X Factor trounces Strictly Come Dancing in the Saturday night ratings
The ITV talent show was watched by an average audience of 9.3 million, which peaked at 10.7 million.
Strictly Come Dancing attracted only an average of 7.7 million viewers, which peaked at 8.7 million.
This follows the BBC's controversial decision to axe former judge, dancer and choreographer Arlene Phillips in favour of Alesha Dixon, a former member of girl band Mis-Teeq and previous winner of the competition.
Critics have argued that the dropping of Phillips from Strictly is another sign of the BBC’s perceived ageism and apparent discrimination against older women on TV.
An online petition to bring back Arlene Phillips has already brought in over 500 signatures in just one day, with one poster describing Phillips’ replacement as “clueless and deeply embarrassing.”
Reacting to the backlash, Alesha Dixon has said that she will not quit the show
“You can't please people all the time,” she said. “My job is … to provide a perspective that was missing before and that is the understanding of the performance aspects and of just how tough it is to perform to the standards viewers expect.”
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Read Pride Life’s interview with Alesha Dixon here
