Jennifer Zamparelli has been tipped to follow in Nicky Byrne’s footsteps and leave Dancing With The Stars.
On Thursday, RTÉ confirmed the Westlife singer wouldn’t be returning to host the next season of the popular programme, as he’s heading on tour with Westlife in 2023.
Now, Paddy Power have offered odds of 3/1 that his co-host Jennifer will follow suit and announce her departure from the hit dancing contest.
Since Nicky’s announcement, rumours have been swirling about who will replace him on the upcoming series of Dancing With The Stars.
Lottie Ryan is currently the favourite to take the position, with odds of 6/4.
A source exclusively told Goss.ie: “Jen and Lottie are very close friends outside of work, and given Lottie won the show in 2020, it really would be a perfect fit.”
While our source revealed that “no decisions have been made yet”, a lot of people within RTÉ are backing Lottie to take the job.
Also among the frontrunners to co-host Dancing With The Stars are Ronan Keating and Jake Carter with odds of 8/1 and 9/1 respectively.
The 2 Johnnies star Johnny Smacks, former Love Island host Laura Whitmore and former Love Island contestant Maura Higgins all have equal odds of 10/1.
Other Irish names that have been thrown into the mix to co-host are James Patrice, Vogue Williams, Dáithí Ó Sé and Lucy Kennedy.
Nicky announced he was stepping down as co-host of Dancing With The Stars on Thursday via an Instagram post.
He wrote: “A little news from me. Sadly I will be stepping away from hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on RTÉ.”
“Westlife are now ten shows into our ‘Wild Dreams’ tour. We had two phenomenal nights at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium followed by a mind blowing show at Wembley Stadium and two absolutely sensational nights at Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” he continued.
“This tour continues now taking us around the world including five continents with 60 plus shows up until Summer 2023. So with all this in mind, I have had to make some tough decisions. One of them is my future hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on RTÉ – a show I have loved hosting from the very beginning.”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this show, full of glitz n’ glamour and of course, being a part of everyone’s Sunday night Winter TV viewing. It’s been a brilliant five seasons since we launched in 2017, working with the best crew in the world.”
“I have smiled and laughed my way through those 59 shows to date and what a journey it’s been. I take away the greatest memories,” Nicky wrote.
“Thank you Amanda and Jennifer and of course Lottie for stepping in. Thank you RTÉ. Thank you to the amazing team in ShinAwil. Thank you to Loraine, Brian, Arthur and Julian and all of the professional dancers. Thank you to the crew of hundreds who made all of those shows special.”
Nicky concluded his post by writing: “I wish whoever takes over from me the absolute best. Just don’t fall down that stairs at the start of the show!! You’ll have an absolute blast.”
