According to sources, Simon Cowell will return on the show next year and hopes that Barbara Windsor and David Williams will join the panel.
According to sources, Simon Cowell will return on the show next year and hopes that Barbara Windsor and David Williams will join the panel. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing has beaten ITV's The X-Factor in the battle for Saturday night viewing figures over the weekend.

Strictly recorded an average of around 10.2 million viewers last Saturday, with a peak of 11.5 million. In comparison, X Factor had an average of 9.59 million and a peak of 11 million.

Both shows had Halloween themed programmes, but Strictly managed to pull in on average one million more viewers than its ITV rival.

The results show that the viewers for X Factor continue to be around two million less than previous years.

Many people have blamed this dip in ratings on a change of the judge line-up as well as Simon Cowell's absence as he focuses on the US edition of X Factor.

There was further bad news for the flagship entertainment show for ITV as a recent YouGov poll show that 55% of respondents believe that this should be the last series of the X Factor.

The ratings for the US version of the popular show have also been disappointing in comparison to previous years. X Factor US debuted with 12.5 million viewers in September and has only exceeded that figure once in the six following weeks.