EXCLUSIVE: 'I'm a professional gambler - here's who will win Strictly Come Dancing'
Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is well underway as a professional gambler has revealed exactly who will be in the final this year and in with the chance of bagging the Glitterball trophy
A professional gambler who makes his living from predicting the outcomes of TV shows has revealed his picks for the final four in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Rob Furber, author of The Gambler in which he entertains readers with his remarkable betting exploits over the years, invests in many series including Strictly, Big Brother and Eurovision, making thousands of pounds off his accurate predictions.
He believes there are “only four possible winners” on Strictly this year - YouTuber George Clarke, former soap star Lewis Cope, reality TV favourite Vicky Pattison or - at a push - ER actress Alex Kingston. He explains: “Vicky is clearly being teed up as a ‘journey’ contestant and her dance ability has surpassed expectations already while George is your classic polite, well-spoken middle England voting catnip.”
Lewis was drafted in late as replacement for crocked Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn, in the same way that his Emmerdale co-star Kelvin Fletcher was in 2019, after Made in Chelsea favourite Jamie Laing broke his foot during the opening group number. An excellent dancer, he later went on to win the glitterball trophy that year, with partner Oti Mabuse.
“Lewis is by far the best dancer and could do a Kelvin Fletcher,” Rob said, predicting that the final five remaining in the competition would be the four above plus ex-Love Island contestant Amber Davies, who recently found herself in the bottom two despite being an expert dancer with experience on the West End stage.
Last month Alex, who is partnered with Johannes Radebe, impressed the judges so much with her sultry rumba that head just Shirley Ballas got out of her chair and came down onto the floor to congratulate her.
“Alex is teacher’s pet at the moment but she might be peaking a little too early. Amber has too much of a mountain to climb to win the voting public over enough whereas Alex does have a chance,” Rob reckons.
Despite her smooth moves – and clear chemistry with partner Nikita Kuzmin –Rob reckons Amber could struggle to make the final which will now be a three-couple affair after Stefan Dennis’s withdrawal.
“Amber will be the dance-off assassin at the business end of the series but I don’t think she can win,” he predicts. This year's final lands just five days before Christmas on December 20.
In the past, Rob’s biggest four-figure wins have come from backing Stacey Dooley in 2018, Bill Bailey in 2020 - as Oti Mabuse did the double - Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021 and last year’s extraordinary winner Chris McCausland, whom he recognised as the nailed-on winner from the outset.
In his book, Rob gives clues as to how he manages to be so successful at what he does, saying that the pre-recorded launch show gives him the first clues over “who can cut a rug ancho has two left feet”. But really, it’s that first live show on BBC1, in September, that is the most crucial.
“I am on high alert. I have made significant investments already and am hoping my pre-lives reconnaissance pays off,” he explains. “The early stages of any Strictly series are absolutely pivotal. Not only in highlighting the pecking order in terms of dance ability but, far more importantly, in assessing how contestants are coming across to the audience.”
As Louis Walsh used to say every week on the X Factor, having likability is incredibly important, and Rob can spot the ones that do - and those who don’t.
“I find myself studying every word and action,” he sighs. “Traders are looking for any chinks in the armour, negative character traits, that could damage a contestant’s public vote.”
He has learned, over the years, that the “fast starters rarely win” having “set the bar too high for themselves”. Will Mellor was one that he he somehow knew wouldn’t go all the way, despite his talent at dancing having detected a “hint of vanity” about him.
The Gambler by Rob Furber (Mirror Books, £9.99) is on sale now from all good bookshops and Amazon.
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