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Who is the perfect Strictly star? Why history shows former JLS star Aston Merrygold should be this year’s favourite

Aston Merrygold (BBC / Ray Burmiston)
Aston Merrygold (BBC / Ray Burmiston)

THE brand new series of Strictly Come Dancing waltzes onto our screens this weekend.

It’s the fifteenth series of the show, with this year’s line-up including Saturdays star Mollie King, Scots comic Susan Calman, EastEnder Davood Ghadami and the lovely Debbie McGee.

But who’s the favourite?

A historical analysis of all the show’s previous winners has put together a profile of the ideal Strictly contestant.

And one of this year’s hopefuls gets it almost spot on – former JLS star Aston Merrygold.

The 29-year-old singer is rightly the bookies favourite to win, with odds at 15/4.

Aston statistically fits the bill of which contestant is most likely to win the show, with him matching many of the characteristics of the most typical winner.

He only misses out on being the perfect contestant due to being a singer, rather than a TV presenter, the profession that has claimed the Glitterball on five occasions.

This year's Strictly stars (BBC / Ray Burmiston)
This year’s Strictly stars (BBC / Ray Burmiston)

The research from BonusCodeBets.co.uk looked at the winning celebrities’ performances and characteristics across all 14 series of the show and found that statistically the winning dancer:

  • Will be male (8 of 14 winners are men – 57%)
  • Will be 30-years-old
  • Will be a TV presenter (5 winners are television hosts out of the 14 series – 36%) or otherwise a musician or sportsman
  • Must score an average of 34 points a dance throughout the 2017 series

When considering the age of the 2017 contestants singer Mollie King, whose odds are 4/1, is also in a strong position to win as she perfectly meets the average age of past trophy holders at 30-years-old.

Historically, all five presenters which have won the show claimed their victory in their 30s. Looking to this year’s contestants, Charlotte Hawkins and Susan Calman are the youngest TV hosts (both aged 42) so the data does not favour the trophy winning profession this time round.

Other high performing professions include actors (three victories) with singers, musicians and sportsmen also boasting wins. If Aston were to win series 15, it would draw singers level with actors as the second most awarded occupation.

Comedians, radio presenters and politicians (like last year’s fan-favourite Ed Balls) are amongst the careers to never to have won the Strictly crown.

When looking at sports stars, previous show winners have included cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash. This year’s sportsman, Paralympian Jonnie Peacock, will be hoping to follow in the dance steps of past winning Olympic gymnast Louis Smith.