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Entertainment
Simon Duke

Strictly's Ellie Taylor set for shock exit just a week after topping leaderboard

Ellie Taylor is being tipped to make a shock exit from Strictly Come Dancing, just a week after topping the leaderboard.

Comedian and star of Live at The Apollo and Ted Lasso, Ellie, has so far avoided being in the dance-off, as she and pro partner Johannes Radebe have cemented themselves as real favourites with fans of the BBC show. Things got even better for the couple on Saturday night when the topped the Strictly leaderboard for the first time with their Halloween Week performance.

Ellie was transformed into Hocus Pocus icon Winnie Sanderson as she and Johannes danced their Couple's Choice to I Put A Spell on You, earning themselves a standing ovation for their routine. Both Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse branded Ellie and Johannes' performance their 'best of the night' and the judges' glowing feedback was then borne out in their scores, with the pair landing a series high total of 35 out of 40, putting them joint top of the leaderboard alongside Tyler West and Dianne Buswell.

READ MORE: Kym Marsh shuts down claims of Strictly 'tension' with in-laws

Ellie and Johannes made it safely through to this week's live show, as the latest Strictly result saw James Bye go home. But, given that EastEnders star James went from never being in the dance-off to then being eliminated, bookies are now predicting Ellie to fall victim of a cruel reversal of fortunes and being the next star to go.

She is at 2/1 with William Hil l to get the ballroom boot this weekend, with, Lee Phelps, Head of Sponsorship PR at William Hill, said: “It is a very tough competition this year - even though Ellie came joint at the top she will need to keep this up to avoid elimination.

“Many of the couples are getting consistently high scores and praise from the judges, Ellie will have to make this a more common occurrence if she wants to avoid elimination.”

Just behind Ellie in the odds on who will leave Strictly is Kym Marsh on 5/2, with Ellie Simmonds on 7/2.

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