Strictly shows X Factor clean pair of heels in battle for top ratings

THE FIRST live episode of Strictly Come Dancing trounced The X Factor when it aired on Saturday night, beating its rival in the ratings by over four million viewers.

The BBC One programme saw 15 new celebrities take to the dance floor for the first time with their partners, and was watched by an average of 9.3m viewers. The bumper episode, which aired for just under two-and-a-half hours, peaked at 10.2m viewers and was the mostwatched programme of the day.

Celebrities competed after two weeks of intense training, with ex-JLS singer Aston Merrygold topping the leader board, and comedian Brian Conley and TV presenter Ruth Langsford coming joint last.

Over on ITV, The X Factor – overlapping with Strictly for 45 minutes as it aired from 8pm until 9.15pm – was watched by an average of 4.8m and a peak of six million, according to data published yesterday. The figures for Simon Cowell’s singing programme include those watching an hour later on ITV+1. The X Factor’s latest series has suffered a drop of 1.5m after clashing with Strictly, as last week’s broadcast was the highest of the series so far, with an average of 6.3m viewers tuning in. The series opener of The X Factor drew six million for its first Saturday episode, its lowest for a launch since its first year on screen in 2004. And the new ratings dip for The X Factor comes two weeks after Strictly launched with a prerecorded episode, which saw the stars learn who their professional partners would be. Strictly had opened with an average of 8.8m viewers, while The X Factor averaged 5.5m on the same night.