Wirral Sam Quek's chances on 'Strictly Come Dancing' revealed

The TV and radio presenter, who won a hockey gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is among the line-up of sports stars and actors taking part in the show's 20th series, which begins on Saturday (September 14).

The team at Online Betting Guide (OBG) predicted 13/2 odds on Sam ending the competition in fourth place with a probability of 13.3%.

Since retiring from the sport, Sam has presented numerous high-profile sports programmes and was a team captain on A Question of Sport as well as regularly hosting BBC One’s Morning Live.

She won 125 international caps for the England and Great Britain women’s hockey teams and was awarded an MBE for services to the sport in 2017. Sam presents for a range of sports including football, American football, rugby and cricket.

She attended Hillside Primary School in Prenton before moving to Birkenhead High School and going on to sixth form at Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby. 

Looking forward to being part of the Strictly line-up, Sam said in a statement on the BBC's website: "As a former hockey player I’m used to playing as part of a team, but the thought of dancing on the Ballroom floor in front of a live audience is quite daunting. 

"I’m chuffed to be a part of this legendary show and Quickstep into the shoes of a performer, it feels absolutely surreal but I’m ready for every bit of the adventure."

Also in this year's line-up taking to the ballroom will be:

Nick Knowles

As well as long-running BBC renovation programme DIY SOS, 61-year-old Knowles has presented gameshows Who Dares Wins, Break The Safe and 5-Star Family Reunion.

He also took part in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018, and has hosted travel programmes such as the The Mighty Mississippi With Nick Knowles on Channel 5.

He co-wrote 2016 action comedy Golden Years, and released his debut album Every Kind Of People – covers of some of his favourite songs – in 2017.

Montell Douglas

Douglas is the only British woman to compete at both the winter and summer Olympics, and last year joined the reboot of Gladiators on BBC One as regular character Fire.

She competed in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, in the 100 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay, and also at the 2022 winter Games, also in the Chinese capital, competing in the two-woman bobsleigh.

The Lewisham-born athlete, 38, set the British 100 metres record at 11.05 seconds in 2008, before it was broken by Dina Asher-Smith in 2019, who managed 10.83 seconds.

Paul Merson

The 56-year-old former footballer made his name with Arsenal, joining when he was 17 and going on to win the PFA Young Player of the Year.

He spent 12 years with the Gunners, and had spells at Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, as well as earning 21 caps for England.

The ex-forward moved into punditry at Sky News, and also appeared as a fictional version of himself on AppleTV+ comedy show Ted Lasso. He has featured in episodes of Harry’s Heroes: The Full English and Celebrity Catchphrase.

Jamie Borthwick

Borthwick, winner of the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 Christmas special with Nancy Xu, is known for playing Jay Brown on BBC soap opera EastEnders.

The 30-year-old won the best actor gong at the Inside Soap Awards in September 2023, a year in which the show dominated the event, recognised with the best storyline for Loving And Losing Lola, about Lola Pearce-Brown’s brain tumour diagnosis.

As part of the storyline, Borthwick, as Lola’s husband Jay, and Emma Barton, as Honey Mitchell, ran the London Marathon in character in honour of Lola after her death.

Sarah Hadland

The English actress is best known for her roles in comedy programmes including Miranda, Horrible Histories, That Mitchell And Webb Look and Ballot Monkeys.

In Miranda Hart’s eponymous sitcom, which ran from 2009 to 2015, she played the main character’s best friend and sidekick Stevie.

She has appeared in the Daniel Craig-starring James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, comedy film Magicians and comedy Learners, starring David Tennant.

Shayne Ward

Actor and musician Ward rose to fame after winning the second season of TV singing competition The X Factor and later went on to star in ITV soap Coronation Street as former Underworld factory owner Aidan Connor.

Aidan’s depression storyline earned best single episode and best storyline gongs at the 2019 British Soap Awards as well as a best soap exit honour at the 2018 Inside Soap Awards.

The 39-year-old has also been in West End musical Rock Of Ages, had a Christmas number one with his first single, That’s My Goal, and also entered the charts with No Promises and Stand By Me.

Chris McCausland

The comedian is the first blind contestant to compete on the show.

McCausland lost his sight because of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease, which causes gradual degeneration of the retina.

After the Strictly announcement, the 47-year-old joked he must be the only contestant to participate in the show who has “never watched” it.

The Liverpool-born comedian has hosted his own show on ITV on Saturday mornings and has also featured on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and QI.

