Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have been dealt a major blow as their ITV game show Limitless Win has been beaten by Michael McIntyre in the Saturday night ratings.
The beloved telly duo launched their new show earlier this month, which sees contestants answer number-based questions to be in with a chance of winning a never-ending jackpot.
However, Limitless Win was up against popular BBC One game show The Wheel, hosted by funnyman Michael, and lost out in the coveted Saturday night ratings war.
When Ant and Dec’s new project first premiered on ITV on 9 January, it was watched by an audience of 4.4 million, but by the following week, that figure had dropped to 3.7 million.
And on Saturday, it fell to just 3.5 million, with Michael’s The Wheel attracting one million more viewers than its rival.
When approached for comment ITV claimed to the Mirror that Limitless Win got an average of 3.7million viewers - but this figure included their + 1 audience.
The BBC show sees celebrities being chosen at random to answer questions, worth £3,000 each, for a contestant in order to win a huge pot of prize money.
Ant and Dec are no stranger to losing, as their previous game show Red or Black?, which aired in 2011, was another huge flop despite being one of the most expensive game shows in TV history, costing more than £15 million.
The duo even admitted they had “got it wrong” with the format, and it lasted a year on ITV before being scrapped.
Some viewers have complained about the confusing rules on Limitless Win, with many baffled over the random nature of the questions and lives offered to contestants.
However, they’re still winning over their fans, and on Saturday, the audience was on the edge of their seats as two contestants ended up leaving with nothing after a nail-biting round.
Sisters Sarah, 35, and Amy, 36, from Wales, risked it all as they bet their £30,000 prize money on a question about the Canadian flag.
When asked by the hosts how many points were on the red maple leaf at the centre of the country’s flag, the siblings confidently answered with three, and viewers held their breath when they decided to ‘lock in’ their guess.
However, the answer was 11, leaving the sisters going home empty handed as they ran out of lives.
“I'm devastated for you. You were so close on so many occasions,” Ant said, adding he was “really sorry” to see them lose out.
