The Celebrity Big Brother final won by Katie Price had 2.6 million viewers but failed to match the highs of the last two winter outings after a series dogged by controversy over contestants’ homophobic and racist comments.
Friday’s live final had a 12.1% share of the audience from 9pm on Friday, with a five-minute peak of 3.2 million.
It was lower than the 3.2 million average for each of the last two winter series, which accounted for 14.2% of the viewing share in 2014 and 14.6% in the previous year.
Channel 5 said the series attracted more young viewers than last year, and said the ratings for the final were 25% up on last year’s summer series won by Gary Busey (a time of the year when audiences tend to be lower)
Channel 5 said the latest series had a live overnight average of 2.6 million viewers, its highest since its move from Channel 4.
This year’s series was hit by a string of early exits. Actor Ken Morley was kicked out after repeated use of racial epithets. He later apologised for his “unacceptable language”.
Fellow actor Jeremy Jackson was also removed from the house over accusations he groped Chloe Goodman.
And singer Alexander O’Neal left after clashing with Perez Hilton, towards whom he directed a homophobic slur.
All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live, +1 (except for BBC channels) and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, or other – unless otherwise stated. Figures for BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 generally include ratings for their HD simulcast services, unless otherwise stated
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