Strictly Come Dancing 2026: Who is favourite to win in Icons Week?

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Howie, M. (2026, October 17). Strictly Come Dancing 2026: Who is favourite to win in Icons Week? Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/strictly-come-dancing-2026-favourite-to-win-b1301273.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-17 · by Michael Howie

Quick Summary

The article discusses the recent eliminations in "Strictly Come Dancing" 2026, where Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr were saved over Amy Walters and Kevin Skorjanec during a dance-off. It also provides betting odds for who is favored to win the competition, with Lacey Turney leading at 13/8 followed by Delta Goodrem at 11/2. The article highlights upcoming performances focusing on music icons Madonna and Dolly Parton, including appearances by contestants Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, and Dame Sarah Story and Julian Caillon.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing 2026, Mirie Walters and her partner Iman Skorjanec performed a Charleston to Gina G's "Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit" but were eliminated in Sunday night’s results show, despite receiving a score of 17 from the judges. Their elimination came after Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden were also cut earlier that week. The remaining 13 couples will compete on Saturday night for Icons Week, where they will pay tribute to Madonna and the late Dolly Parton. According to Bet365 odds as of October 17, Lacey Turney, Delta Goodrem, and John Nellis are among the favorites with odds of 13/8, 11/2, and 6/1 respectively.

Written for “Strictly Come Dancing Icons Week” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Strictly Come Dancing Icons Week
Entertainment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 5712 article(s) · 46 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 46 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Michael Howie
73 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor on Saturday night for icons week.
🔮 Almost a kilometre of Oxford Street between Orchard Street, near Selfridges, and Great Portland Street, just east of Oxford Circus, will be closed to general traffic.
🔮 Plans are being drawn up for a 70-storey skyscraper in the City of London that would be nearly as tall as the Shard.
🔮 The surrounding streets of Megève could hardly be less French.
🔮 The Romanian national was sentenced to two years in prison in May this year, while his friend Roman Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian, was jailed for seven years. Carpiuc has now been removed from the UK, the Home Office said on Friday, as first reported by the Daily Mail newspaper. A Home Office spokesperson said: “This was an abhorrent attack and the conviction and imprisonment of these men should send a clear message to anyone blinded by the promise of money from strangers.
🔮 Forecasters are predicting increasingly unsettled weather during the rest of October.
🔮 The 37-year-old from Essex pleaded guilty to causing death through a reckless, rash or dangerous act and will be sentenced at the same court on Friday.
🔮 Taborda Henao replied: “She would be at ease, she would calm down.” Mr Cheema asked: “She would accuse you of being a thief and then calm down?” Taborda Henao replied: “She used to tell all of us the same thing.” Mr Cheema asked: “She would accuse other people of being a thief?”
🔮 “Should the investigation establish that such information has been compromised, TFG London will notify affected individuals or organisations, as appropriate,” it said.
🔮 Londoners are being urged to sign up for flood warnings amid growing concern that extreme weather fuelled by a “Godzilla” El Niño will batter the UK this winter.
Also by Michael Howie
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 73 articles by Michael Howie →

Topics

American BBC One BBC iPlayer Bet365 Emmerdale

Subjects

Shaun Wright-Phillips PERSON · 3× Alexis Warr PERSON · 2× Amy Dowden PERSON · 2× Delta Goodrem PERSON · 2× Graeme Hall PERSON · 2× Jaime Winstone PERSON · 2× John Nellis PERSON · 2× Tabby Stoecker PERSON · 2× Walters PERSON · 2× Will Best PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Lawrence Robb 20/1 Bethany Antonia 33/1 Jaime Winstone 40/1 Dame Sarah Story 80/1 Shaun Wright-Phillips 150/1 The country singer Belles, who recorded a duet with Parton earlier this year, will perform her hit Jolene, accompanied by a performance from dancers Amy Dowden and Kai Widdrington.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor on Saturday night for icons week.
2026-10-17 · Evening Standard
Strictly Come Dancing 2026: Who is favourite to win in Icons Week? · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 0 hedged)

On Saturday night’s episode, Walters and Skorjanec had performed a Charleston to Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit by Gina G, receiving a score of 17 from the judges. asserted
Walters → perform → judges
Judge Craig Revel Horwood said he “didn’t love” their dance while Motsi Mabuse encouraged her to “keep going”. asserted
Mabuse → say → her
On Sunday night’s results episode, they were sent into the dance-off against former footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and his partner Alexis Warr – who had received a score of 15 for their quickstep to I’m A Believer by The Monkees. asserted
who → send → Monkees
While Mabuse wanted to save Walters, fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Revel Horwood all chose to save Wright-Phillips and Warr. asserted
Ballas → want → Phillips
It came after Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden were eliminated in the first dance off, which saw all the judges vote to keep Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu in the competition. asserted
judges → come → competition
The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor on Saturday night for icons week. asserted
couples → remain → week
Sunday evening’s results show will pay tribute to Madonna and the late Dolly Parton. asserted
show → pay → Madonna
Who is favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing 2026? asserted
Who → win → Dancing
Lawrence Robb 20/1 Bethany Antonia 33/1 Jaime Winstone 40/1 Dame Sarah Story 80/1 Shaun Wright-Phillips 150/1 The country singer Belles, who recorded a duet with Parton earlier this year, will perform her hit Jolene, accompanied by a performance from dancers Amy Dowden and Kai Widdrington. asserted
who → record → dancers
On Saturday’s main show, Bethany Antonia and her dance partner Nancy Xu will perform the cha cha to Respect by Aretha Franklin. asserted
Antonia → perform → Franklin
Read More EastEnders star Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola will perform the American smooth to Adele’s Hometown Glory, while Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon will dance the tango to That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain. asserted
That → read → Twain
Olympian Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita will perform the samba to Where Is My Husband! by Raye and Love Island’s Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby will foxtrot to Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. asserted
Mercer → perform → Sinatra
Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly trainer Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley will salsa to an Abba medley, while social media personality John Nellis and Katya Jones will perform the paso doble to It’s My Life by Bon Jovi. asserted
It → behave → Jovi
Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystal will salsa to La Copa De La Vida by Ricky Martin, while Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alexis Warr will perform a couple’s choice to a James Brown medley. asserted
Phillips → salsa → medley
Finishing off this week’s dances is Big Brother presenter Will Best and Dianne Buswell who will perform a jive to Crocodile Rock by Elton John. asserted
who → finish → John
It was announced this week that Delta Goodrem is injured and has received a bye through to next week, where it is hoped she and Kai Widdrington will be able to dance again. asserted
she → announce → week
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm and the results show on Sunday at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. asserted
results → continue → BBC
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