ITV’s I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! returned with an average of almost 10 million viewers on Sunday, down half a million on last year’s launch show and the lowest debut episode since 2009.
I’m a Celebrity, which features well-known names including Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne, Chris Eubank and former footballer Kieron Dyer, averaged 9.8 million viewers and a 43.6% share of all TV viewing.
The show recorded a five-minute peak audience of 11.1m, on par with last year. It was the lowest launch episode veiwing figures since 2009.
The show recorded ITV’s biggest audience since Britain’s Got Talent back in the summer – excluding England’s clashes with Wales and Australia in the rugby World Cup.
However, the show was down on the 10.3 million average audience who tuned in to watch last year’s launch episode.
The launch of the 15th series would have been affected by a weaker X Factor, which airs directly before it, meaning not as many of the audience would have been carried through to the start of the Ant & Dec-fronted jungle competition.
The show’s best-ever launch was the previous year, 2013, when an average of 12 million viewers watched.
The mantle of biggest show of the night went to Strictly Come Dancing’s results show where an average of 10.4 million watched presenter Jeremy Vine ejected from the competition.
The BBC1 show had a five minute peak of 11.2 million and enjoyed a 43.2% share of all viewing between 7.20pm and 8pm.
X Factor’s double elimination results show drew an average of 7.3 million viewers and a 29.7% share of all TV viewing between 8pm and 9pm. The show had a five minute peak audience of 8.7m.
The guest performance of One Direction didn’t appear to give X Factor much of a boost, on Sunday night the show drew 100,000 less viewers with an average of 7.2 million.
