Simon Cowell has accepted defeat in the first ratings battle of the year between ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and his show, ‘The X Factor’.
The two reality shows went head-to-head on Sunday night, with the ‘Strictly’ launch show managing to pull in around 200,000 more viewers than ‘X Factor’.
Simon Cowell
Although the music mogul admitted he thought it was “a shame” that they had been pitted against each other yet again, he was graceful in defeat, tweeting “round one to them” on Monday morning…
Simon hit out at ‘Strictly’ for airing their launch show at the same time as ‘X Factor’ in an interview last month, telling The Independent their “gentlemen’s agreement” had “gone out the window” and that they were “p*ssing off viewers” by creating a scheduling clash.
Earlier this year, Simon admitted that he felt “physically sick” when a rival show performed better than ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, adding: “If you are not jealous of your competitors you are not going to win.
“It means you care.”
'Strictly' contestant Caroline Flack and her dancing partner Pasha Kovalev
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ launch on Sunday night saw this year’s 15 contestants - including former ‘Xtra Factor’ presenter Caroline Flack, who has maintained that she is on “good terms” with Simon despite defecting to ‘Strictly’ this year - being paired up with their professional dance partners.
Meanwhile, ‘The X Factor’ showed returning contestant Jake Quickenden unanimously impressing the judges, while singer/songwriter Raign was a bit more polarising.
She’s since publicly apologised to Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who suggested she needed to change her “attitude”, adding that her “desperation” was “ugly”.