While sports betting has been commonplace for a long time, betting on TV shows has become very popular in recent years, with customers enjoying the chance to place bets on the outcome of programmes like Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor and Love Island.

Top betting sites used to create novelty market for a bit of fun, although they now report thousands of bets being placed on TV shows every week, with customers hoping to gain an edge by watching their favourite show and betting on one of the several markets that are made available.

How to Bet on Strictly

Take Strictly Come Dancing, the Saturday evening dancing show on BBC which features celebrities competing for the prized glitter ball. Because the TV show is filmed live, it effectively means that bookmakers are prepared to offer bets on various outcomes.

For example, you can bet on the Strictly Come Dancing winner as well as markets such as Top Man and Top Lady. Every week, there is also the chance to bet on Next Elimination where customers aim to win money by backing a dancing couple to exit the competition and taking the odds that are available.

The bookmakers often struggle to have the same amount of knowledge regarding a TV show than they might get with sports information, with traders having to watch the programme and rely on polls to get a feel for the likely winners.

X Factor Betting Also Available

Betting on the X Factor has also become a big thing, with punters able to locate the latest TV Show betting markets and find this ITV reality show listed as an option with their favourite online bookmaker.

Before the latest X Factor series even begins, you can back which judge will have the winning act, with each judge given a particular category. When the acts reach boot camp, you can bet on which singers will reach the live final stage before actually betting on the live final each week.

As with Strictly Come Dancing, you can bet on the Winner of the X Factor, along with which act will come out on top for their particular category. You can also bet on the next act to leave the competition, with a public vote deciding the bottom two before the judges decide who will go out.

I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Odds

When the nights draw in, it can mean only one thing. Namely that I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here appears on ITV. A selection of celebrities are thrust into an Australian jungle and amazingly, you can place a number of different types of bets on this TV show including the King of the Jungle and the Queen of the Jungle.

You can also bet on this TV show when it comes to the Next Celebrity to Leave as well as Bushtucker Trial odds. It might sound strange to bet on this TV programme but a lot of customers study the odds and the latest polls to determine where their bets might be placed.

Check Different Bookmakers for TV Show Betting

Not every bookmaker will offer odds for different TV shows. You might get the occasional bookie who has betting markets available for Great British Bake Off betting or The Apprentice betting, although if the show is pre-recorded, there is less chance that betting odds will be made available.

You will also find that the odds and betting markets vary a good deal between different bookies, with operators often in the dark when it comes to pricing up TV shows due to the uncertainty of a public vote. You will also find firms not always agreeing with each other on who to make favourite.

The odds fluctuate a lot when it comes to TV show betting. There might be several favourites to win a show like Big Brother depending on what is happening in the house, so don’t be afraid to bet on the outsiders for the markets as they have a much bigger strike rate than outsiders in sports betting.

TV show betting can be hugely rewarding and also add to the excitement of watching your favourite programmes, especially if you manage to strike it lucky by successfully backing the Next Eviction or the Winner on a particular market.

You might find that you can only place small stakes bets on these markets due to the possibility of certain people knowing the results of a telephone vote, although there are lots of possibilities nonetheless.