Strictly LOSES crown as BBC’s most watched reality TV show in ratings war with The Traitors

THE Traitors is now a step ahead of Strictly Come Dancing in the reality show ratings.

Around 9.23 million viewers watched the first episode of the BBC murder mystery, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, in its first seven days.

That beats the 9.1 million total for last year’s live launch of the Beeb’s dance contest over the same time period.

Strictly, which Claudia also presents alongside Tess Daly, has ruled the Corporation’s viewing figures for decades.

But the third series of The Traitors has seen it come out on top so far.

Episode two has been watched by 8.54 million in the first week, while 8.64 million have watched episode three.

The runaway success of the series was not something Claudia was sure of.

Launching the new show in December, when she was still filming for Strictly, she said: “We are totally terrified.

“Even on Saturday I was talking about people’s cha-chas but in my head I’m thinking, will they like The Traitors?

“You can’t possibly say it’s a phenomenon because it hasn’t gone out yet and I’m so superstitious.”

Viewers have lapped up the explosive twists on this year’s series of The Traitors.

However, Saturday night family show Strictly was rocked by a string of scandals last year.

The series was only buoyed by the triumphant crowning of blind comic Chris McCausland in the glittering final as he won with pro partner Dianne Buswell.