Inside Strictly’s ratings collapse as scandal-hit show loses novelty, becomes predictable and ‘curse’ evaporates
IT’S been serving us sequins and sparkles for two decades, but Strictly Come Dancing looks to be out of step with viewers.
Ratings of 7.2million for Saturday night’s show may sound respectable — and it was the most watched programme at the weekend.
But in 2021, the same episode was viewed by 9.8million on the night.
That drop of 2.6million represents a quarter of Strictly’s fans waltzing off in the past few years.
It was a similar story with the launch show, which saw the number tuning in fall from 7.4million in 2021 to 5.7million this year — and a drop of around 1million on the 2023 figure for the same episode.
At the time, the BBC said the show’s popularity now had to be measured by the number of people watching live and on catch-up through iPlayer.
But the 28-day viewing figures for the first episode of the current series, which were released yesterday, showed online ratings had also dropped by around 1million.
In other words, catch-up views hadn’t made a jot of difference.
So why does the show — which this year marks its 20th anniversary — now feel jaded?
Online chatter suggests that the programme has simply lost its novelty factor, with the yearly line-ups becoming a familiar mix — and outcomes feeling predictable.
Most viewers expect there to be an ageing footballer who falters near the start of the series.
We saw ex-Arsenal ace Paul Merson go out on Sunday, but others have included Tony Adams, who captained The Gunners through the Nineties, and former England goalie David James.
Then, of course, there will be someone with a little, or a lot, of professional dance experience — see Tasha Ghouri and last year’s Layton Williams — who will probably get to the final, but not win.
Invariably, the Glitterball will be taken home by an underdog soap veteran or drama actor — Emmerdale’s Kelvin Fletcher, Coronation Street’s Ellie Leach or Holby City’s Joe McFadden helped set that trend.
Either that or it goes to a sport or news presenter — think Natasha Kaplinsky, Ore Oduba or Chris Hollins.
Strangely, it is politicians — obvious examples being Ed Balls and Ann Widdecombe — who provide the biggest surprises.
And in between it all (let’s be completely honest) we hope and pray for the Strictly curse to hit one of the pro/celebrity couplings, just to spice things up a bit.
Well, even this tantalising prospect has evaporated, because there’s less chance of any romance behind the scenes as a result of the BBC introducing chaperones in rehearsals.
Whiff of sleaze
Which leads into another reason why Strictly could now be struggling like never before — the lingering whiff of sleaze.
The normal buzz that surrounded the start of a new series was drowned out by the ongoing investigation into Giovanni Pernice’s alleged bad behaviour behind the scenes towards his 2023 partner, Amanda Abbington.
That was made worse by footage surfacing of Graziano Di Prima kicking his celeb partner Zara McDermott on last year’s show. He was immediately axed.
If the idea that this impacted the ratings seems far-fetched, the figures tally to an eerie extent.
With the shadow of Giovanni and Graziano hanging over the start of the new series, the viewing figures remained low until the report into Giovanni’s behaviour came out on September 30.
The BBC probe upheld some of the complaints against the Italian dancer, but dismissed those which suggested there was any physical abuse.
‘It could bounce back’
Almost immediately, the Strictly viewing figures seemed to rally, nearly equalling the same as shows which aired last year.
Then, on the October 12 episode, came “Gropegate” — when opera singer Wynne Evans appeared to slide his hand across the stomach of his pro partner Katya Jones, only for her to remove it in full gaze of the public watching at home.
The duo immediately said sorry for what they described as “an inside joke”, but the images spread like wildfire across the internet and they found themselves having to repeatedly explain and apologise.
Bosses at the Beeb were furious, rapping Katya and Wynne over the knuckles for the kind of behaviour that Strictly was trying to distance itself from.
Saturday night’s episode didn’t just drop almost half a million viewers in the space of a week, it was also down by a million on the same episode last year.
So does this mean that all is lost for Strictly? Not quite.
Even if the show has lost its shine, there are some glimmers of hope.
Catch-up figures for week one — the first live show of the series — indicate that 8.2million people have watched it live and on iPlayer in just seven days.
After 28 days, that could well be higher than the consolidated figure of 8.5million for last year’s live debut.
It remains to be seen whether Strictly can maintain that level of iPlayer success until December.
But so far, the figures paint a confusing picture.
Perhaps we just have to get used to the fact that Strictly will one day cease to be “appointment to view” telly, where groups of people come together to watch a show.
Maybe we are going through a rocky transition from live TV to streaming our entertainment shows.
Meanwhile, if sleaze has played its part, then the Beeb has at least acted quickly and firmly when it comes to Katya and Wynne, making it clear that this kind of behaviour won’t be tolerated.
The various scandals that have emerged over the past six months have made this the worst year in the show’s history, with many believing that, from this point on, things can only get better.
And as this series approaches the halfway mark next week, it could still bounce back.
Only at this stage are characters and back stories cemented in the minds of viewers, and Strictly becomes more compulsive as the final nudges ever closer.
The show is also likely to receive a boost when the celebratory 20th anniversary episode airs later this year, reminding us all what a sensational ride it has been since 2004.
A BBC spokesman said of viewing figures: “Twenty-eight days is a benchmark to measure performance and reflect changing audience habits in an on-demand world.
“And as we have said previously, overnight figures no longer provide an accurate picture of all those watching. The launch show figures reveal the episode was watched by 7.2million people across all devices.
“Looking at the week one show, it is already at 8.2million over seven days, which is in line with last year’s figures.”
So it seems the thrill of a Saturday night ballroom whirl has not completely worn off for viewers.
But make no mistake, Strictly’s challenges could throw it off tempo now more than ever.