The ninth series of The X Factor got off to an entertaining start on Saturday night (at least we thought it did), but 2.7 million less of you tuned in compared to last year.

Does this mean that The X Factor bubble has burst? Or did the sunny weather (it was the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday) keep people away from their TVs?

Looking at the ratings, The X Factor still did well; 8.1 million people tuned in to watch the likes of Ella Henderson (amazing) and Zoe Alexander (scary) sing in the auditions, with a peak audience of 9.2 million and audience share of 39.4%.

But compared to last year’s series opener the ratings don’t look so hot. The show pulled in 2.7 million less viewers than the first show of the 2011 series, and didn’t manage to hit the average audience of 10.8 million from last year during the hour and a half it was on.

ITV are convinced that the ratings dip was entirely due to the weather, “The X Factor launched on the hottest day of the year and its audience was still over double that of the next nearest programme,” a spokesperson has said. “We have a great series ahead, with some fantastic talent this year that viewers can look forward to.”

Judge Tulisa Contostavlos has also defended The X Factor’s rating, telling the media during last week’s press launch that dropping a few million audience members doesn’t mean that the show is in trouble,

“Just because on the odd night here and there we dropped down one mill, it doesn't mean the show is in crisis. It's changed very much over the years. [Last year] it was still the biggest show second to the Royal Wedding. I'm not worried about it at all.”

Did you watch The X Factor or did you have something else better do with your Saturday night?