Strictly Come Dancing waltzes ahead of The X Factor in ratings showdown

By Martin Howden

Published: | Updated:


The X Factor's ratings slump continues.

Strictly Come Dancing peaked at 9.8 million on Saturday night -  300,000 viewers more than the  ITV1 series.

Viewers were treated to a host of big names showing off their dancing skills on the BBC1 show, including Kimberley Walsh, Jerry Hall and Olympics star Victoria Pendleton.

Hot to fox trot: : The premiere of the new Strictly Come Dancing series saw off The X Factor in the rating war

Hot to fox trot: : The premiere of the new Strictly Come Dancing series saw off The X Factor in the rating war

A BBC insider told The Sun: 'These are great figures."

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom for The X Factor.

The episode pulled in 400,000 viewers more than last week, and its overall audience topped 8.6 million compared to Strictly's 8 million.

Louis Walsh, Tulisa Contostavlos, guest judge Rita Ora and Gary Barlow judged Saturday night's show

Louis Walsh, Tulisa Contostavlos, guest judge Rita Ora and Gary Barlow starred in Saturday night's show, which pulled in 300,000 viewers less than their BBC rival series

When ITV1+1 figures were added, it peaked at 10 million.

The viewing figures are still around 2 million down from this time last year, but one of the show's judges insists the ratings are nothing to worry about.

Flop factor: Bianca Gascoigne attempted to win over the judges but was blasted by Barlow over her vocal ability

Flop factor: Bianca Gascoigne attempted to win over the judges but was blasted by Barlow over her vocal ability

Defiant Tulisa Contostavlos said: 'Regardless of how much the figures go up and down it's still the biggest, most watched show on television.'

Viewers on Saturday's episode saw Paul Gascoigne's step-daughter Bianca try her luck on the reality show, but was slammed by Gary Barlow.

He said: 'If I could compare you with the other 25-year-olds we’ve had it’s really not good enough.'

Tulisa found the audition awkward, but Walsh defended Bianca, saying: ''Bianca you haven’t got a bad voice, you’ve got a great image you know but it’s tough because we’ve got some amazing singers in this category already.'

Defiant: Tulisa insists the ratings don't matter, saying X Factor is 'the most watched show on television'

Defiant: Tulisa insists the ratings don't matter, saying X Factor is 'the most watched show on television'

Next week's episode will see the boot camp segment of the series, and bosses of the series will surely hope the exotic locales boost the audience figures.

It was a double showdown blow for The X Factor.

The U.S. version's premiere episode may have featured the much talked about debut appearance of Britney Spears as a judge, but it still got beaten in the ratings by The Voice.

The premiere averaged 8.5 million viewers, while The Voice averaged two million more.

Golden gild: Olympics hero Victoria Pendleton is starring in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing

Golden girl: Olympics hero Victoria Pendleton is starring in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing






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