Surprising Strictly Come Dancing contestant tipped to beat favourites Jamie Borthwick and Tasha Ghouri to win the Glitter Ball after a string of spectacular performances

According to the bookies, a new star has emerged as the Strictly Come Dancing frontrunner.

Current favourites include Tasha Ghouri, Jamie Borthwick and Chris McCausland who have all been tipped to take home the trophy.

But now the odds have changed and a surprising star has emerged as the fan favourite to raise the Glitterball.

Sarah Hadland has moved to the top of the leaderboard, overtaking Tasha and Jamie but not quite managing to topple Chris. 

According to bookmakers BetMGM, the Miranda star’s odds have drastically improved following her consistent high scores and impressive performances.

Her odds have dramatically shortened from 11/2 to 5/2 after she placed third on the latest leaderboard.

Sam Behar, a director at BetMGM, said: ‘There has been a big market move on Sarah Hadland to be crowned the next Strictly Come Dancing champion.

According to the company, Sarah’s offs of winning have changed from 11/2 to 5/2 in just a few days.

They told The Sun: ‘She’s still behind the 1/2 favourite Chris McCausland but has become a serious contender ahead of Tasha Ghouri at 8/1 and Jamie Borthwick at 20/1.’

And while the actress’s odds get ever better, someone wo is still struggling to convince viewers he could win is Shayne Ward with just a 100/1 chance of taking home the Glitterball.

Sarah’s performance over the weekend was likely boosted after a surprise visit from her best friend and former co-star Miranda Hart.

The actress who has been supporting her friend throughout the competition via her Instagram made an appearance in the rehearsal studio.

The pair were practicing their Cha-Cha to Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ for Icons Week when Miranda made her surprise entrance. 

The star told Sarah: ‘It’s an amazing experience, I feel lucky, like I have won a prize.’

This week, Sarah will be dancing to Heather Small’s hit Proud – a track she is familiar with after it was used in a famous skit in comedy series Miranda.

Miranda  – who secretly married at the age of 51 this year – is reportedly transfixed by Sarah‘s appearances and has her sights set on appearing next year.

A well-placed insider told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Sarah and Miranda used to watch Strictly at home together before Sarah was on it. It was their joint dream to be on [the show]. Ultimately, Miranda would love to go on the show.’

And the star has been regularly posting hilarious videos of her supporting her friend to her social media.

Last month she posted an energetic Instagram video, demonstrating her own choreography idea for Sarah and her Strictly dance partner Vito Coppola.

Another video shows her performing Samba moves and telling her friend: ‘Come on, Hadders… Samba your hips away. Go Team tiramisu.’

The source also revealed: ‘Miranda would love to learn how to dance properly. Obviously, the Beeb would love that too. The BBC is desperate to get the big names back on the show. If they could tempt Miranda onto it, then it could encourage other big celebrities to do it again. Sarah is their hope because she’s so close to Miranda.’

On last week’s show, Strictly host Claudia Winkleman said: ‘This is an official message to Miranda Hart. Your wonderful friend is dancing in exactly 27 minutes 55 seconds.’

Sarah added Claudia was making ‘it crystal clear she’s got time to get the kettle on, toilet break, no talking, watch’. 

The source close to Sarah– who attended Miranda’s secret wedding – told the Mail on Sunday: ‘That was a shout-out to Miranda. 

‘The whole BBC is trying to persuade her by making references to her on the show. She just got married, everyone’s buzzing with her and she’s Strictly’s biggest fan.

‘Before now she’s been self-conscious, she is ridiculously tall as well, she’s a head taller than Sarah. But Sarah’s given her the confidence to potentially give it a try.’