'Celebrity Wrestling' flop is dumped

ITV1 has dropped its Saturday night prime-time show Celebrity Wrestling half way through its run as a result of plummeting viewing figures.

ITV1 has dropped its Saturday night prime-time show Celebrity Wrestling half way through its run as a result of plummeting viewing figures.

The show, which involves D-list celebrities competing in wrestling bouts in front of an audience, will be aired for the last time on Saturday, after its ratings fell to just 2.6 million viewers. The following week, the show will be replaced by a Star Wars film.

Competition from BBC1's Doctor Who, which attracted 7.5 million viewers on Saturday, meant that just 14 per cent of the available audience watched Celebrity Wrestling.

The much-hyped show, whose contestants include the former Big Brother winner Kate Lawler, former tennis player Annabel Croft and Major James Hewitt, attracted 3.8 million viewers when it debuted on 23 April. In its second week, ratings fell to 3 million.

An ITV spokeswoman said: "Despite a strong start bringing in a large share of younger viewers to ITV1, in the last couple of weeks we have seen that share fall and as a result have decided to take Celebrity Wrestling out of the schedule."