Strictly Come Dancing has captured the hearts of the nations as it returned for its 17th series this year with brand new judge Motsi Mabuse as well as a new cohort of celebrities to get their dancing shoes on. Kelvin Fletcher and his partner Oti Mabuse are strongly tipped as winners but they may fall at the final hurdle – here’s why.
Kelvin and Oti have impressed week after week and have never been awarded less than a seven from the judges for any of their routines.
After being a last minute replacement in the competition, Kelvin has sailed through and never found himself in the bottom two.
He quickly became a strong contender for the title and has been top of the leaderboard for six of the 12 weeks in the competition so far.
However, his high scoring history could pave the way for his loss as past data shows high scoring early on in the series can decrease the chance of lifting the Glitterball Trophy.
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Kelvin Fletcher came top of the leaderboard in week one with his sizzling Samba, where he scored 32 points.
However, this could be his downfall as contestants who come top of the leaderboard in the first week of the competition very rarely take home the title of Strictly champion.
In fact, only two contestants, Abbey Clancy and Mark Ramprakash, have ever lifted the Glitterball Trophy after being top of the leaderboard in the first week of the competition.
Perhaps this could be because viewers often enjoy the so-called journey of contestants, which sees them gradually improving and moving up the leaderboard throughout the competition.
Asked whether he thought himself and Emma Barton would take home the trophy, he explained how the final was a “level playing field” between all three celebrities and how any of the three could pick it up.
He explained: “We’ve all got the same chance. It’s the most important people who are voting this time, it’s the audience only, the people at home. It’s all a real level sort of playing field, anything can happen, all you can do is focus on your bit, we hope it’s good enough, we have no control over anything else.
“The judges have their say, it has no reflection on the result, the marks don’t have any impact on the result but they make us feel better going into your next dance, that’s essentially it.
“It’s up for grabs essentially anyone can pick it up,” he concluded.
Kelvin remains the favourite to walk away with the title of Strictly 2019 champion tomorrow night, with EastEnders star Emma Barton not far behind, according to bookmaker’s Coral.
“The momentum behind Emma and Anton is gathering serious pace ahead of Saturday’s Strictly final. The betting suggested Kelvin had this wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, however, this gamble certainly indicates that is not the case,” said Coral’s John Hill.
As Kelvin, Karim and Emma will take to the dance floor for one last time, who will get to lift the coveted Glitterball Trophy with their partner?
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final returns this evening at 7.05pm on BBC One.
