week it’s been incredible, I’ve made friends for life and everyone’s just been so kind, so thank you. t’s been incredible, it’s been a fantastic six weeks. I’m very proud of what she has achieved.”
He went on: “She’s a GP and a mum. She had never danced before, and I think she improved week by week.
“I think she is truly what the show is about. Someone who doesn’t have experience in the performance world came here and learned to dance. She wanted to do so well and worked so hard.”
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.