Is Hiddleston the next Bond? UK bookies suspend betting

Mr Smooth: Actor Tom Hiddleston poses for photographers upon arrival at the British Academy Television Awards' in London this month. Photo / AP

Ah, Mr Hiddleston, we've been expecting you ... to become the next James Bond.

So much so, that betting has now been suspended on the British star becoming the next 007.

A flurry of bets between Saturday and today tipped Tom Hiddleston, the star of the spy thriller The Night Manager, to replace Daniel Craig as the next 007, making him the 2-1 favourite.

But Coral suspended betting after a particularly large bet was placed, sending his odds plummeting to 1-2.

It came after Hiddleston was reportedly spotted meeting with Bond director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli late last week.

Coral's Nicola McGeady said: "There is no smoke without fire, and following the big gamble on Tom Hiddleston in the last 24 hours, we've had no choice but to pull the plug on the market."

Luther star Idris Elba and Homeland actor Damian Lewis had been frontrunners for the job in previous months.

"Earlier in the year there was a gamble on Idris Elba and Damian Lewis, but nothing has come close to the recent gamble on Hiddleston," McGeady said.

Elba was priced at 9-1 and Lewis at 14-1 before betting was suspended. Poldark star Aidan Turner had 3-1 odds and Mad Max: Fury Road actor Tom Hardy was at 4-1.

Hiddleston starred in the BBC adaptation of John Le Carré's The Night Manager, which is now showing in the US.

Hiddleston has said that playing Bond would be an "extraordinary opportunity" and described himself as a "huge fan" of the film franchise.

He told the Sunday Times: "I simply love the theme tune, the tropes and the mythology. I love the whole thing."