Strictly beats X Factor by 4m viewers

Alien Uncovered were one of two acts to leave the show at the weekend

Strictly Come Dancing attracted nearly 4m more viewers than X Factor on Saturday, with ITV's show losing 1m viewers since last week.

ITV talent show X Factor averaged an audience of 5.6m for the first live show of the series on Saturday night.

More than 9.4m people saw Kirsty Gallacher perform her last routine - a Halloween-themed one - on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.

The two shows overlapped for 15 minutes at 2000 GMT.

'I'm in shock'

A spokesperson for ITV said audience figures for The X Factor would rise when recorded viewing was factored in, including people watching on ITVPlayer.

Audience figures for Sunday's results show were up, with an average of 6.7m viewers tuning in to watch Bupsi and girlband Alien Uncovered leave X Factor. Sunday's instalment of Strictly, which did not overlap with X Factor, got 9.6m viewers.

Bupsi, who was mentored by Simon Cowell in the Overs category, had the lowest public vote, meaning she was the first to exit the series.

Alien Uncovered failed to impress the judges in the sing-off, who opted to save 18-year-old Kiera Weathers following her rendition of REM's Everybody Hurts.

After the result, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who is mentoring the groups, said: "I think I'm in shock. I'm devastated."

On Strictly, Gallacher's Halloween-themed Charlston failed to wow the judges as she and partner Brendan Cole were voted off the show.

She became the fifth celebrity to leave after singer Jamelia triumphed in the dance-off.