Charlie Brooks suffers savage blow to ITV Dancing on Ice hopes hours before live show after near-miss elimination
The EastEnders actress narrowly avoided the boot at the expense of Ferne McCann last week
After scraping through Movie Week on last Sunday's Dancing on Ice, actress Charlie Brooks could find Week Four one hurdle too far according to new data.
The EastEnders star, 43, faced off against Ferne McCann at the end of Sunday's show as both nervously awaited to learn their fate and Holly Willoughby soon announced it was the Towie star who was going home.
The result sparked outrage and even "fix" claims among ITV viewers on the night, with many fans furious that Sir Steve Redgrave had avoided the axe once more.
The Olympic rower has landed bottom of the leaderboard in each heat so far this series but the public backing is keeping him firmly in the contest.
Redgrave is once again favourite to be eliminated on Sunday evening as the show enters its fourth week but bookmakers aren't convinced his time will be up - and Brooks has emerged as likely candidate for the chop.
"Steve is the 11/8 favourite to go home next after finishing bottom of the leaderboard for a second week running - but could he be saved again?" James Leyfield of Gambling.com has mused.
ITV Dancing on Ice: Charlie Brooks' chances of glory have nosedived
ITV
"The public are clearly fans after he survived the last two weeks. If fans are intent on keeping Steve in the competition then one way he might exit could be to depart of his own accord."
Redgrave is priced at evens to quit the show himself but should he stay put, it looks like a two-horse race between Brooks and Anton Ferdinand to fall victim to the public vote next.
Leyfield continued: "If Steve does keep his place in the competition on Sunday then the next exit could be between former footballer Anton Ferdinand and EastEnders actress Charlie Brooks."
"Charlie - who is 2/1 to go this weekend - finished second bottom of the leaderboard last Sunday with 27 points, one fewer than axed Ferne."
ITV Dancing on Ice: Ferne McCann was 'gutted' to be voted out last week
ITV
While Ferdinand is priced slightly worse than Brooks for the next elimination at 6/4, the EastEnders actress has been dealt the blow that her price has dramatically nosedived since the start of the series.
The betting expert highlighted the damage as he explained: "The soap star's price has drifted significantly, to 20/1 from 10/1 before week three. She is now below Love Island's Chris Taylor (16/1) in the outright market."
Brooks was elated to make into Week Four of the competition at the end of last week's episode and earlier this week, she took to Instagram to pay tribute to skating partner Eric Radford on his 40th birthday.
"Happy birthday @ericradford85. I will forever be in your head," she joked alongside a video of the two rehearsing their Ghost-inspired routine.
"Here’s to one more week of being in sync, deep chats, non stop laughter, skating (I’m trying!) and a healthy dose of FEAR.
"I love this little adventure we are on. Welcome to the 40’s. I think you’ll like it," she signed off, followed by a love heart emoji.
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Meanwhile, despite being notably devastated and admittedly "gutted" to bow out of the competition, McCann has had nothing but high praise for her time on the show.
In a lengthy video shared to Instagram this week, McCann said she was "seriously so happy we ended on an absolute high" before adding: "Trolls is my favourite movie to watch with Sunday [her daughter] and it meant the absolute world having her in the audience with me last night so yes!
“You will see us back at the final supporting everyone and I can’t wait to see how everyone progresses on Dancing on Ice.
“So that is all from this little troll, I now need to scrub this out of my hair, Have a great day and again thank you so much to everyone that supported us, it means the world."