Chris McCausland has emerged as the hot favourite to win this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The comedian’s odds of taking home the Glitterball Trophy have shortened further overnight ahead of Saturday’s final.

He was 1/12 yesterday and has been cut into odds of 1/16 as of Wednesday morning, giving him an implied probability of 94% to win.

There is a considerable gap to JB Gill who is second in the market at 16/1, with Sarah Hadland and Tasha Gouri even further out at 28/1 and 33/1 respectively.

Lee Astley, spokesperson for BetIdeas, said: ‘Comedian Chris McCausland continues to shorten in the market to win Strictly Come Dancing’s grand final on Saturday night.

‘McCausland was as short as 1/12 yesterday, but support continues to flood in as his odds have been cut into 1/16, an implied probability of 94% to take home the Glitterball Trophy this weekend.

Chris McCausland has emerged as the hot favourite to win this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing

+5
View gallery

The comedian’s odds of taking home the Glitterball Trophy have shortened further overnight ahead of Saturday’s final

‘The comedian’s grip on the trophy looks firm as JB Gill stands as the nearest contender to McCausland in the market at 16/1, with both Sarah Hadland (28/1) and Tasha Gouri’s (33/1) chances looking even slimmer.’

Chris has delighted audiences on the BBC show with his professional partner Dianne Buswell and is now looking to the future after the competition.

He will soon be starring in a new Sky original family Christmas film which will hit living rooms this Christmas Eve.

Chris will star in Bad Tidings with fellow comedian Lee Mack, 56, – which he has said will give him something new to focus on after the dancing competition comes to an end.

He told The Radio Times: ‘Something like Strictly is all-consuming, so there’s always going to be a comedown.

‘Whether you win it or go out in the quarters or week seven or whatever, it will always be deflating.

‘So actually, it’s been nice to have this film with Lee to look forward to. It gives me something else to focus on.’

Chris and Dianne became emotional after their performance on Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing.

+5

He was 1/12 yesterday and has been cut into odds of 1/16 as of Wednesday morning, giving him an implied probability of 94% to win

+5
View gallery

Chris has delighted audiences on the BBC show with his professional partner Dianne Buswell and is now looking to the future after the competition

Chris McCausland reveals ‘secret signal’ he gives Dianne Buswell

Chris is the first blind contestant in the history of the BBC show, and on Saturday he and partner Dianne scored 36 out of 40 for their Viennese waltz to Metallica track Nothing Else Matters.

With his arm around Dianne, Chris held back tears as he told host Claudia Winkleman: ‘When you start this series, they ask you for a list of songs you like. And I put this song on it and didn’t know anything about dancing.

‘Underneath it, I wrote ‘I reckon this might suit one of those spinny whizzy ones’ and I was right! But it’s incredible and it felt wonderful to do it with Diane.’

Friends of the CBeebies star had come to support him the studio audience at the semi-final, and he admitted he was an ’emotional wreck’ with them there.

He warned Claudia: ‘Don’t get me started, I’m an emotional wreck tonight. I’m telling you.’

He added: ‘You know what you’re doing is big when your really close mates don’t take the mickey out of you.’

Meanwhile, Dianne then made a plea with the public as to why she and Chris should be in the final this week as she insisted she ‘could not be prouder’ of what he has achieved.

She said: ‘I have taught Chris this whole time without a single visual cue. He’s never been able to watch a video back to see whether he’s done a good job.

‘He’s never been able to see his competitors, or what the competition is like but he has captured the spirit of this show. I could not be prouder of him.’