[Smithy]

The ITV1 show fought back against the BBC dancing hit, pulling in a healthy peak of 13.8million viewers for its Sunday night results show.

The drama surrounding Kelly Rowland's absence seemed to help attract fans just a day after Strictly beat it in the ratings.

Sunday's show saw Kelly – crocked by a viral infection – have to decide between her two acts Sophie Habibis and Misha Bryan after calling in from her sick bed in LA.

The Destiny's Child star and her fellow judges all opted to send Sophie home, with Kelly – who was replaced by stand-in judge Alexandra Burke for the weekend - saying that Misha wanted to win the series more.

The shock result came a night after Strictly clobbered X Factor in the ratings for the first time in four years.

The BBC show drew in an audience of 11.5million, while X Factor could only muster up 11million viewers for its own Halloween-themed episode on Saturday night.

The Sun told how worried ITV producers begged Simon Cowell to return to save the show.

But on Sunday night Strictly slipped back behind X Factor in the ratings, with 10.4million fans tuning into to see Nancy Dell'Olio become the latest star to leave the competition.

Saturday's Strictly attracted 267 complaints from viewers after Robbie Savage re-enacted Michael Jackson's famous "crotch grab" directed at Craig Revel-Horwood during his paso doble with partner Ola Jordan