Betting On Strictly Come Dancing

What is Strictly Come Dancing?

Strictly Come Dancing is a British television dance contest show. The show features 14 dance couples comprising a celebrity partnered with a professional dancer to compete against other couples. The celebrities perfect mainly ballroom and Latin dance routines with their partnered professional dancers to wow a panel of judges and the show’s audience.

The History Of Strictly Come Dancing

The show Strictly Come Dancing was developed by famous TV producer Richard Hopkins, responsible for producing the UK’s first series of Big Brother, and at the time, BBC entertainment executive Fenia Vardanis. Together the two perfected the show's format and had the pilot season roll out in 2004. 

The show was filmed at the BBC Television Centre until 2013 when the studios were closed. It is now shot at the Elstree Studios, except for the one episode every season when the contest broadcasts live from Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.

The format of Strictly Come Dancing has been exported to 50+ countries, licensed by BBC Worldwide, under the title Dancing with the Stars, where it has enjoyed immense success. The Guinness Book of World Records has named Strictly Come Dancing one of the world's most successful reality television formats.

When does Strictly Come Dancing Air?

Strictly Come Dancing is aired on BBC One annually in the fall season for 13 weeks. The show airs on both Saturday and Sunday evenings — Saturday evenings are for the live dance show and Sunday evenings for the dance-off and results show. This year the show premiered on Saturday, 17th September 2022, with the first live show airing a week later.

The show has consistently aired annually since 15 May 2004. However, due to Covid, the series took a two-year hiatus. This year’s show is special because it is the momentous 20th season and its great return since Covid. The high viewership is no surprise as fans are thrilled about the show's return and punters are excited to place wagers and win big.

Now that you know why Strictly is such a hit amongst punters, let’s get into the betting aspect of the show. One of the best practices when placing wagers on Strictly is knowing the show’s contestants.

The Panellists of Strictly Come Dancing 2022

The panel of judges on Strictly account for 50% of the total score earned by contestants; hence, it is very important to know who will be seating on the decision seats. This year's panellists are:

• Shirley Ballas

Shirley Ballas, popularly known as The Queen of Latin due to her specialisation in the International Latin division, is a  62-year-old professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and dance teacher. Shirley has been dancing since the age of seven, joined the Strictly Come Dancing show as a judge in 2017, and has been the head judge since then.

• Craig Revel Horwood

Revel Horwood is a 57-year-old dancer, choreographer, theatre director, former drag queen, and author. He is the longest-serving judge on the Strictly Come Dancing show, having been on the panel since season 1. Revel has built a reputation as the harshest judge on the panel and often criticises his fellow judges.

• Motsi Mabuse 

Motsi Mabuse is a 41-year-old professional dancer from Germany. Before becoming a judge on UK’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, Motsi was originally a professional dancer, then became a judge on Let’s Dance, Germany’s version of Strictly Come Dancing.

• Anton Du Beke

Anton Du Beke is a 56-year-old professional dancer from Buckinghamshire. He has been dancing since he was 10. Besides, he has been a professional dancer on the Strictly Come Dancing show since 2004. Du Beke first appeared on the show as a judge in 2021 as a replacement for Bruno Tonioli, who was unable to travel back to the UK from the US for the show due to Covid travel restrictions. Anto returns as a permanent judge in the 2022 season and the seasons to come following his successful debut as a judge in 2021.

How To Bet On Strictly Come Dancing

Betting on Strictly Come Dancing is quite easy. Just follow these 3 simple steps below.

• Step 1: Find a bookie that offers to bet on Strictly Come Dancing. 

You should find the show under the specials or entertainment category on most UK bookies. We have made the work easier for you and listed the top bookmakers for betting on Strictly Come Dancing in the section below.

• Step 2: Find the betting market where you want to place your wager, select, and update your bet slip. 

We discuss the most popular betting markets in the sections below.

• Step 3: Choose your stake and confirm your bet.

In the following sections, we also share tips and strategies to boost the accuracy of your prediction and reduce the error margin so that you can win big on your Strictly wagers.

Betting Markets For Strictly Come Dancing

The earlier you place your bets the bigger the payout is likely to be. Here are some of the most popular markets for betting on Strictly that you can place your wagers on.

• Winning Gender

This is one of the most popular betting markets for the Strictly Come Dancing show. It allows you to wage on the gender of the celebrity to win the contest. This wager gives you a 50% chance of winning, hence the popularity amongst punters.

• Winner of Strictly Come Dancing

This is one of the most confident bets you can place on the Strictly Come Dancing show. Your job as a punter is to predict either the winning couple or the winning celebrity for the season and win big.

• First to be Eliminated

This is a bet that you can only place during the first week of elimination by predicting which couple will be the first to leave the show.

