Strictly Come Dancing's Ross King dealt huge blow hours before live show

It isn't looking good for one celebrity on Strictly Come Dancing. The first BBC dance show elimination of the series takes place this weekend and bookmakers make Ross King the overwhelming favourite to leave - delivering a huge blow to the ITV entertainment correspondent.

This Morning's LA presenter sits at the bottom of the leaderboard after scoring just 10 points in week one and with this weekend's scores added to last week's tally, he faces an uphill battle to avoid being the first celebrity eliminated. On the other hand, things are looking good for YouTuber George Clarke as he is currently the favourite to win the BBC show overall. Emmerdale star Lewis Cope is also emerging as another frontrunner. Jake Ashton, Entertainment Betting Expert at OLBG.com said: "Ross King's low score in week one has left him as a clear favourite for the first elimination and history suggests those starting at the bottom often struggle to recover. For outright betting, though, George Clarke's rise to favourite has been one of the early stories of the series."

At 62, King is one of the older contestants this year, and while Strictly audiences often warm to an underdog, his relatively low profile with younger viewers could leave him struggling to secure votes.

Unless he produces a dramatic turnaround on Saturday, he looks the most likely candidate for an early exit.

King is a clear odds-on favourite at 8/11, with bet365 giving him nearly a 60% chance of being eliminated first. Thomas Skinner (11/4) and former rugby star Chris Robshaw (4/1) are the next in line, while Stefan Dennis is a longer shot at 14/1.

The results show on Sunday night will see the two couples who received the least amount of votes go head to head in the first dance-off of the series. While the format of the show remains unchanged, the judges' responsibilities have been adjusted.

Last week, head judge Shirley announced that she would no longer be the sole head judge. The role will now rotate weekly among all four judges, with the chosen judge for each episode having the final say in the event of a tie during the dance-off.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One at 6.20pm on Saturday 4th October, with the first results show airing at 7.15pm on Sunday 5th October