Dancing With The Stars: Who Will Win This Year’s Series?
Daire Walsh
Week 10 of the competition is almost upon us and with this year’s Dancing With The Stars now at its semi-final stage, betting sites are continuing to offer their considered takes on who might come away with the top prize for 2024.
Last weekend’s broadcast of DWTS proved to be a memorable one as it saw two of the best contestants to date pitted against each other in the third dance-off of the series.
Having achieved an equivalent score seven days earlier, Northern Ireland drag queen Blu Hydrangea and professional partner Simone Arena once again accumulated a perfect score of 30 for a Quickstep to Beyonce’s Texas Hold ‘Em.
Virgin Media presenter Katja Mia has also been producing consistently impressive tallies alongside her companion Ervinas Merfeldas and her total of 28 for a Salsa to Levitating by Mandinga included a 10 from judge Arthur Gourounlian.
Hydrangea Remains A Strong Contender After Surviving Dance-Off
Yet it is the public who decided which celebrities were to progress automatically into the penultimate round of the competition and it was Hydrangea and Mia who were in the bottom two at the end of last Sunday’s show.
This seemed extremely cruel given how they had performed – the pair also earned 28 points each for their team dance to Electric Energy by Ariana DeBose, Boy George and Nile Rodgers – and it left the DWTS judges with an incredibly difficult decision to make.
Hydrangea and Arena were ultimately saved by Brian Redmond and Gourounlian – Loraine Barry would have done likewise had she been called upon for a vote – but Mia and Merfeldas added richly to this year’s programme and could well have advanced all the way to the final had they not found themselves in the aforementioned dance-off.
Hydrangea’s selection in the bottom two was particularly surprising as she had been polling well with the public up until last weekend and has been one of the bookies’ favourites for several weeks.
Blu is still available at 4/1 with specials betting sites, however, and remains a relatively safe bet to make into the last broadcast of season seven.
Whelan Still Out In Front As Competition’s Favourite
As has been the case since Dancing With The Stars returned to the small screen in 2024, David Whelan is the favourite to come away with top honours in this competition.
A member of Wild Youth (who represented Ireland at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest), Whelan and his partner Salome Chachua garnered a total of 28 points for the second week running after executing an impressive Paso Doble to Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.
Despite the competition intensifying in more recent weeks, he is still out in front as a potential winner at odds of 7/4 with betting apps.
Outstanding Performance Has Fox Well In Contention
Yet RTE presenter Laura Fox (most commonly known in recent times for fronting Ireland’s Fittest Family) has been slowly breathing down his neck and the Galway native produced her best performance of the series last weekend.
For her Charleston to Basement Jaxx’s Do Your Thing, Fox and Denys Samson were awarded a 10 by all three judges.
Given she came away with 24 points in week seven and 27 points in week eight, this represents a remarkable trajectory for Fox. As the conclusion of this year’s programme fast approaches, Fox is a live contender at 11/4.
Russell Still In The DWTS Mix
After reaching a high of 26 points in week six, former national hunt jockey Davy Russell has remained steady without ever truly threatening to surpass this tally.
Last Sunday, he picked up 21 points (or 7 each from the judges) for his Cha-cha-cha with Kylee Vincent to the Jason Derulo and Michael Buble duet Spicy Margarita.
He has been viewed as an outsider for much of the competition – his slow start in the first few weeks arguably contributed to this – but with his current odds standing at 7/2, the Cork man can’t be ruled out of contention.
Popular Smyth Remains An Outsider For An Overall Victory
Despite picking up a very respectable 23 points for a Jive to Runaway by OneRepublic with partner Karen Byrne, Paralympic legend Jason Smyth remains a massive underdog for top honours in DWTS.
At the time of writing, the odds on him defying expectations and winning season seven of this competition are 25/1 with new betting sites.
Should he end up in a dance-off this coming Sunday, you’d fear that the sporting icon’s time in DWTS could be coming to an end.
However, such is his popularity, that it’s entirely possible that the public could vote for him to go straight through into the final.