BBC Strictly Come Dancing star 'contender' for Glitterball after Movie Week boost

One Strictly Come Dancing star is said to have worked his way back into being a 'contender' for the Glitterball trophy after receiving a boost following the latest live show.

It was a big night for the BBC One dance contest on Saturday (October 5) as it was the annual Movie Week special. The show saw the remaining couples, minus Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk as he suffered a last-minute injury, channel their inner film stars while performing routines inspired by an array of huge films like Mrs Doubtfire, The Little Mermaid and Harry Potter.

At the end of the spectacular night, former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri topped the leaderboard scoring 34 out of 40. The 26-year-old performed a “moving” rumba with professional partner Aljaz Skorjanec to What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish from the Barbie movie.

READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans hail 'best ever' couple and tip them to win - but it's not Tasha and Aljaz

Morning Live’s Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez performed the first couple’s choice of the show’s 20th anniversary series to Bole Chudiyan from the Bollywood film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, coming joint second scoring 33.

Meanwhile, it was singer Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones who scored the lowest with 15, performing the samba to Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid, with the pair later becoming the second couple to leave Strictly 2024 after landing in the dance-off for a second week.

But someone who has jumped back into favour is Shayne Ward. Having been as big as 25/1 to win the series, a solid performance on Saturday night has forced bookies to slash his odds of going all the way to just 16/1, putting him FIFTH in the betting, and firmly among the frontrunners.

Singer and actor Shayne shaved off his beard so that he could accurately portray the King himself Elvis Presley during his and Nancy Xu's Viennese waltz to If I Can Dream from Elvis, which scored them 33 out of a possible 40 points from the judges.

Elsewhere, comedian Chris McCausland continues to lead the way at 10/11, ahead of Tasha (3/1) and JLS star JB Gill (7/1), while Nick Knowles is now the show's rank outsider at 100/1 after missing out on chance to perform with dance partner Luba Mushtuk.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "After a poor start, Shayne is working his way back up the leaderboard, and punters clearly think he could still be a contender for the Glitterball Trophy."