ITV BGT's Jack Rhodes dealt huge blow just hours before finale - despite being branded 'favourite' by Simon

Jack Rhodes' hopes of being crowned this year's Britain's Got Talent winner have been dealt a brutal blow, according to new data.

The budding magician has high hopes of performing in Las Vegas post-BGT and during both his audition and semi-final performance, the judges deemed it a dream that may just come true.

In Tuesday's live show, Rhodes left Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Bruno Tonioli and Alesha Dixon all dumbfounded with his explosive routine.

Involving a deck of cards and sticks of dynamite, ITV viewers were none the wiser about how Rhodes managed to pull off the stunt that saw him escape the "crate of death" while keeping Cowell's signed card in tact.

Tonioli branded it the "best magic act I've ever seen", Dixon labelled the performance "spectacular", Holden praised Rhodes' "charisma", and Cowell called the nuclear engineer "the favourite to win the entire competition".

However, heading into Sunday's finale, it appears the bookmakers don't agree with Cowell's lofty praise.

Jack Rhodes

Rhodes' chances of winning have taken a hit since he performed on Tuesday night after the full line-up of finalists was unveiled - barring the wildcard.

As such, according to bookmakers, Rhodes' odds have lengthened to put him behind a handful of other acts at the top of the market.

According to Oddschecker: "Currently, Sydnie Christmas is the odds-on favourite to win Britain's Got Talent after she wowed the judges and the public again in Heat Three of the Semi-Finals.

"Sky Bet are currently offering the best odds on Sydnie Christmas to win, and at 4/6 she is being given a 60 percent chance of winning the competition.

"Two other acts who have been popular bets are magician, Jack Rhodes who booked his spot in the final in Heat Two, and Alex Mitchell, one of the two most recent finalists after (Friday's) last semi-final."

Delving into the blow to Rhodes' hopes, they continued: "Despite Simon Cowell labelling Magician, Rhodes as the 'Favourite to Win', it is Sydnie Christmas who is still the most likely winner according to the odds.

"The former cruise ship winner tops the odds board and for good reason.

"If you want to take Simon Cowell's word for it, then Jack Rhodes is a good bet at 9/1. We think Sydnie Christmas will come out on top though."

Christmas is an odds-on favourite to bag victory across a number of bookmakers' markets after the 28-year-old wowed with her performance of My Way.

According to Oddschecker, Christmas is priced as low as 1/3 with some bookmakers to emerge victorious.

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ITV BGT judges

She's closely followed by Mitchell at 6/1 and dancing duo Abigail and Afronitaaa who also supersede Rhodes in the running with odds of 6/1 as well.

Rhodes currently stands at an outside shot of 8/1 but he'll be hoping to work his magic come Sunday evening to prove bookies wrong.

Elsewhere, the likes of singers Innocent Masuku and Mike Woodhams have been priced at 10/1 and 25/1 respectively.

Haribow, Trixy and The Ssaulabi Performance Troupe look almost certain to miss out on glory as they all fetch odds of 40/1 while Northants Sings Out Choir rounds out the betting at 66/1.