Britain’s Got Talent suffered its worst final ratings ever on Saturday, with just 6.5million total viewers tuning in, compared to 10.1million the previous year.
The ITV show was mired in controversy this year, attracting a record-breaking number of Ofcom complaints for, among other things, Diversity’s dance routine, Amanda Holden’s gowns, and contestant Nabil Abdulrashid’s comedy act.
Head judge Simon Cowell has also not been on hand since BGT’s September return, as he continues to recover from breaking his back in a bike accident in Malibu.
Show: BGT had its worst final ratings ever on Saturday, with 6.5m tuning in. Judges (L-R) David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Ashley Banjo with winner Jon Courtney (centre)
The overnight figures for the show – before they would have been watched digitally post-broadcast – stood at at 5.8million, compared to 8million the previous series.
However, the show still performed strongly, with the current TV climate considered, as BGT won the night by a significant margin over rivals.
According to TVZoneUK, the show comfortably triumphed over the BBC’s Saturday night offerings, with 3million for Strictly Come Dancing’s winners retrospective and 1.8million for new talent show Little Mix: The Search.
Recovering: Head judge Simon Cowell has not been on hand since the show’s September return, as he continues to recover from breaking his back in a bike accident in Malibu
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Britain’s Got Talent for comment.
Saturday’s show saw musical comic Jon Courtenay scoop the top prize by a landslide, earning an impressive 33.7 per cent of the public vote.
And the final marked the end of weeks of complaints from viewers, largely triggered by dance troupe Diversity’s September 5th routine, which received 24,500 complaints to the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.
The act saw group leader Ashley Banjo, 32, have a white man’s knee leaning on his neck, in reference to the death of black man George Floyd earlier this year.
Performance: Ashley Banjo’s performance with his dance troupe Diversity attracted a record-breaking number of viewer complaints to Ofcom
Their performance also touched on Black Lives Matter and the coronavirus pandemic, as they rounded up a number of the news stories dominating this year.
ITV ‘stood with Diversity’ as they featured adverts in national newspapers in support of the performance, while Ofcom announced they will not investigate the complaints.
Diversity’s BGT performance served as something of a full circle moment, as they rose to fame after scooping the top prize on the show back in 2019.
Troupe frontman Ashley was also drafted in at the eleventh hour to replace Simon Cowell, joining Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams.
Complaints: Contestant Nabil Abdulrashid, pictured, was also the subject of a number of complaints, following a routine in which he mocked racists
Elsewhere on this series of BGT, contestant Nabil Abdulrashid, who eventually placed fourth in the final, was the subject of 733 Ofcom complaints, following his semi-final routine, which saw him tackling racism in his act.
And judge Amanda was also the focus of uproar from viewers, after one of her deeply plunging gowns she’d worn on the show sparked 235 complaints.
Ahead of the final, 27,898 viewers made official complaints to the media regulator, with the amount jumping ahead of the previous most complained about show, Celebrity Big Brother.
The now defunct Channel 5 reality show saw 25,372 people protest to Ofcom after Roxanne Pallett wrongfully accused actor Ryan Thomas of maliciously hitting her.
Complaints: Britain’s Got Talent became the most complained about TV show of the decade with Amanda’s racy dress (pictured) receiving 235 Ofcom complaints
Winner! On Saturday’s final, musical comic Jon Courtenay become the first ever Golden Buzzer act to win Britain’s Got Talent