Strictly Come Dancing drew more than 10 million viewers last night as it continued to triumph over rival The X Factor.

The dancing competition had a peak audience of 10.8 million and an average of 9.8 million, giving the BBC show a 45.5% audience share.

Undated BBC handout photo of Katya Jones and Ed Balls during Saturday's live edition of the BBC1 show, Strictly Come Dancing.
Ed Balls and Katya Jones (Guy Levy/BBC)

The X Factor drew a peak audience of 6.9 million and an average of 5.9 million, providing ITV with a 29% share.

The singing show has struggled in the ratings since it returned to screens earlier this year.

Last week an average of 5.8 million people watched the show, dropping from 6.2 million the week before.

This week’s diva theme left viewers at home confused about who was considered a diva, as contestants sang songs by Vanilla Ice, Sam Smith and Bjork, as well as Michael Jackson, Adele and Amy Winehouse.

On BBC One, Strictly fans were alarmed when Ed Balls appeared close to dropping partner Katya Jones during a lift as they performed an American Smooth.

Results programmes for both shows will air on Sunday evening, with Strictly on BBC One at 7.15pm and The X Factor on ITV1 at 8pm.