Bill Bailey is the hot favourite to win this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

All online bookmakers currently have Bailey and his dancing partner Oti Mabuse as odds-on favourites to win the 2020 competition. Most currently have Bailey at 4/5 or 8/11 on. There are three other finalists. HRVY is 15/8. Maisie Smith is 13/2. Jamie Laing is 66/1.

This is a remarkable turnaround for the versatile comedian. Back in October William Hill had Bailey at 20/1.

Bailey was generally regarded as a novelty or comedy booking. Nobody seemed to expect him to rise to the occasion and excel at almost every dance he took on, from the Jive to the Tango to the Charleston. 

Other dancers have scored higher points from the judges but Bailey seems to be the people's favourite and the ultimate winner is decided by public vote. 

As well as not being known as a dancer, Bailey is 55, which makes him one of the oldest people to enter the competition. But he has clearly given dancers half his age a run for their money.

The finalists will be performing a Judges' Pick, a Showdance, and a Favourite Dance to win the public vote. Bailey and Mabuse will be doing:

Judges' Pick: Quickstep (week 2) – 'Talk to the Animals' (by Bobby Darin)

Showdance: 'The Show Must Go On' (by Queen)

Favourite Dance: Couple's Choice (week 4) – 'Rapper's Delight' (by The Sugarhill Gang) 

The Strictly Come Dancing Final is on Saturday, December 19, BBC One at 6pm.

PS. Bailey has danced onstage before. We were hoping he might do this tribute to Kraftwerk in the final

Picture: BBC/Guy Levy