Cheryl’s much-hyped return to primetime TV hasn’t helped pull in the viewers for the BBC’s new show The Greatest Dancer.
The number of people watching Saturday’s episode fell by 500,000 following its launch the week before.
Rival ITV show The Voice had a larger audience for the second week running, although the singing contest also had fewer people tuning in to its second show.
Figures released on Sunday revealed The Greatest Dancer averaged an audience of 4.1 million on Saturday night, while The Voice won out with an average of 4.6 million (not including figures from ITV+1).
Some 500,000 fewer viewers watched The Greatest Dancer compared with last week, when the channel secured an average of 4.6 million.
The Voice suffered a drop of 200,000 from last week’s average of 4.8 million but still secured a larger share of the total UK audience, taking 23.7 percent while dance show took only 21.3 percent.
The previous week, The Greatest Dancer peaked at 4.8 million, while The Voice reached 5.2 million (not including figures from ITV+1).
Read more: The Voice viewers stunned to discover how old Will.i.am is
The BBC said they weren’t disappointed as The Greatest Dancer has still pulled in more viewers than shows they have broadcast against The Voice in previous years, such as Wedding Day Winners and Casualty.
A spokesman for the corporation attributed the dance show’s reduced figures to a general drop in viewership across all channels.
Don’t miss out: Three steps to ensure you see all ED!’s latest news on Facebook
He said: “Audiences for all channels were down on the first week of January and after the fanfare of launch, it’s no surprise you saw a drop for The Voice and The Greatest Dancer.
“It’s great that we still brought in more than four million average and the show grew its audience throughout.”
The show, presented by Alesha Dixon and Diversity’s Jordan Banjo, is a dance talent show with auditionees of all ages seeking to impress a theatre audience, plus captains Cheryl, Matthew Morrison and Strictly’s Oti Mabuse.
It’s Cheryl’s TV comeback following the birth of her son, Bear, but some have questioned her credibility as a dance judge and declared the first episode was “terrible”.
Have you been watching The Greatest Dancer? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!