Ant and Dec triumph over Gary Barlow in TV ratings war as Saturday Night Takeaway pulls in nearly double the viewers of Let It Shine
The Geordie duo's return hit over 8 million viewers, up on the show's 2016 debut
GARY Barlow was outshone by Ant and Dec on Saturday night as their two shows went head to head.
The Take That star presided over the grand finale of his talent show, Let It Shine on BBC One, while the Geordie duo returned with the first instalment of the new series of Saturday Night Takeaway.
And despite Five to Five triumphing over Nightfall and Drive to be the stars of the new musical featuring the songs of Take That, the show failed to win the ratings battle with Ant and Dec's hugely popular programme.
While Let It Shine peaked at 4.5 million viewers, Saturday Night Takeaway achieved 8.1 million viewers over on ITV.
Not only will Ant and Dec be thrilled to have beaten Let It Shine, but they also have the added bonus of seeing the new series beat last year's debut, which had achieved 7.6 million viewers.
That's despite the fact the show was hit by a number of live TV 'gaffe's, including a winning viewer dropping the F-bomb on air.
The girl was seen mouthing the word “f***” during a competition segment of the family-friendly TV show which saw Ant and Dec giving out golden tickets to their final show extravaganza in Walt Disney World, Florida.
Dec later apologised for the use of such bad language during the show.
Dec later apologised for the use of such bad language during the show.
He said: “I have to say we’re very sorry if somebody got a bit excited and said something they shouldn’t have… We’re very sorry.”
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In the opening segment of the show, the pair introduced the famous faces who would be joining them, including Scarlett Moffatt and Jennifer Hudson, but things went a bit awry as it came to Stephen Mulhern.
The presenter was placed in a cannon ready to be 'shot out', but the mock up was ruined as the flash and smoke went off before Stephen had had time to hide back down inside, ruining the illusion that he had actually been shot over the audience and through the back wall.
Laughing at the mishap, Ant said: "It was fine in rehearsal!"
Speaking to Stephen afterwards, he joked: "I've sacked the cameraman!"
Things didn't get much better for the hosts, as Dec stumbled over his words as he revealed one viewer would win a £1000 cash prize later in the show.
The word which was his undoing was "whopping", and as the pair giggled, he joked: "We'll just cut this bit out!"
Scarlett also had a bit of a nightmare, as she struggled to find a viewer to come and join her in the studio during an outside link up to the hosts.
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