Her ratings continued to spiral downwards, reaching just 2.5million - a loss of a million viewers since the programme started only four weeks ago.

The much-hyped show, entitled Davina, was supposed to bring some 'Saturday night sparkle' to Wednesday nights and was touted as the corporation's replacement for Michael Parkinson.

Instead viewers watched The Bill on ITV1, which had an audience of 6.6million, and Relocation, Relocation on Channel 4, with an audience of 3.7million.

Nor did the other evening's choices - Child of Our Time, hosted by Professor Robert Winston, and Disaster Masters, about a wood-flooring company facing financial ruin - fare any better.

The only area where the corporation could celebrate was on BBC2 - where four million tuned in to watch the teams on The Apprentice battling to get a shopping list that including items ranging from a lobster to the kitchen sink.

The Wednesday night slot is a notoriously difficult one to fill, but Miss McCall, 39, said before her series started that she was feeling confident, and hoped to draw people in by using a style similar to Oprah Winfrey or Trisha Goddard.

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