EastEnders star favourite for Strictly Come Dancing after leaving the BBC soap
Rumours have it that EastEnders’ Shona McGarty will be joining the star-studded cast of Strictly Come Dancing this year.
The popular BBC reality show is gearing up for its 20th anniversary and this year’s line-up is expected to be star-studded.
Strictly fans have been busy guessing which famous faces will be showing off their dance moves in the new series, and according to the latest betting odds, former soap star Shona will be shining on the dance floor.
The 32-year-old actress is best known for her 16-year role as Whitney Dean in EastEnders, but in May she said goodbye to Walford and left the long-running soap opera,” reports the Daily Star.
Now, just two months later, there are rumors that the TV star is returning to the BBC with “Strictly Come Dancing.”
According to Gambling.com, actor Ralf Little is one of the favourites to take part in Strictly 2024, with Shona hot on the heels of the Death in Paradise star at odds of 4/6.
Former Love Island star and boxer Tommy Fury is currently at 8/11, while rugby stars Danny Cipriani and Will Young are both tied.
Former This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby will return to the spotlight next year with the release of her new Netflix show Bear Hunt, but the odds of her taking part in Strictly are also 5/1.
Holly’s former This Morning partner Phillip Schofield, who has remained under the radar since leaving the ITV show in May 2023 after admitting to an “ill-advised but not illegal” affair with a young male colleague, is 6/1 in the running to make it to the Strictly dancefloor, according to Gambling.com.
Shona isn’t the only EastEnders celebrity hitting the Strictly dancefloor, though. Jay Brown’s Jamie Borthwick was brilliant, winning the 2023 Christmas special.
Close behind was Jamie, Freddie Slater star Bobby Brazier, who had finished second in last year’s series together with his dance partner Dianne Buswell.
Martin Fowler actor James Bye took part in Strictly 2022 and danced to the famous EastEnders theme song in one week, but he was the fifth contestant to be voted out along with Amy Dowden.
Rose Ayling-Ellis, who played Walford’s Frankie Lewis, and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice won the 2021 Glitterball with a very touching performance raising awareness for deaf people.
Legendary Sharon Watts star Letitia Dean also took part in 2007, and over the 20 years Jill Halfpenny and Tameka Epsom, Louisa Lytton, Nigel Harman, Nina Wadia and many more have taken part.
“Strictly Come Dancing” is set to return to BBC One in the autumn.