X Factor results win ratings battle

The X Factor is back on top in the ratings war after trampling on rival Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night.

The results programme for the ITV1 talent show drew an average audience which was 1.5 million higher than the one for the BBC1 dance contest.

And its peak audience was three million higher than Strictly's, according to overnight figures.

The latest viewer numbers come after Strictly won the Saturday night battle with 1.1 million more viewers.

But for the Sunday night exit shows, X Factor was back on top with an average 9.6 million tuning in for the hour-long show (including viewers on the +1 catch-up channel), while Strictly - in which Johnny Ball was axed - drew 8.1 million.

The X Factor's results show peaked at 11.7 million, the highest figure for the series so far, while Strictly hit 8.7 million during its 40-minute programme.