EastEnders star Maisie Smith is made MASSIVE favourite to win Strictly

EastEnders-Maisie-Smith-Strictly-Come-Dancing
BBC

The EastEnders actress has already won the Children in Need version!

EastEnders star Maisie Smith is a huge favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing 2020.

The 19-year-old, who plays Tiffany Butcher-Baker on the soap, has said it's a dream come true to be on Strictly.

EastEnders Secrets Maisie Smith

Maisie spoke to former Strictly winner Stacey Dooley recently on Secrets From The Square (Image credit: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

“Get me in those sequins, I can’t wait to dive into the Strictly fancy dress box this winter! This is a dream come true,” she revealed.

And now the bookies have installed her at a short price of just 7/4 to win the BBC1 series.

EastEnders has a good track record in Strictly, with Kara Tointon winning in 2010 and Jill Halfpenny claiming the glitterball trophy in 2004. While another soap star, ex Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher, won last year’s title.

MORE: All the Strictly Come Dancing winners - can you remember them all?!

Maisie has already of course won Strictly - sort of! Last year she won an EastEnders version of Strictly for Children in Need. The special saw her compete against castmates Ricky Champ, Louisa Litton and Rudolph Walker. Back then Maisie partnered with Strictly pro Kevin Clifton, it’s not been announced yet who she will partner in the main show.

Meanwhile, The Wanted’s Max George is given a fair chance by the bookies of repeating the win in 2015 of his bandmate Jay McGuiness. Max is a 9-2 shot, while another pop star, HRVY, is an 11-2 chance.

Jacqui Smith Strictly Come Dancing

Jacqui Smith hasn't been given a hope by the bookies of winning

Meanwhile, reflecting that Strictly winners tend to be young, it’s no surprise that former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, 57, is given virtually no chance. She’s a whopping 100-1 to be the winner!

Also given next to no chance is comedian Bill Bailey, 55. It seems Jacqui and Bill aren’t likely to last long in the competition. The bookies aren’t very optimistic about Caroline Quentin’s chances either, with the Jonathan Creek actress a 33-1 shot.

Strictly will return to BBC1 in October.

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

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