Raise a glass! Simon Cowell celebrates with a pint after

He's made no secret of the rivalry between his plethora of ITV talent shows and their counterparts on the BBC.
And so Simon Cowell was understandably delighted to learn that Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway beat the series launch of BBC One's The Voice in the weekend's prime-time ratings battle.
The 53-year-old music mogul was so thrilled at seeing the Geordie presenting duo triumph over the singing show - which will be a direct competitor to his own show, Britain's Got Talent, when it launches later in the month - that he celebrated by treating himself to a pint of ice cold beer. 
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Delighted: Simon Cowell couldn't keep the smile off his face as he toasted beating the BBC in the Saturday night ratings battle with a pint of beer

Evidently in the party spirit after seeing the BBC lose out, the X Factor supremo seemed to be having a whale of a time as he chatted to fellow Saturday Night Takeaway guests, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and Canadian crooner Michael Buble, while enjoying a Meantime alcoholic beverage.
And the television boss couldn't hide his delight on Twitter, congratulating Ant and Dec, who also co-present Britain's Got Talent, for their success in both beating The Voice in the ratings battle and scoring a surprise number one with Let's Get Ready To Rhumble, 19 years after it was first released.
He tweeted: 'Congrats ant and dec on your number one. Amazing. Had a lot of fun on the show last night. And congrats boys in beating that other singing show in the ratings.'

 

Get stuck in! The 53-year-old music mogul was evidently in the party spirit as he tucked into his alcohol beverage after appearing on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway

 

Showbiz pals: TV's 'Mr. Nasty' was beaming from ear-to-ear as he chatted to Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton

 VIDEO  Hilarious! Cowell sinks a pint during Bublé's Ant & Dec cover

Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway secured 7.2 million viewers on the weekend, while rival prime-time show The Voice received a million less with an average audience of 6.2 million, a whopping two million less than the last series' launch.
Clearly the attraction of celebrity judges Jessie J, will.i.am, Danny O'Donoghue and Tom Jones could not compete with the guest list on Saturday Night Takeaway, which in addition to Hamilton and Buble, included former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts.
The Voice - which was at the centre of a bidding war between ITV and the BBC last year when its rights were up for sale - did enjoy a surge in viewers later on in the evening allowing the talent contest to secure a peak audience of 8.2 million towards the end of the show.

 

Plenty to smile about: The X Factor supremo looked more than a little smug as he celebrated the ITV success

 

Proud: Earlier in the day, Simon had urged his fans to ditch The Voice in favour of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway

However, that came after Ant and Dec's entertainment show had finished.
In spite of losing the ratings battle, the BBC are pleased with the result.
A BBC spokeswoman said: 'It’s a great start to the new series of The Voice UK with the highest peak audience of the night, with over eight million viewers, which grew throughout the show.'
Meanwhile, a representative for ITV said: 'This series of Takeaway has gone from strength to strength and we’re delighted that we were the most watched show of the night.'

 

Boogie nights: Ant McPartlin was celebrating his success with a bit of a boogie

 

Setting the world to rights: Dec was immersed in an in-depth conversation with Canadian crooner Michael Buble

 

Celebrations: Ashley Roberts was also on hand to toast the boys' success

The Voice will face increasingly stiff competition when Britain's Got Talent returns later this month, with Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams sitting on the judging panel.
In the first series of BBC's £20 million singing contest, the weekly shows - hosted by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates - saw audience figures drop as soon as they passed the 'blind auditions' phase.
Simon has previously joked that he would only be prepared to watch The Voice for 'five minutes', and claimed the BBC only splurged £22 million on the US-based reality show because they were envious of the success of The X Factor.

 

Lads on tour! The quartet seemed to be in great spirits as racing driver Hamilton expertly transported them away from the studios on a golf buggy

Speaking last year, he said: 'Am I going to watch The Voice? I’ll probably watch about five minutes of it, not the whole thing. When you get to the point with your shows where you mess around with schedules and it affects the viewers when you go head-to-head that’s silly rivalry.
'They’re winding this up like it’s a battle. It’s down to being good, being successful. Of course you need competition but ask the BBC if we need another singing talent show. I would query whether we do or not.
'They don’t like the fact that X Factor is successful, they have every right to compete and we have the right to arm ourselves so we’re in a good place to beat them.'

 

Beaten: The Voice received a million less viewers than Saturday Night Takeaway with an average audience of 6.2 million

 

Ratings battle: Evidently the talents of Jessie J, will.i.am, Danny O'Donoghue and Tom Jones could not compete with the guest list on Saturday Night Takeaway