'Gossip Girl' hits new high of 281,000

Gossip Girl hit a new season high for ITV2 last night, early viewing figures show.

The latest instalment, which saw Blair and Serena clash over Chuck, pulled in 281k (1.2%) during the 9pm hour, beating last week's high of 249k (1%).

> Click here to read our recent interview with Michelle Trachtenberg

Elsewhere, MasterChef put in 4.62m (20.4%) for BBC One at 8pm, then the audience dropped to 3.77m (16.7%) during the 9pm repeat of Tourettes: I Swear I Can't Help It.

Over on BBC Two, Coast and Inside John Lewis logged 2.11m (9.3%) and 2.78m (12.3%) at 8pm and 9pm respectively.

ITV1's coverage of Barcelona's game against VfB Stuttgart averaged 3.06m (13.7%) between 7.30pm and 10pm.

Relocation, Relocation interested 2.5m (11%) for Channel 4 at 8pm, 1.66m (7.3%) watched Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA during the 9pm hour, and the 10pm screening of Desperate Housewives had 1.43m (8.6%).

Five's The Business Inspector attracted 758k (3.4%) during the 8pm hour, then the audience climbed to 2.25m (9.9%) during NCIS, which aired at 9pm.

Overall, BBC One came top during primetime with an average share of 20.9% to ITV1's 14.8%. Channel 4 was third with 7.8% (+1: 1%), followed by BBC Two with 8.1% and Five's 5.5%.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional