Strictly without Sergeant faces X-Factor battle

BBC executives are bracing themselves for a possible dramatic drop-off in viewers for tomorrow night's first Strictly Come Dancing not to feature John Sergeant.

The show attracted a record audience of 11.1million viewers last Saturday to see Sergeant's final dance with his partner Kristina Rihanoff.

But with Sergeant - dubbed the "Dancing Pig" for his ungainly style - resigning after a torrent of criticism from the show's judges, executives will fear a backlash for tomorrow and Sunday's episodes.

The Saturday night ratings war is likely to intensify with ITV's rival show the X-Factor expected to attract its own headlines with the much-heralded appearance tomorrow night of the pop singer Britney Spears.

Spears will sing live on the X-Factor and is expected to perform her new single "Womanizer". The singer is attempting a comeback after two difficult years that included a divorce, custody battle as well as private and public breakdowns.

Her appearance will inevitably eclipse Strictly Come Dancing although neither programme overlaps and fans can switch from one to the other.

Officially, the BBC was insisting its ratings would not be affected by the absence of Sergeant.

A BBC spokeswoman said today: "It's business as usual," adding: "It's hard to say what will happen this week." The show with Sergeant in it has attracted huge publicity, with an average viewing figure of about 9.7million.

But with calls to boycott the programme following his decision to quit, and the possibility of a viewer backlash, it will be feared that the show has peaked too soon.

This week, each of the five remaining dancers will perform two routines, rather than the one, as Strictly reaches its closing stages.

The new favourite to win is Rachel Stevens and her partner Vincent Simone, who last week scored a perfect 40, receiving a maximum 10 from all four judges. But even as the show tries to shake free of the grip held upon it by Sergeant, a former political journalist, the row over his departure continued to rumble today - more than a week later.

One of the judges Bruno Tonioli reiterated his anger at Sergeant's decision to quit. "I was furious when John left the show," he said. "I was away in America when it happened, so I wasn't aware of anything at the time.

"Let's be honest, he was not the best dancer but I love John and I didn't want him to leave."