Anthony Cotton has played Sean Tully for three years

That Antony Cotton Show pulled in an average audience of 2m, compared to 1.1m for his Channel 4 rivals.

Cotton, who plays Sean Tully in the soap, is fronting the latest show in the slot once filled by Paul O'Grady.

Sharon Osbourne's show initially performed well against Richard and Judy, but suffered a ratings slump.

'Challenging'

The new show, billed as a mix of celebrity guests and real-life stories, is filmed at the Granada Studios in Manchester, home of the long-running soap.

It is scheduled for an initial run of five weeks.

The 32-year-old actor, who won the ITV1 celebrity talent show Soapstar Superstar earlier this year, has been in Coronation Street since 2004.

He has also appeared in Queer As Folk and Absolutely Fabulous.

ITV1's 1700 BST slot has been considered "challenging" by programming executives for some years.

Two unsuccessful attempts were made to revive 1970s soap opera Crossroads in the teatime schedule.

The most recent programme in the slot was game show Golden Balls, hosted by comic Jasper Carrott.

Paul O'Grady defected to Channel 4 with his popular show in 2006, and ITV1 has struggled to fill the gap in their schedule.