Helen Skelton Strictly: Countryfile and former Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton catches up to Strictly Come Dancing favourite Hamza Yassin as odds drop

The TV presenter, who moved from Leeds back in with her family in Cumbria on October 19, 2022, is a second-favourite to win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing competition. She has a sporty background before appearing on the dance show, having held two world record titles; one for kayaking the Amazon and one for tight-roping across Battersea power station 150 metres high.

She is known for pushing herself to the limit as she doesn’t tend to give up easily and holds two world record titles. Despite having the second lowest average score out of the remaining six contestants, Helen Skelton along with Hamza and actor Will Melor are the few who have avoided the dance-off.

Will was the favourite during the opening weeks of the show due to his dance style and talent after impressing the judges with his Jive dance in the opening week. It wasn’t until week 10 that Will found himself at the top of the leaderboard for a second time, while Hamza has managed a total of four times on top of the leaderboard throughout the show.

Helen has only managed to reach the top of the leaderboard once in week five but despite the lower scores, the bookies at William Hill remain confident that she has a high chance of winning.

She is now catching up with long-time front-runner, Hamza, after seeing her odds drop to 5-2, while Hamza’s odds currently stand at 2-5 and also has the highest score on the show at 34.1.

Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: “Helen has shown how determined she is time and time again. I think she has it in her to go all the way, she doesn’t give up easily. That being said, Hamza has been the firm favourite for quite some time now, I think it would take something pretty special to knock him off the top spot.”

Full Strictly Come Dancing odds

1 - Hamza Yassin (2-5)

2 - Helen Skelton (5-2)

3 - Will Mellor (14-1)

4 - Fleur East (40-1)

5 - Molly Rainford (66-1)

6 - Kym Marsh (66-1)