Strictly favourites Helen Skelton & Hamza Yassin vie for Glitterball – but will they land huge TV contracts after show?
STRICTLY favourites Helen Skelton and Hamza Yassin are in line for six-figure presenting contracts to keep them at the Beeb, The Sun can reveal.
Bosses are poised to splash the cash to stop a rival broadcaster snapping up the duo who have been nurtured by the channel — and who go head-to-head in Saturday’s BBC Strictly final.
Countryfile host Helen, 39, is partnered with Spaniard Gorka Marquez, 32, and is 7/4 to win while CBeebies favourite Hamza, 32, who dances with new Polish pro Jowita Pryzstal, 28, is at 4/9.
Helen, who made her name on Blue Peter 15 years ago and Hamza, who it is believed may get his own nature show, have been sensational almost from the start, getting high scores from the judges.
They have sailed serenely through each week so far on the public vote but still have to get past singer-songwriter Fleur East, 35, and Italian pro Vito Coppola, 30, and singer and actress Molly Rainford, 22, and her Chinese partner by Carlos Gu, 28,
A TV insider said: “Helen are Hamza are well thought of at the BBC and the executives are delighted at how the show has boosted their profiles.
“They’ve wanted some sensational stars to emerge in Strictly this year which is a ‘full’ show for the first time since it was scaled back by Covid two years ago.
“Viewers seem to have thrown their support behind Helen and Hamza in a way few other finalists have enjoyed. The Beeb are keen to build on that and make sure they stay with the BBC, which is where they’ve both developed their careers so far.”
The insider added: “They are both highly valued, even though their careers are at very different stages. She’s a well-known face on our screens while he is a little-known presenter at this stage.”
Speaking yesterday on This Morning, Strictly’s head judge, Shirley Ballas, said: “It’s one of the strongest finals we’ve ever had. Everybody is fighting.”
She all the contestants had been forced to up their game during the series to get to where they are now.
Shirley said: “They’ve all improved in certain areas right from the very beginning.
“I mean Helen, she was quiet, she was shy. Look where she is today. Molly’s been in the bottom so many times, as has Fleur and then we’ve got Hamza, who had to improve his footwork and his lifts.
“Everybody who’s made the final is a winner in their own right and I wouldn’t like to call it. The audience at home will have a voice and speak.
“I have full faith that they’ll pick the right winner.”
