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

Joe Swash 1/6 to be crowned King of the Jungle tonight

van Day’s exit leaves ex-Eastender miles ahead in the betting

Joe Swash is now generally 1/6 to win I’m a Celebrity after David van Day, his closest rival in the betting, was sent packing.

That means that there is little opportunity to make money on tonight’s finale, with the best chance possibly being to hope van Day’s voters switch to George Takei to enable him to finish ahead of Martina Navratilova in second.

In Sky Bet’s straight forecast market it is just 8/13 for Martina to finish second to Joe but for George to finish behind the ex-Eastender is 7/4, which means that even though it’s an outside chance, it’s the most likely bet of any value to make money from tonight.

Posted: December 5th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

I’m a Celebrity: The Men

A mayoral candidate, a popstar, an ex-Eastender and two old men

Brian Paddick’s goal for 2008 was to become the Mayor of London but after losing out to Boris Johnson he altered his aspirations and decided to settle on the next best thing: munching on witchetty grubs for the public’s amusement. Five of the seven previous series have been won by a man: have any of these got what it takes to become the sixth?

Click here to place your bets

Brian Paddick
In the space of six months the former Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner has gone from campaigning to become Mayor of London to accepting a spot on I’m a Celebrity. Paddick is fifty but age isn’t a negative factor: four of the previous seven winners were over forty while series two winner Phil Tufnell was close behind aged 37.

George Takei
At the age of 71, Star Trek’s Mr Sulu will become the oldest contestant in the history of the show. Prior to this series Tommy Cannon was the oldest entrant and he was the voted out first in series five. The last American cult actor to appear was Huggy Bear, who came seventh in series four.

Joe Swash
The popularity of ex-Eastenders has declined since Sid Owen’s third-placed finish in series five and Marc Bannerman was the first person voted off last year. However, despite only being 26, Swash has an interesting backstory: he lost his dad when he was twelve, contracted a serious illness that nearly killed him in 2005 and has a reputation as a party animal.

Posted: November 16th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment