Tea-time tussle sees Richard and Judy savaged

ITV's decision to give the man behind Lily Savage, Paul O'Grady, his own chat show has been richly rewarded.

15:27 14 October 2004

ITV's decision to give the man behind Lily Savage, Paul O'Grady, his own chat show has been richly rewarded.

With a line-up including reality pop supremo Simon Cowell O'Grady pulled in 1.9 million viewers in its first episode, compared with the 1.6 million that watched Richard and Judy, new viewing figures have revealed.

O'Grady's show debuted on ITV1 at 17:00 BST on Monday - in direct competition with Channel 4's Richard and Judy.

"We are absolutely delighted that The Paul O'Grady Show has made such a fantastic start with us and hopefully it will continue to do well and attract even more viewers as the word spreads," said an ITV spokeswoman.

But despite the fact Richard and Judy quit ITV to move to Channel 4 three years ago, the rivalry between the two programmes is unlikely to turn ugly.

O'Grady is reportedly good friends with Richard and Judy and has regularly stood in for the pair.