Punters believe public support will see the popular BBC presenter crowned champion

Favourite backers landed a gamble on Matt Cardle to win last week's X Factor final and bookmakers report those punters are playing up their winnings on Strictly Come Dancing 2010 market leader Matt Baker to prevail in this weekend's decider.

The One Show presenter has trailed Kara Tointon and Pamela Stephenson in the points table in recent weeks but with the final decided on public votes alones, the feeling is that his popularity with viewers will prove sufficient to win the day.

Betfred have been forced to cut Matt and Aliona to 8/11 after fielding a flurry of bets, while Kara and Artem can be backed at 13/8 and Pamela and James are 7/1 outsiders here.

“We laid a bet of £2,000 at 11/10 about Matt Baker this morning and the money just keeps on coming for him," said spokesman Jon Wilde. "It looks like being a repeat of the X Factor last weekend with Matt proving to be most popular among both the public and the punters.”

William Hill are betting on who will be the first person eliminated this weekend and make Pamela 4/7 favourite here, with Matt then 10/3 and Kara 7/2, while the firm are expecting plenty of interest in the show.

"Strictly will not have to compete with the X Factor this weekend and with such a close race we expect a record turnover," said Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.