Eastenders actor tops SCD lists

SHOWBIZ BETTING: 

THOSE two Saturday vote-a-thon TV shows, Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor, are in full swing and already some strong favourites have emerged.

I must admit I don’t follow SCD in the way I once did, and the retirement of Bruce Forsyth has done little to raise my enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, the show must go on and it’s Eastenders actor Jake Wood who has been installed the early favourite at 5-2.

Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge is 3-1, followed by singer Pixie Lott at 4-1, TV presenter Caroline Flack at 6s and singer-songwriter/actor Simon Webbe at 22-1.

I make a point of avoiding shows featuring the super-smug Simon Cowell, but there is no doubting the X Factor’s popularity and a serious frontrunner has emerged in Andrea Faustini (6-4 favourite), who seems to have a more creative stage name than Lauren Platt (6-1).

Ben Haenow – another whose original name has changed, I suspect – is 11-2, while the boy band (there always has to be one), Stereo Kicks, are 8-1.