A peak of 11 million saw Mae Muller finish second-from-bottom in the contest, which the London-born singer said was "not the result we hoped for".

Posting on Twitter in the early hours of Sunday, 25-year-old Muller said: "I just want to say thank u x i know i joke a lot but we really put our all into the last few months, not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone & what we achieved on this journey.

"Congrats to all the countries, I'll never forget this journey and I love you all."

Germany was the only nation to finish below the UK, on 18 points.

The disappointment came just 12 months after the UK finished second behind Ukraine when Sam Ryder wowed with his hit Space Man.

But despite the result Saturday's broadcast made ratings history, beating the previous record of 9.5 million people who tuned in to watch UK entry Blue compete in 2011.

As the show ended, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: "Liverpool, you've done the United Kingdom and Ukraine proud.

"What a fantastic celebration for #Eurovision2023 Congratulations @Loreen_Talhaoui. Sweden it's over to you."

It was the latest in a month of big live events on British TV, with the Eurovision final roughly level with the 10.1 million who watched the star-studded coronation concert but dwarfed by the 18 million who watched the King's coronation itself.