The X Factor: Celebrity launch gets just under 5 million viewers
Strictly Come Dancing easily bested its ITV rival, according to overnight figures
![The X factor celebrity The Islanders ©Syco/Thames The X factor celebrity The Islanders ©Syco/Thames](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/10/the_x_factor_celebrity_ep1_12-0627361.jpg?quality=90&resize=980,654)
The X Factor's new celebrity-themed spin-off drew an average of 4.8 million viewers to ITV last night (12th October.)
The first episode of The X Factor: Celebrity saw Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger size up a batch of famous faces who aren't best known for their singing ability.
The show – which saw The Chase's Jenny Ryan, journalist and broadcaster Martin Bashir and Glee's Kevin McHale take part – peaked at 5.3 million and won its time slot with a 27.3% audience share. It was also the most-watched show of the night among 16 to 34-year-old viewers.
However, BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing was way ahead in terms of total viewers – with an average of 8.5 million watching (a 45.6% audience share) and a peak of 9.1 million, it was the most watched show across all channels for the night.
![Strictly, Kelvin and Oti (BBC) Strictly, Kelvin and Oti (BBC)](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/10/19044630-low_res-strictly-come-dancing-2019-b6df530.jpg?quality=90&crop=8px,12px,1985px,1322px&fit=700,466)
Strictly – which saw Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse stun the judges with a sexy rumba – did not compete with The X Factor directly, airing in an earlier 6.40pm slot.
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The X Factor: Celebrity's launch figure is down on the 5.5 million who watched the final of the 2018 series, and is also lower than the figures for Cowell's Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, which launched with 5.8 million in August.