Strictly Come Dancing’s first live show ratings drop for the second year in a row with the opening competition night watched by an average of 6.6M

By William On Sep 24, 2023

Viewing figures for Strictly Come Dancing’s first live show fall for the second year in a row, with the opening night of the competition watched by an average of 6.6 million people

By Geraint Llewellyn for Mailonline

Published: 1:23 PM EDT, September 24, 2023 | Updated: 2:19 PM EDT, September 24, 2023

The first live show of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing was watched by an average of 6.6 million viewers on Saturday, according to overnight viewing figures.

This saw a decline for the second year in a row after the 2021 launch was watched by an average of 6.8 million viewers, while the 2021 show was watched by 7.9 million.

Saturday was the first competition night of the popular show, which saw 15 couples battle it out on the dance floor, peaking at 7.2 million viewers – similar to last year.

It comes after last week’s launch, which saw the celebrities meet their professional partners and saw viewing figures soar to their highest level since 2021, with an average of 6.1 million viewers.

This was a jump from last year, which had averaged 5.4 million viewers, and 7.9 million in 2021.

Dip: The first live show of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing was watched by an average of 6.6 million viewers on Saturday, according to overnight viewing figures

Figures: This was a decline for the second year in a row after the 2021 launch was watched by an average of 6.8 million people, while the 2021 opening show was watched by 7.9 million people.

Last week’s launch attracted a peak of 6.7 million viewers, up from last year’s peak of 5.6 million.

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.

During the episode, Nigel Harman emerged as an early favorite to win the series as he topped the leaderboard in week one.

The 50-year-old actor was named ‘the one to beat’ by judge Shirley Ballas after performing an excellent pasodoble with dance partner Katya Jones.

The Casualty star danced to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and received rave reviews from all four judges, receiving a score of 32 out of 40.

“That was the dance of the night,” exclaimed Craig Revel Horwood, while Motsi Mabuse added: “This at the end of the night was spectacular, amazing.”

Anton Du Beke also praised the actor and reminded the audience that it is not easy for the star who has to close the show.

Meanwhile, Amanda Abbington once again dismissed reports of a feud with professional partner Giovanni Pernice as they took to the dance floor for the first time.

Dancing shoes: Saturday was the first competition night of the hit show, which saw 15 couples battle it out on the dance floor, attracting a peak of 7.2 million viewers – similar to last year

Candidate: It comes after Nigel Harman emerged as an early favorite to win the series when he topped the leaderboard in the first week (pictured with pro Katya Jones)

Strictly speaking: week one rankings

Nigel Harman and Katya Jones – Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana – 32 points out of 40

Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin – Samba to Touch by Little Mix – 29 points out of 40

Ellie Lelk and Vito Coppola – Jive to Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson – 29 points out of 40

Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell – Foxtrot for All About You by McFly – 29 points out of 40

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice – Viennese Waltz to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi – 29 points out of 40

Angela Rippon Kai Wrrington – Cha Cha to Get the Party Started by Shirley Bassey – 28 points out of 40

Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe – Cha Cha to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel – 28 points out of 40

Angela Scanlan and Carlos Gu – Tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa – 23 points out of 40

Eddie Kadi and Karen – Quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins – 22 points out of 40

Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley – Cha Cha to Boom Shack A Lack by Apache Indian – 22 points out of 40

Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał – Quickstep to I’m On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin – 21 points out of 40

Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk – Cha Cha to Waffle House by Jonas Brothers – 19 points out of 40

Zara McDermott and Graziano Dr Fine – Cha Cha to Crush by Jennifer Page – 19 points out of 40

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez – Waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston – 18 points out of 40

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu – Tango to Don’t You Want Me by Human League – 16 points out of 40

The actress, 49, described the ballroom professional, 33, as “a little brother” in the pre-recorded VT and said she “loves him already” before admitting she hadn’t “picked things up as quickly as she wanted to.” during rehearsals.

Earlier on Saturday, Sherlock star Amanda shared a video on Instagram in which she dismissed rumors of clashes with Giovanni in a foul-mouthed rant.

It follows that she was ‘affected’ by his ‘militant and aggressive’ training style, with tensions escalating between the pair.

But Amanda hit back, saying she was ‘ignoring the bulls***’ as she insisted all was well between her and Giovanni.

Happy as Larry: Meanwhile, Amanda Abbington once again dismissed reports of a feud with professional partner Giovanni Pernice as they hit the dance floor for the first time

No sign of trouble: It follows she was ‘shocked’ by his ‘militant and aggressive’ training style, escalating tensions between the pair

The duo then took to the floor as they performed an elegant Viennese waltz to Lewis Capaldi’s Pointless, which earned a respectable 29 points from the judges.

Shirley said: ‘Your fluidity, your sensitivity, your beautiful styling, you have beautiful chemistry, I loved it.’

Anton advised Amanda to relax a bit, saying: ‘It was all wonderful, emotionally wonderful. I want you to breathe. If there were thirty seconds left, I think you might have passed out.”

The actress was supported from the audience by fiancé Jonathan Goodwin and 17-year-old son Joe, whom she shares with ex-partner Martin Freeman.

Jonathan was paralyzed for life in a tragic accident in October 2021, following a stunt in which he tried to escape from a straitjacket while hanging upside down ten meters in the air.