Research on the contestants’ fitness levels, careers, and dance ability can greatly improve your prediction, even without seeing them showcase their first dance routine.

• Next to be Eliminated

This is a prediction of the couple to be eliminated from the show during the dance-off on Sunday. 

Based on the most recent performances, you can correctly pick out the couples struggling and get a feel of who is most likely to get voted out next.

• Next Bottom Two Couples

This is a prediction of the two couples to have the lowest points and be ranked in the bottom two after the Saturday Live Show.

• Lowest Score From Judges

This is a wager on the dance couple that will receive the lowest total score from the judges after their dance performance on the Saturday Live show.

• Highest Score From Judges

This is a prediction of the couple to receive the highest total score from the judges after their dance performance on the Saturday Live show.

Tips And Strategies For Betting On Strictly Come Dancing

Betting on Strictly Come Dancing is similar to betting on sports. The only difference is in understanding that both the judges and audience are responsible for who stays, who gets eliminated and who wins eventually. These 5 tips and strategies for betting on Strictly should help you cash in and win big.

Find The Best Odds

Different bookies offer different odds for placing your wagers on Strictly. The smartest thing to do is shop around and check out different odds, especially from our recommended list of bookmakers, before settling on your preferred bookie to place your wagers with. 

Capitalise On Betting Offers

A lot of bookmakers will do their best to offer the most lucrative betting offers during the run of Strictly Come Dancing. Try out new bookies to enjoy the first-time user bonus, and always be on the lookout for betting offers from your regular bookies.

Pay Close Attention To Judges' Comments

The stakes and ranks of the competing couples change after each performance thanks to the scores awarded by the judges. Beyond the scores awarded, pay attention to the praises and criticisms dished out by various judges to the contestants. This will give you a more informed pulse on the possible progression of various contestants before you make your market predictions.

Be Up To Date With The Public’s Opinions

While the judges score the contestants Strictly based on their routine, the viewers vote online for their favourite contestants to stay on the show. You also need to have a pulse on the viewers’ favourite and most disliked contestants to inform your predictions. Get on social media and keep up with the public’s opinion on #Strictly and #StrictlyComeDancing to have the upper hand as you palace your bets.

Watch The Show

With almost all information about the happenings on Strictly being available on the internet, it is possible to bet on the show without necessarily watching it. However, we highly suggest you be an active viewer of the show to better monitor the performance of the celebrities and professional dancers. The goal is to gather as much information as possible to make the most informed bets — there’s no better way to do so than to be an active follower of the show.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Format And Structure

It is important to understand how Strictly Come Dancing works to make the most informed predictions and place wagers with the highest possible returns. So here is a detailed breakdown of the show’s format and structure.

The Contestants

Strictly Come Dancing comprises 14 dance couples competing to win the competition and lift the Glitterball trophy. Each couple is made up of a celebrity paired with a professional dancer. The professional dancers are responsible for training the celebrities in Ballroom and Latin American dances to perfect and wow judges and viewers.

The Live Show

The Live show airs on Saturdays, where each dance couple showcases the themed dance routine they have been working on all week. Their performance is then subject to judges' scoring and viewers' voting.

The Judges Scoring 

The panel of four judges on Strictly Come Dancing is responsible for scoring each couple's dance performance. Each judge scores a couple out of ten — with the four judges, the maximum score awarded can only be 40.

The couple with the lowest score will receive one point, while the couple with the highest score will receive the maximum number of points. The maximum number of points usually depends on the total number of couples in the competition after every elimination.

The Viewers Voting 

The viewers, on the other hand, are responsible for rallying behind their favourite couples by casting votes for them online.

The couple with the highest number of votes will receive the maximum number of points, while the couple with the lowest score will receive one point.

The Final Ranking 

To determine the final rank, each couple’s points from the judges' scores and viewer votes are added together.

Once the ranking is complete, the bottom two couples are obligated to perform a dance-off on the results show to fight for a spot to remain in the competition.

The Breaking Ties Structure

More often than not there are ties in the points awarded to the dance couples. When it is impossible to pick out the two bottom couples due to ties, the following systems are employed to break the ties.

• If two or more couples have equal points, the points from the viewers' votes are given precedence in determining the order of ranking.
• As the show progresses and fewer couples are left to resolve ties, the tie structure employed is 3–3–2 to ensure that each couple has a mathematical potential to avoid being in the bottom two.
• The head judge is the custodian of the casting vote. The casting vote allows them to vote for one party in a tied vote and break the tie.

The Results Show

This is the Sunday show where the bottom two dance couples perform a dance-off routine to impress the judges and earn a spot to remain in the competition. This dance-off routine will help the judges vote for the dance couple to save or eliminate. The head judge’s vote is the casting vote.

The Elimination

The dance couple that loses in the dance-off on Sunday will be eliminated immediately from the Strictly show.