I can honestly see him pull a Chris Hollins and win the show.
He's not the best dancer but he's entertaining and the public love him so I can see him being a serious contender.

I cant agree but I think he will see Ed& Gregg off and maybe daisy so maybe the QF but he wont win, he will end up in a DO with someone like Danny Ore or Claudia& be sent packing

Definitely seems like a dark horse! I'd love for him to be up there in the final few.

If he makes the final he has a good chance.

Or he could not end up in a DO at all?

Not yet!

The Cha Cha gave him a good start but he needs another equivalent of the COLA Charleston to win.

It is possible. He'll mop up the Ed vote and Danny and Louise are giving a distinct Ricky and Ali meh vibe this series, neither are getting people excited like Jay, Georgia and Anita were last year

As I think Richard Osman pointed out people can't decide if he's a good dancer or a comedy act when in fact he is both. As he has shown this week he can do straight too. He is obviously very fit and athletic which was kind of a surprise at first to be honest.

In short he brings more facets to his game than most.

Characterful
Improving (ie not a semi pro ringer)
Enthusiastic
Decent enough ability wise from the word go.

I'll grant you he isn't everyone's cup of tea but I do think he has caught the public imagination and has a fairly solid fan base for a variety of reasons. If he continues with his solid mid table performances I think that fan base will carry him through to the semi final at least.

As to winning I sort of doubt it but strange things happen and if he gets to the final with some fairly bland other contestants then stranger things have happened with the public vote.

His chances of winning have been reduced ... by Will Young. Because of Will's withdrawal, we'll only have three in the final. Not four as has been the case in recent years. Those four finalists have been ranked by public voting only, a vote which Rinder might well win. But now we may have a semi-final with three clearly superior dancers and Rinder. With the judge's votes still counting at that stage, he may well be in a dance-off with Ore or Claudia or Danny or Louise. The judges would then vote him off.

Anyone want to buy Lucky White Heather?

After Ore being in the DO and most everyone (including me) thinking he was a shoo in for the final, I'm starting to think that Rinder in the final is not such a crazy idea.

yes he will do sooner or later, if anyone escapes the DO completely this year I would say Danny, Louise and maybe Claudia

Was Chris Hollins ever in the DO?

To get to the semi he would have had to "beat" one of those dancers already at least. Personally somewhere along the line I can imagine Ore and Claudia being in a DO with each other. Another question is how much better can Rob get? He is seemingly still on an upward trajectory and any of the others can have a bum week. Making the final will come down to fan bases and I'm purely guessing but I suspect Rob's will be bigger than Ore's and Claudia's at least. Louise is a bit vanilla in my opinion to capture the public whereas Danny has a bit more about him.

Will he 'eck.

The final will be Danny, Louise and Claudia.

Brill post. I completely agree with you and Richard Osman! He's got irons in a lot of different fires and that confusion about comedy act or good dancer carries through to his character too.

He's perplexing at a personal level: sneery, mercurial, joyous, confiding... He's a man built on opposites and he makes our uncertain response to him work to his advantage. It doesn't matter whether you like or are repelled by him. Either stance is your entry point into Rinder's personality-snare. Honestly, I don't know whether I like him or not. He's horrible. Oily. Harsh. But equally he's beguiling and over-brimming with joy.

Craig. Has. Met. His. Match.

Rinder is too clever by half

Not necessarily.

The pointers to Ore not getting much public backing have been there in Yougov polls for several weeks now; I know they're not perfect, but they tell part of the story if not all. Equally, Ed & Rinder have been in the top 3 or 4 each week. I think he's still a shoo-in for the final, but with a few more DOs along the way.

The couple that regularly come top of the public vote are the couple most likely to avoid the dance off. That could be any of the couples by the time we get to the semi-finals.

Getting through the semi-finals is going to be tough as there will be two dances to learn and two of the four couples will be in the dance off.

I REALLY hope you're wrong!!

Find him infernally irritating and have from the start!!

Nope. Neither were Darren Gough, Ramps, Gethin (I know he didn't win), Tom Chambers, all three finalists in Kara's year, Harry, Chelsee, Louis, Dani Harmer, Susanna Reid, SEB, Frankie and Jay.

If Ore goes, I'm supporting Rinder to muck things up for the ringers. It's a bad attitude, I know, but I've never voted for the Kara/Denise/Jay/whoever... Danny/Jason/etc brigade. It doesn't seem fair for them to be competing alongside the wounded, the beer-gutted and the hapless. If Rinder is the best shot remaining, I'll take it, though would much rather be a whole-hearted supporter of Ore.

Even if Rinder is 'infernally irritating'

I'd be extremely happy. He's improving a lot, entertaining, funny, and I love Oksana.

Very good post, and I agree - EXCEPT I don't find him irritating at all.

Rob reaching finals would please me actually: I tend to look at whose dances across the series have I rewatched the most and atm he's winning