Brendan Cole seen visiting BBC Radio One Studios
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Brendan Cole predicts “early exit” for Strictly’s Susannah Constantine and Anton du Beke

He also named his couple to watch this year

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has predicted an “early exit” for Susannah Constantine and Anton Du Beke.

In his new column for Hello! magazine, Brendan spilled his thoughts on this year’s Strictly pairings after Saturday night’s launch show saw the celebrities meet their dance partners for the first time.

And unfortunately for Susannah and Anton, it’s not good news from Brendan…

Susannah Constantine was teamed with Anton Du Beke (Credit: Guy Levy/BBC)

Brendan wrote of their pairing: “I felt it was way too predictable! It will be fun for a few weeks but I am expecting an early exit for them both. Once again they have given Anton an older contestant – which is a bit boring.”

Read more: Strictly star says “bring on the curse” as she’s matched with pro

However, he added of fashion presenter Susannah: “I like her banter and think she will be really fun.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Brendan suggested Casualty’s Charles Venn and pro dancer Karen Clifton are the “couple to watch” this year.

Strictly: Charles Venn and Karen Clifton, Tess Daly, Charles Venn, Karen Clifton
Brendan predicted Charles and Karen will go far (Credit: BBC/Guy Levy)

He wrote: “Is he single? Because the chemistry is obvious! He has the perfect partner in the show in Karen as what she delivers is amazing.”

Brendan was axed from Strictly earlier this year despite being one of the original pro dancers.

At the time, he said: “I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, a bit raw about it.”

However, he sent a message of support to this year’s Strictly dancers before the show started, saying he’d be cheering them on and watching from home.

Strictly’s new series kicked off with great ratings, attracting an average audience of 8.1 million (40.9% share) and peaking at 8.5 million viewers, making it the most watched show of the day across all channels.

It marked a dip on last year’s launch when it drew an average of 8.8 million viewers and peaked at 9.5 million viewers.

Strictly’s ratings trounced those of rival show X Factor over on ITV.

Saturday’s episode of X Factor, meanwhile, drew an average of 4.6 million viewers (24% share), including those watching on the ITV HD and ITV+1 channels.

Strictly, Craig Revel Horwood, Dame Darcey Bussell, Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli
Strictly judges Craig, Darcey, Shirley and Bruno (Credit: BBC/Guy Levy)

Read more: Theresa May sends hilarious message to Strictly Come Dancing

X Factor peaked with 5.6 million viewers and was the most watched show of the evening for 16 to 34-year-olds, with a 39% share of the viewing for the age category.

Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor did not directly compete against each other on Saturday, with Strictly starting at 7.35pm and The X Factor beginning at 8.30pm, but there was a 30-minute period of overlap.

What do you think of this year’s Strictly couples? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor