Nigel Harman tipped to win Strictly Come Dancing while Bobby Brazier and Angela Scanlon set to battle it out for 2nd and 3rd place

Based on statistics from previous winners of Strictly Come Dancing, Nigel Harman is tipped to take the title this year while Bobby Brazier and Angela Scanlon are set to battle it out for second and third place.

We have taken a look at the age, sex and profession of each champion since the show launched to determine which contestant has the best chance of bagging the 2023 trophy. 

Although a certain amount of tenacity, hard work and skill is required to win the show, Casinos.win has discovered some surprising patterns through the years that could influence the overall champion.

When it comes to the professions of previous victors, six were TV presenters, six were actors, four were musicians and three were former sports professionals. 

Modelling proved the least successful profession with only Abbey Clancy, who went on to have a successful presenting career, lifting the trophy in 2015. Interestingly, given the data, there are no models in the lineup this year although Zara McDermott has modelled in the past.

In terms of sports stars, the data shows that cricketers have proved the most successful contestants. 2005 winner Darren Gough claimed 229 Test wickets during his career before the swing bowler retired from the sport in 2008.

The following year’s champion Mark Ramprakash made 52 Test appearances for England, and he is now president and batting coach for Middlesex.

Interestingly, Chris Hollins who won in 2009, also has a background as a first-class cricketer, however, he is best known as a journalist and TV presenter.

The only sports star competing in the show this year is Jody Cundy CBE. Although he has represented Great Britain at seven Summer Paralympics winning eight Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals across swimming and cycling events and has 23 world titles under his belt at the World Championships, he is currently the rank outsider to win. 

Out of the six actors who have won the show, our analysts discovered that half of them have appeared in EastEnders. 2004 winner Jill Halfpenny played undercover policewoman Kate Mitchell in the programme from 2002-2005. The 2010 winner Kara Tointon played Dawn Swann in the soap from 2005-2009. Meanwhile, 2021 champion Rose Ayling-Ellis played Frankie Lewis from 2020-2022.

This is good news for this year’s contestant Bobby Brazier who is the second favourite to win at odds around 3/1 and currently plays Freddie Slater in the show.

It also bodes well for the current favourite Nigel Harman, who played Den Watts long lost son Dennis Rickman in the long-running soap between 2003-2005 until his character was killed off.  He also has a common thread with 2008 winner Tom Chambers who appeared in Casualty as Dr Sam Strachan. Nigel is currently starring in the Saturday night medical drama as Dr Max Cristie.

“Nigel Harman is definitely ticking all the right boxes to win Strictly Come Dancing this year,” said Anne Ifeanyi our resident pop-culture betting expert. “As an actor, he is already in one of the highest-ranking professions to lift the glitterball trophy and his EastEnders connection narrows that even further. Alongside the skills he has shown on the dancefloor, he could prove difficult to beat.”

Among the female contestants, Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon is most likely to win at odds ranging from 9/2 to 5/1. Although she looks set to battle it out with Bobby Brazier for second place. Out of the six previous presenters who have won, three were women. The first-ever winner was newsreader and presenter Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004. The late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack won in 2014 and documentary presenter Stacey Dooley won in 2018.

This presenter statistics defy the overall gender odds for the show as male contestants are more likely to lift the Glitterball trophy with 12 out of the previous 20 winners being men and only eight women.

Our analysis coupled with this year’s odds would seem to make Nigel Harman a shoo-in to win, with Bobby Brazier and Angela Scanlon competing for second and third place.