Helen Skelton is catching up to front-runner Hamza Yassin to take home this year's Strictly Come Dancing title.

Ahead of the quarter final, the former Blue Peter presenter has edged closer to bumping the shows long-time front runner from the winning spot. Betting company William Hill placed nature photographer Hamza Yassin in the top stop with odds currentlyly stand at 2-5.

The Cumbrian mum-of-three is creeping closer to her co star after seeing her odds drop to 5-2. Helen's time on the competition so far has been an intense and emotional journey.

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The Countryfile host who started off lacking confidence in her dancing abilities has shown the judges what she's got and scored a near perfect 40 in Blackpool's iconic Tower Ballroom. Even in her professional career, Helen is known for pushing herself to the limit and doesn't give up easily as she holds two world record entries - one for Kayaking the Amazon and one for when she walked along a tightrope, 150 metres above Battersea power station.

She follows the long-time frontrunner, Hamza Yassin whose odds currently stand at 2-5. Yassin also has the highest average score on the show at 34.1.

Despite having the second lowest average score out of the remaining contestants, Helen along with Yassin, and actor Will Mellor are the few who have avoided the dance-off. Mellor was the favourite during the opening weeks of the show due to his natural flair and talent after wowing judges in the opening week with his Jive.

It wasn't until last week's episode that Mellor found himself at the top of the leader board, while Yassin has managed a total of four times on top of the leader board throughout the show.

Helen has only managed to reach the top of the leaderboard once, back in week five. Despite the lower statistics, the bookies remain confident that Skelton has a high chance of winning.

Lee Phelps, a spokesperson for William Hill said; “Helen has shown how determined she is time and time again. I think she has it in her to go all the way, she doesn't give up easily.

“That being said, Hamza has been the firm favourite for quite some time now, I think it would take something pretty special to knock him off the top spot.”

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