You'll need to do more than bickering! X Factor judges fail to win ratings war as Strictly triumphs in head-to-head battle
By Nadia Mendoza and Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:00 AM on 24th October 2011
Not even Mishagate could save The X Factor last night, as ratings for the reality show continue to struggle.
While there was a marginal improvement on last week, the singing series was beaten by Strictly Come Dancing as the shows went head-to-head.
As the shows overlapped for a 15 minute slot between 8pm and 8.15pm, 9.5 million tuned into BBC1, while ITV1 pooled 8.3m viewers at that time.
Struggling to perform: X Factor judges are under pressure from Simon Cowell, as Strictly triumphs with higher ratings during show overlap
Feud: Kelly and Tulisa nearly fell out onscreen after the N-Dubz star accused Misha B of bullying contestants
However, Simon Cowell triumphed when it came to peak figures, with X Factor accruing 11.5m last night, while Strictly saw its highest point at 11m.
While The X Factor remained on top, the gap was uncomfortably narrow, with ratings 2.2million down on last year’s corresponding episode.
Yet Strictly is closing in on the Syco production, gaining in excess of a million viewers when the two shows overlapped for a second week running.
A BBC spokeswoman said: 'We are absolutely delighted by our figures and that more people are tuning in to see our celebrity dancers each week.'
Canny BBC producers scheduled Strictly favourite Russell Grant’s tango performance for 8pm – the time at which the two shows went head-to-head.
During the 15-minute overlap, an average of 9.5million chose Strictly while only 8.3million voted for its ITV rival.
And BBC chiefs were ‘thrilled’ after Strictly gained 900,000 viewers to give it a 43.6 per cent audience share.
The X Factor, whose lead was once seen as unassailable, finished narrowly ahead with 44 per cent.
Despite the ratings war, an ITV spokesman defended the show, saying: '11.5 million viewers watched last night's show as The X Factor continued to be the most popular programme on Saturday night television.'
Proving popular: Holly Valance and Artem Chigvintsev have helped bring in the viewers and increase figures by a million since last week
Some suggested that this weekend saw the judges attempt to manufacture further controversy, after hotly tipped contestant Misha Bryan was accused of bullying her competitors.
Miss Bryan’s mentor Kelly Rowland stormed out of the X Factor studios after the comments from fellow judges Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostavlos, with the latter saying that the 19-year-old from Manchester was ‘too mean’ to the other hopefuls.
Walsh, 59, yesterday apologised after revealing live on air that one of his acts had complained about Miss Bryan. He told the Daily Mail: ‘I shouldn’t have called Misha a bully, and I apologise for that.’
The incident has caused considerable friction between the two female mentors, with a show insider admitting: ‘Things are very tense between the judges now – particularly Kelly and Tulisa.
'Kelly was absolutely furious and stormed off after the show. She refused to speak to Tulisa.’
Miss Bryan had received positive comments for her performance of Prince’s Purple Rain before Walsh prompted the war of words.
Barlow attempted to defuse the situation, saying: ‘First and foremost, I’m here to judge what I see tonight. I don’t care what goes on backstage. We shouldn’t be getting involved in that.’
Miss Rowland also defended her, adding: ‘We leave things “backstage” backstage.’
The bickering prompted Lord Sugar to tweet: ‘Pathetic false banter between X Factor judges. Do they take the public for mugs? They might get a Bafta for acting.’
Controversy: Misha B sparked a debate last night as Tulisa accused her of backstage bullying live on TV - but was it just to bid ratings?
An X Factor spokesman stressed that ‘contestant welfare is of paramount importance’, while a source added: ‘Contestants spend most of their time together and now we’re a few weeks in it’s inevitable that bickering takes place between them, but there’s no bullying.’
In last night’s live results show, Sami Brookes was kicked out after three judges – including Walsh, her own mentor – chose to send her home.
The 31-year-old was in the bottom two with 26-year-old Kitty Brucknell after the pair received the fewest public votes.
Meanwhile, impressionist Rory Bremner has admitted that he nearly wept as he told his daughters Ava, nine, and Lila, seven, that he had got the boot from Strictly.
The 50-year-old told the Mail: ‘They were so excited after Saturday’s show, and I had to tell them that it was over. I had a lump in my throat. I do feel I let them down, but I gave it my best shot.’
The audience is down by almost two million, with an average of 10.1m, compared to the equivalent third week show in 2010 which had 12m.
Cowell is said to have been unhappy with the performance of the new panel, ordering the quartet to improve it by '10 per cent each week'.
The figures have seen the gap close between the rival shows, as Strictly added nearly a million viewers to its peak audience, while X Factor dropped by at least 300,000, following last week's peak of 11.9m.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2052497/X-Factor-2011-Judges-fail-win-ratings-war-Strictly-Come-Dancing-triumphs-head-head-battle.html#ixzz1bgr7p6fa
