X Factor: Celebrity loses ratings war as Strictly pulls in 3million more viewers

Viewers were conflicted last Saturday night as both X Factor: Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing hit their screens.

Both shows aired at the same time, as X Factor began at 8.35pm on ITV, while Strictly kicked off at 6.40pm on BBC One.

But the hit dance competition reigned supreme, as it pulled in more than 3million more viewers.

The series premiere of X Factor was watched by an average of 4.8million Brits, while 8.5 million tuned in to watch Strictly.

Even though it's already been running for four weeks, the star-studded dance competition has managed to keep drawing viewers back in.

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That said – Simon Cowell's celeb sing-off had the highest viewership for the night on ITV, beating programmes like The Chase Celebrity Special and The Jonathan Ross Show.

ITV bosses were reportedly chuffed with the response from fans, even though the rating have dropped from last year's series debut of 5.7million.

An ITV representative told Mail Online: "We are thrilled with the reaction to the launch of The X Factor: Celebrity and the fact it won the night among the key 16 to 34s demo, peaking with half of all young people watching TV.

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"The feedback from viewers has been overwhelmingly positive and The X Factor: Celebrity had a rare 14 trends across the night on Twitter."

The iconic judging panel of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Nicole Scherzinger have returned to the series this month, much to the delight of the viewers.

Saturday's season premiere saw the celeb lineup take to the mic for the first time, with a few surprises along the way.

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Viewers were stunned by Glee star Kevin McHale's dramatic transformation onstage, and some were left divided by the Love Island "super group's" rendition of There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back by Shawn Mendes.

Only time will tell whether fans will tune in next week – or whether they'll switch over to Strictly.

X Factor: Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing both return to screens on Saturday.

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