Strictly Come Dancing beats X Factor again in Saturday night ratings war

The dancing competition drew 2 million more viewers than X Factor

Pixie Lott dances the Samba with Trent Whiddon (BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing has beaten The X Factor again in the Saturday night ratings battle.

The BBC One dancing show was watched by an average 9.5 million viewers, taking a 42.9 per cent audience share for its time slot.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell’s ITV talent competition pulled in an audience of 7.5 million despite being broadcast in the later prime time slot of 8pm.

The live show, which saw the contestants sing well-known songs from films, attracted 32.8 per cent of the audience share.

Doctor Who, which was broadcast at the same time as The X Factor on BBC 1, pulled in 5 million viewers.

The two entertainment behemoths will compete again tonight when one contestant will be voted off from each programme in their live results shows.

Scott Mills is the bookies’ favourite to leave Strictly Come Dancing tonight, just ahead of Judy Murray, while Pixie Lott topped the leader board with the highest score of the night for her Samba.

Simon Cowell warned Jake Quickenden that he could leave tonight after his dull performance of “She’s Like the Wind” from Dirty Dancing.