Dancing on Ice Series Four: The Contestants

Ray Quinn takes over as favourite as the men get going

If you expect a woman to win this year’s Dancing on Ice, as has been the case in two of the previous three series, then now is the perfect time to get betting. The men have already had a chance to strut their stuff and that means that the odds of initial favourite Jessica Taylor, as well as four of the other five female contestants, have all widened. Here’s our take on all of this year’s contestants:

Ray Quinn evens
The 20-year-old is a quick learner having been an award-winning child actor in Brookside, finished second to Leona Lewis in the X Factor and been in Grease in the West End. Quinn’s partner Maria Filippov has always finished in the top four and at the start of play was the only man in the top six in the betting. In the opening week, Quinn recorded the best ever first week score ever achieved by a male contestant.

Jessica Taylor 4/1

Posted: January 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Mini-Me is the favourite to win Celebrity Big Brother

Paddy Power price Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer at 3/1

Verne Troyer, who plays Mini-Me in Austin Powers, has been installed by Paddy Power as the 3/1 favourite to win the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother, which kicks off tonight.

Close behind him in the betting is former A1 singer Ben Adams, who looks a strong contender considering fellow former boyband hunk Mark Owen was victorious in series two. However, it often takes a few episodes to identify whether male popstars can challenge or whether they are going to be peripheral figures, in which case they usually avoid the first few evictions.

Troyer and Adams are a long way ahead of 1990s rapper Coolio and former Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton, both of whom are 8/1. All of the other women are 12/1 or higher as men tend to be favoured by voters. The first three series were all won by men (Jack Dee, Mark Owen and Bez) before Chantelle won series four moreso because she wasn’t a celebrity than because she was a woman then Shilpa Shetty won the most recent series after all the controversy. Four of the five runners-up have also been men.

A full list of housemates, the reason you should be in awe of them and their Paddy Power odds can be found after the jump:

Posted: January 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment