Dancing With The Stars: Who Will Win This Year’s Series?
We are only just heading into the second week of the contest, betting sites are already taking a very keen interest in the main contenders for the 2024 edition of Dancing With The Stars.
When the series first aired back in 2017 – following in the footsteps of the UK version that was originally established all of 20 years ago – former Kerry GAA star Aidan O’Mahony and his professional dance partner Valeria Milova emerged as the inaugural winners.
Since then, figures across the mediums of entertainment (Jake Carter), broadcasting (Mairead Ronan, Carl Mullen and Lottie Ryan) and sport (Nina Carberry) have all come out on top.
While the Covid-19 pandemic ensured it was absent from TV screens in 2021, it has otherwise been a regular fixture on the RTE calendar during the early months of the year since its 2017 debut.
Although it won’t be until week three that the first pair are eliminated from this year’s Dancing With The Stars, the performances produced last Sunday do provide us with a sense of who might be the most likely candidate to win season seven of the programme.
A Northern Irish drag queen who won the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World, Blu Hydrangea scored an impressive 24 points – in unison with professional partner Simone Arena – off the judges for a captivating cha-cha-cha.
However, as things stand, Hydrangea is currently only seen as the third favourite at 9/2 with betting apps.
Whelan Expected To Go All The Way
After only finishing a point behind Hydrangea, David Whelan (who represented Ireland at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest with his band Wild Youth) is currently out in front at 11/8.
His Tango with Salome Chachua gave them a total of 23 points and given his Georgian dance companion finished second when paired with Ireland 7s international Jordan Conroy in 2022’s season five, it could prove to be a fruitful partnership.
Squeezed in between Whelan and Hydrangea, in what is currently a very tight race for supremacy, is Galway native Laura Fox.
She is already a familiar presence on RTE screens as the host of Ireland’s Fittest Family and after scoring 21 points for her jive with Denys Samson, she is 4/1 second favourite with new betting sites.
Hailing from Garryvoe in Cork, Miriam Mullins first came to prominence for her comedy videos on the social media platform TikTok and more recently became a presenter on Red FM in her home county.
She scored 18 points in week one with her partner Montel Hewson and is amongst the chasing pack at 5/1.
Competitive Fields Second Nature To Russell & Smyth
Throughout their sporting careers, Davy Russell and Jason Smyth were used to emerging as the top dogs in ferociously competitive fields.
Whereas Russell won two Grand Nationals, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris during a glittering spell as a national hunt jockey, Derry man Jason Smyth won an astonishing six gold medals while representing Ireland as a sprint runner in the Paralympic Games.
Russell currently holds the edge over his fellow ex-elite sportsman with the 19 points he accumulated along with Kylee Vincent, slightly eclipsing the 17 that Smyth and his dance partner Karen Byrne garnered for their foxtrot.
Their natural athleticism means they will have scope to improve as the weeks go on, but for now Russell and Smyth are listed at 13/2 and 8/1 by specials betting sitesrespectively.
The daughter of Burundian parents who was born and raised in Blanchardstown, Dublin, Katja Mia is best known for her work with RTE’s rival station Virgin Media.
Despite registering 21 points for her samba with Ervinas Merfeldas, she is currently listed as an outside bet at 9/1.
The same odds are available on Rosanna Davison, who came away with 17 points from her first dance with Stephen Vincent – who is married to the aforementioned Kylee Vincent.
The daughter of singer Chris de Burgh, Davison was the winner of the Miss World pageant at 19 years of age in 2003.
Also joining Mia and Davison at odds of 9/1 is Fair City actor Shane Quigley Murphy. A relative newcomer to the Irish soap (he first joined the cast in 2022), Murphy scored a solid 19 points for his dance with Laura Nolan in week one.
Cowen & Dunne Big Outsiders For Outright Glory
At 33/1, Murphy’s Fair City co-star Rory Cowan is viewed as a rank outsider when it comes to the overall betting for this year’s Dancing With The Stars.
A former star of Mrs. Brown’s Boys, Cowan came away with just 11 points for his Charleston with Jillian Bromwich – the lowest tally in week one of the competition.
Veteran RTE newsreader Eileen Dunne fared better on the opening week of season seven as she picked up 14 points for her American Smooth with Robert Rowinski.
Yet she is even further adrift in the betting with BoyleSports offering odds of 66/1 on her staying the course and pulling off a shock victory.