Simon Cowell is not worried about ‘The X Factor’ going up against ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The TV judge insisted he isn’t anxious about competing with the popular prime time BBC One competition in the ratings after hearing the line-up, which includes Peter Andre and Jeremy Vine.
Asked if he was worried about going head-to-head with the show at the launch of ‘The X Factor’ at London’s Picturehouse Central cinema, he said: "I hate to say yes because I know what will happen if I say yes, it will come back and haunt me … I think the show, just watching it back, it does feel better. The talent’s great, they’re interesting … So if it’s us versus Peter Andre, I’ve got to put my money on us."
Meanwhile, ITV’s director of programmes Peter Fincham has criticised the BBC for scheduling ‘Strictly’ to overlap with ‘The X Factor’ in the past as it forces viewers to choose between the popular programmes.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, he said: "They [The BBC] moved ‘Strictly’ 20 minutes later. I don’t know why they did that, no reason for doing that but that feels to me like an avoidable clash. It feels to me a bit like ‘let’s clip the ‘X Factor’s wings’.
"What we’re going to do is literally publish the ‘X Factor’ start times [for] this autumn … because all the evidence we have is that our audiences don’t want the two to overlap."
Simon Cowell not worried about Strictly Come Dancing
