Entertainment

The Greatest Dancer and The Voice go head to head for Saturday night ratings

The Voice team have welcomed competition from the BBC.
The Voice team have welcomed competition from the BBC. The Voice team have welcomed competition from the BBC.

ITV talent show The Voice will go head to head with new BBC prime-time offering The Greatest Dancer this weekend.

Saturday night will see the former BBC One singing competition, which moved to ITV in 2016, battle for ratings against Cheryl’s latest TV venture.

The singer served as a judge on the The Voice and has been wished good luck by former colleagues as their rival shows compete for viewers.

Current panellist Will.i.am has welcomed fresh competition from the BBC, and offered his support to those working on The Greatest Dancer.

The new show sees the public decide who progresses through the show, with a panel of dance experts merely mentoring the chosen talents.

Broadway star Matthew Morrison, Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse and former X Factor and The Voice panellist Cheryl joining as a mentor.

Her former colleague Will.i.am said of his the new BBC prime-time rival: “I wish the other competition good luck, the BBC is great, I like the BBC.

“Cheryl is like family to me, she’s great. I just wish everybody good luck. I think we are all under pressure.”

The rapper joins Jennifer Hudson, Olly Murs and Sir Tom Jones on the coaching roster for the upcoming series of The Voice.

The Greatest Dancer
The Greatest Dancer (left to right) Oti Mabuse, Matthew Morrison and Cheryl from the new BBC1 talent show, The Greatest Dancer (Tom Dymond/Syco/Thames/BBC)

Sir Tom has said that he and his colleagues will not become complacent, nor presume that fans of The Voice will stay loyal to the older programme when presented with a choice of talent shows.

He said: “You can’t ever be confident. The public, they make up their own minds. 

“But you don’t know. We never take it for granted because you never know.”

Both talent shows will see the BBC and ITV battle for the ratings.  

Strictly Come Dancing dominated the ratings before Christmas, competing against the X Factor for Saturday night viewers.

The Greatest Dancer is presented by Jordan Banjo and Alesha Dixon, while Emma Willis hosts The Voice.

The Voice returns on Saturday January 5 at 8pm.