The Greatest Dancer and The Voice UK to go head to head on Saturday nights

The Greatest Dancer and The Voice UK will go head to head for viewers this weekend.

The Greatest Dancer, a new series from Simon Cowell’s Syco production company together with the makers of The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, starts this Saturday night on BBC One.

The show will feature a host of talent from across the world of dance from ballet to jazz and hip hop to Bollywood as they give the performances of their lives, competing for a £50,000 prize.

Hosted by current BGT judge Alesha Dixon and Diversity star Jordan Banjo, the format features a trio of dance captains – singer Cheryl, Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse and Broadway star Matthew Morrison – overseeing the contestants.

The first round of auditions airs at 8PM this Saturday, the exact same time that The Voice UK launches on ITV.

Jennifer Hudson, Olly Murs, Will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones are all back as coaches for this year’s series of the singing show, hosted by Emma Willis.

It’s been claimed that behind the scenes there is anger between the BBC and ITV over the clashing scheduling.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, BBC source accused ITV of being “very juvenile” over the decision to air The Voice at 8PM.

“It means the BBC have been left with no choice but to change the slot of The Greatest Dancer next week now we’ve discovered what they’re doing,” the insider claimed.

However it should be noted that The Voice UK has premiered at 8PM ever since its move to ITV in 2017.

Time will tell which show comes out on top when the ratings are released.

Meanwhile, The Greatest Dancer host Alesha Dixon has said there is room for the new programme – despite airing together with Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing On Ice.

“When you go into a shop, there’s not just one loaf of bread,” she told the BBC News website. “There are so many different brands of bread, why can’t you have so many different brands of dance shows? It’s the same thing, you know?”

Cheryl also thinks there’s the opportunity for the series to prove a hit.

“It’s about people, it’s not about celebrity,” she said. “[Dancing On Ice and Strictly] are brilliant, but they’re based around celebrities.

“This is normal people with real talent having an opportunity to shine, and I think that’s amazing.”