Strictly Come Dancing has suffered another significant setback in the BBC viewing figures as Celebrity Traitors made its eagerly awaited return to screens on Thursday (October 1) evening, drawing 8.9 million viewers compared to the dance contest's 4.8 million average.
Strictly launch figures fall year on year
Claudia Winkleman resumed her presenting duties on Celebrity Traitors, a role she is best known for alongside Strictly. However, after an 11-year stint co-hosting the main show, Claudia and Tess Daly revealed they were stepping down from Strictly. The popular BBC dance contest began last month, with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe taking over as the new presenters.
According to The Independent, the launch show peaked at five million viewers, while an average of 4.8 million viewers watched throughout the two-and-a-half hour broadcast. This marked a drop from the previous year, when an average of 6.2 million viewers tuned in for the first episode in 2025.
Fans compare the two shows
In contrast, Celebrity Traitors pulled in a whopping 8.9 million viewers last night. As the new series got underway, fans were quick to draw parallels between the two shows, with many arguing that Celebrity Traitors has already stolen the limelight.
"I expect #Traitors to wipe floor with #Strictly in terms of viewing figures," one person commented on X as another wrote: "Who cares about #Strictly. Here come #TheTraitors."
A third penned: "I wonder if, like me, anyone else absolutely doesn't give a s**t about strictly, and has never watched a second of either it or that dancing on ice when Traitors UK and Ireland is so much better for us intellectuals."
Taking aim at this year's Strictly line-up, another said: "Heard of 9 of them, more than I thought. Really is scraping the barrel though, and it's desperate to see them appealing to people on social media - as if they will watch Strictly! Think the Traitors has put the breaks on them getting bigger names. Better show, bigger audience."
Richard E Grant's Traitors blunder
In another dig at Claudia's former programme, a fifth echoed: "Respectfully who in the Strictly cast would be worthy to get in the Celebrity Traitors cast? The cast of Strictly now these days is for the people yet to 'make it' and people not actively working. Traitors celebrity is for the top stars."
Celebrity Traitors launched with explosive drama, as actor Richard E. Grant and Love Island host Maya Jama were unveiled as this year's Traitors. Yet it took mere moments for Richard to commit a staggering error. Shortly after the roundtable, comedian Joe Lycett questioned whether Richard, 69, was a Traitor, and he immediately confirmed that he was.
The Withnail and I star tried to brush off the gaffe, but not everyone was convinced. "Well, that may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life," Richard confessed in his confessional. "I was so thrilled to have been chosen as a Traitor that, in my unguarded excitement, I said, 'Of course, I'm a Traitor.' I clearly need to defuse all the heat that's coming in my direction."
