'The Voice' Crew Caught Watching 'Britain's Got Talent'

It appears even those working on 'The Voice' have now conceded defeat to Britain's Got Talent. The new BBC singing contest exploded onto screens last month and for a short time disposed of Simon Cowell's show in the ratings, however, with the "blind auditions" finished, Britain's Got Talent clawed back the advantage.

The live final of Cowell's ITV1 show drew nearly 14 million on Saturday night (May 12, 2012), and it appears staff working on the rival BBC show were anxious to discover whether or not Pudsey the dancing dog could win this year's competition. According to the UK's Sun newspaper, the Voice presenter Holly Willoughby overheard Britain's Got Talent hosts Ant and Dec in her earpiece while shooting segments for her show. An audience member at The Voice screening subsequently heard her say, "Gallery, I can't believe you've got that on up there!" According to ITV, 'Britain's Got Talent' is the most watched show of 2012 so far, even outstripping Coronation Street. Meanwhile, The Voice has fallen from a high of 11.3 million viewers during the blind auditions, to just 5.4 million for Saturday evening's episode. This may have been partly caused by moving to an earlier time slot of 6.10pm to avoid clashing with the final of its rival, though had it aired at the same time, it could have potential drawn less.

BBC bosses will no doubt be happy to see the back of Britain's Got Talent, though it will be looking for fresh ideas to cope with the next series of Cowell's ITV show.