BBC Strictly Come Dancing star puts 'huge spanner' in competition after transformation hailed

One Strictly Come Dancing star is said to have but a 'huge spanner' in the works when it comes to predicting who will be lifting the Glitterball trophy this year.

It was a rollercoaster of a weekend in the ballroom as week seven of the BBC One contest saw the arrival of a new themed week. 'icons Week' saw the remaining couples perform to a song by a legendary singer or band - with most also dressing up as the 'icon'.

JLS singer JB Gill and stand-in professional partner Lauren Oakley scored the joint-highest score of the night as JB's usual partner, Amy Dowden, watched from the studio sidelines after she fell ill and was forced to miss rehearsals.

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Her fellow pro Lauren Oakley, who does not have a partner for this year’s series of the hit dancing show, stood in for her, performing a Bruno Mars medley with JB during the latest live show, for a score of 39 out of a possible 40, his highest score of the series and first 10s.

Reality star Tasha Ghouri and professional partner Aljaz Skorjanec performed to P!nk’s What About Us for a joint series high score of 3, with Aljaz taking it as a compliment when Anton Du Beke said: "I didn’t notice Aljaz once, you were exquisite, you made it personal and just lovely."

But it was Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola who seemingly impressed viewers most. They scored 37 out of a possible 40 for their cha cha to Madonna’s Just Like A Prayer, which saw actress Sarah embody the legendary singer.

Judge Motsi Mabuse, dressed as Tina Turner for the latest special episode, told Sarah and Vito: "This was iconic, whole package made sense, tight steps, on-point and rhythmical, rolling like Tina."

And now it's been revealed that Sarah is fast becoming the top choice to win the whole competition this year, according to the bookies. Having been as big as 40/1 at the start of the competition, Ladbrokes now make Sarah just 5/2 to win Strictly, putting her firmly hot on the heels of long-time frontrunner, Chris McCausland (4/7).

Elsewhere, Tasha remains third in the betting at 13/2, while every other name is now priced at 12/1 or bigger to cause an unlikely upset. Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "Sarah's completely shaken up the Strictly betting in the last few days, and it now looks like we have - at least - a two-horse race on our hands for this year's Glitterball Trophy, despite Chris once looking a shoo-in for the trophy."

It comes after Strictly fans hailed Sarah's latest tranformation and claimed her and Vito as the winners of the 2024 series with the competition now over half way. @Daniel_Bevis said: "Fab again from Sarah and Vito! I think they're our 2024 winners guys #Strictly." @BRATTYBARBl commented: "Sarah Hadland truly deserves to win this series… she's a bloody insane dancer #Strictly." @SeaThundr added: "Sarah Hadland is winning this. Icon. Legend. #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing."