Odds Out On Popular Reality Celebrity Show

Due to the unique challenges posed by a precarious year and circumstances, the popular television show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here has for the first time in the history of the franchise relocated from the jungles of Australia to an alternative location – now confirmed to be Gwrych Castle in North Whales on the British Isles.

The 20^th anniversary series of the ITV production – which is a mix of reality television meets game-show – will begin airing on Sunday, November 15, and will run for a total of three weeks. What hasn’t changed is the typical mix of has-been celebrities and wannabee superstars competing for either a final or a virgin shot of celebrity superstar fame.  

So Say The Bookies

This year’s contestants have all been dealt their individual odds by the bookmakers – and rank as follows:

• Giovanna Fletcher. Age: 35. Known for: Television presenter and author. Odds: 7/2.
• Jordan North. Age: 30. Best known for: DJ on the BBC’s Radio 1. Odds: 7/2.
• Shane Richie. Age: 56. Claim to fame: Comedian, television presenter, and actor. Odds: 4/1.
• Mo Farah. Age: 37. Known for: Olympic Gold Medallist. Odds: 5/1.
• Vernon Kay. Age: 46. Best known for: television and radio personality and presenter. Odds: 6/1.
• AJ Pritchard. Age: 26. Known for: Strictly Come Dancing. Odds: 9/1.
• Jessica Plummer. Age: 28. Famous for: Actress on EastEnders. Odds: 12/1.
• Beverley Callard. Age: 63. Famous for: Coronation Street actress. Odds: 16/1.
• Hollie Arnold. Age: 26. Best known for: Paralympic Gold Medallist. Odds: 20/1.
• Victoria Derbyshire. Age: 33/1. Known for: Broadcaster and journalist working in Foreign Affairs reporting. Odds: 33/1.

Toppers And Late-Comers

Topping the odds-chart are Jordan North and Giovanna Fletcher – clearly the obvious early favourites at 7/2.

North and Fletcher are followed by Richie (4/1), Farah (5/1), and Kay (6/1) – and with Arnold and Derbyshire the current bottom-rankers at odds of 20/1 and 33/1, respectively.

Punters and fans of the show should however keep in mind the tradition of “latecomers” – a tradition we’ve pretty much seen to have been preserved all throughout the history of the show. Current indications are the likelihood of operator singer Russell Watson and West End actress Ruthie Henshall emerging as this year’s add-er-on-ers.

Note The Public Vote

As for how past wannabees and has-beens have managed to perform in terms of early favouriting, history has shown the chips to have fallen in favour of consistency on the odds-lines.

The years 2016 through 2018 all emerged in perfect keeping with early favourites being voted ultimate series winners. 2018 winner Harry Redknapp, 2017 winner Georgia Toffolo, and 2016 winner Scarlett Moffatt were all solid public favourites right from the start of their respective seasons.

Unfortunate from a betting point of view is that votes last year cast outside of the 22^nd day of voting were never made public. Still – even a 3 out of 4 early popularity hit-rate still remains a reasonably clear indication of ongoing tendencies.

Age Clearly Matters

Though the public vote has historically emerged a fantastic bet, what continues to hamper progress in this regard is that voting does not usually begin until Day 13.

Helpful however is this year’s strong show of soap stars – though not exactly in the way one might initially think. Soap-celebs have in fact shown themselves historically bad bets – this despite that three former winners EastEnders stars. Coronation Street stalwarts haven’t emerged quite as successful.

Age, however, did and does seem to matter. So much so, that age has emerged the most prominent of all stand-out stats, with 12 of the past 19 winners all falling within the 21-33 age bracket.