JB Gill

The singer rose to fame as part of boy band JLS – alongside Marvin Humes, Aston Merrygold and Oritse Williams – after they were runners-up on The X Factor in 2008.

The group had five UK number one singles, a UK number one album and embarked on numerous UK tours.

After the band’s initial 2013 break-up, Gill presented the BBC’s Songs Of Praise, then returned to the group when they reunited in 2020.

The 37-year-old also performed the jive with professional dancer Ola Jordan to Rockin’ Robin on the Strictly Christmas special in 2012.

Tom Dean

The British swimmer confirmed he had signed up for the dancing competition after reaching the final of the men’s 200 metres individual medley last Thursday night.

The three-time Olympic champion intends to seek out the wisdom of his Team GB team-mate Adam Peaty, who finished ninth on the BBC show in 2021.

He said: “Naturally you want to take a break after you’ve had a full Olympic cycle and the opportunity arose. I thought it would be really exciting to try something a bit different.”

Dean won the men’s 200 metres freestyle title at Tokyo 2020 and last week, the 24-year-old from Bath, plus James Guy, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott, made history in the men’s 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay final.

In winning gold, they became the first swimming team to defend an Olympic relay title with the same quartet.

Wynne Evans

The Welsh opera singer is best known as the moustachioed tenor from the Go Compare adverts.

Born in Carmarthen, he was crowned Celebrity MasterChef champion for 2023 and is a presenter on BBC Radio Wales.

Throughout his 25-year career, he has had two number one classical music albums, has been a principal at many major opera houses around the world and has delivered more than 200 performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Toyah Willcox

The singer and actress fronted the new wave band Toyah in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before embarking on a solo music career.

She has also performed in numerous stage productions and featured in films including 1978 drama Jubilee, 2015 horror comedy Aaaaaaaah! and 2019 sci-fi Invasion Planet Earth.

In 2018, Sir Paul McCartney presented Willcox with a Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Companionship for outstanding achievement in music, drama, performance and media.

Earlier this year, she played at the Glastonbury Festival with her husband, musician Robert Fripp, on the Avalon Stage.

Dr Punam Krishan

Alongside her work as an NHS GP, Dr Krishan is the resident doctor on the BBC breakfast programme Morning Live and BBC Radio Scotland’s phone-in surgery.

She regularly reports on health news as a broadcaster on TV, radio and national newspapers.

The TV doctor previously co-hosted a podcast titled The Medic Mum and is the author of the children’s non-fiction book How To Be A Doctor And Other Life-Saving Jobs.

Tasha Ghouri

The Love Island star, 25, who was the ITV2 show’s first deaf contestant in 2022, has become a campaigner for the deaf community and worked with 10 Downing Street and the Department for Education.

Ghouri, who was born deaf and uses a cochlear implant, met boyfriend Andrew Le Page on the reality dating show and hosts the podcast Superpowers With Tasha.

The trained dancer hosted a beginners’ tap class with Strictly professional Johannes Radebe at a community hall in Cambridge, watched by the Queen, in February.

Pete Wicks

The 35-year-old began his career in reality TV on ITVBe series The Only Way Is Essex in 2015 before moving on to other shows.

He has since appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – where he withdrew early on on medical grounds – E4’s Celebs Go Dating, BBC’s Celebrity MasterChef and ITV’s The Real Full Monty.

Wicks also was among the celebrities trying to help one contestant succeed in recent Channel 4 series The Underdog: Josh Must Win, and hosts a podcast called Staying Relevant with I’m A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson.

Jake Ashton, entertainment betting Expert at OLBG, said: "With Strictly Come Dancing returning to UK TV screens this weekend, fans are anticipating the quality of each celebrity’s moves.

"Former X Factor winner Shayne Ward has been named the favourite to win this year’s contest, pushing former favourites Tasha Ghouri and James Borthwick into joint second place.

"It will be interesting to see how these odds change following the first set of performances on Saturday. 

"Despite contestants rarely being evicted on the first week, Nick Knowles currently holds the rank of the favourite to leave the show first.

"The DIY SOS presenter’s elimination odds sit at 5/1 - meaning an implied probability of 16.1% that he’ll be shown the exit door first. Ex-footballer Paul Merson follows closely behind Knowles with odds of 11/4; perhaps the sports pundit will surprise fans with a transfer of his moves from the football pitch to the dance floor. 

"Odds are also in for which professional dancer is going to take home the win. South African dancer, Johannes Radebe, is leading these odds at 6/1.

"This will be Johannes’ first win in his five, soon to be six, series of Strictly Come Dancing UK if he succeeds.”