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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Lucy Domachowski

Greatest Dancer given new time slot after being smashed by Masked Singer in ratings war

BBC bosses have been forced to give The Greatest Dancer a new time slot after it was smashed in a ratings war with ITV’s The Masked Singer.

In a bid to up viewing numbers the Beeb has shifted The Greatest Dancer to a slot half an hour earlier - it previously started at the same time as the rival show.

The Masked Singer, which sees famous faces perform in wacky disguises, pulled in a huge 5.3million viewers on Saturday night.

Celebs are judged by Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Ken Jeong.

The Masked Singer sees famous faces perform in wacky disguises (ITV)

It made its way to British screens after becoming a hit in South Korea, Australia and the US, where Ken was previously a judge.

The Greatest Dancer, which features Cheryl Tweedy and Oti Mabuse as dance coaches, managed a more disappointing 3.1 million viewers.

Last week The Greatest Dancer ran from 7pm to 8.10pm on BBC, and the Masked Singer from 7pm to 8.30pm on ITV.

The new schedule means The Masked Singer — starring panellists Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora, Ken Jeong and Davina McCall — will now go up against Pointless Celebrities on BBC1 this week.

The schedule switch-up comes as over judges lusting after contestant Justin Hawkins.

The Darkness star, who was revealed as the man in the Chameleon suit, claimed Rita Ora and the others wouldn’t have got away with their comments if he was a woman.

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