I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here drew in only 4.9 million viewers on Sunday night, a slight rebound in the midst of the show’s drastic ratings slide.
Analysis of the evening’s overnight figures showed the ITV series dropped 5.7 million when compared to last year’s fifteenth episode which attracted consolidated ratings of 10.6 million.
The episode’s peak figure saw 5.6 million tuning in, a far cry from the show’s glory days when an average of 12.14 million tuned into the 2018 series.
Tragic: I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here drew in only 4.9 million viewers on Sunday night, a dramatic plunge when compared to last year’s average of 11.05 million
Oh no! Despite the slight increase, the show missed out to Strictly Come Dancing, which raked in 8.5 million viewers and stole 42.5% of the audience
Typically I’m A Celebrity’s ratings see a huge boost once the figures for those watching the episode later on the ITV Hub are factored in.
The shaky figures, which have been on a continuous decline throughout the week, come in the wake of Storm Arwen, which forced the ITV show off air last Saturday, Sunday and Monday, much to the fury of viewers at home.
The disappointing figures also saw the show miss out to Strictly Come Dancing, which raked in 8.5 million viewers and stole 42.5% of the audience.
The comparison between Thursday and Wednesday’s figures, come after yet another drop was noted between Wednesday and Tuesday.
Overnight ratings for the Wednesday 1 December episode showed that 5.16m fans tuned in – a drop from the average of 5.44m that watched the previous night.
Not good news: Analysis of the evening’s figures showed the ITV series dropped 5.7 million when compared to last year’s fifteenth episode which attracted ratings of 10.6 million
Uh oih: Overnight ratings for the Wednesday 1 December episode showed that 5.16million fans tuned in – a significant drop from the average of 5.44million that watched the previous night
The viewership so far in the 2021 series pales in comparison to the ratings series 18 in 2018 – won by Harry Redknapp – which averaged a whopping 12.14m.
Series three in 2004 also proved a hit with audiences with 11.02 million viewers when Kerry Katona became queen of the jungle and Katie Price and Peter Andre started their fiery romance.
Also topping the charts with 11.14 million viewers was series 13 in 2013 when Westlife’s Kian Egan scooped the crown and Joey Essex famously asked if his water canister was a ‘man bag’.
Tough time: The struggling figures come in the wake of Storm Arwen, which forced the ITV show off air for three days, much to the chagrin of viewers at home
Series seven was a particularly bad year for I’m A Celeb viewer stats as only 7.45 million fans on average tuned into the show.
Christopher Biggins charmed audiences to storm to victory in 2007’s flop series, with Katie Hopkins shocking viewers with her typically controversial comments.
The last two series of I’m A Celeb have been filmed in the 200-year-old Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales.
Wow: The three-day disruption to usual proceedings have clearly had an impact on the show, with 1.8million less viewers tuning into the latest show since Friday’s episode
Stars have been forced to endure freezing 8°C cold temperatures and no protection from the elements after bosses shelled out £1 million to secure use of the site when production was forced to be relocated from Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions.
And while the Welsh setting charmed captive audiences in lockdown during the popular 2020 series, it appears to be failing to peak the same interest this year.
MailOnline contacted I’m A Celeb representatives regarding the figures on Friday, who said: ‘The launch audience for I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! has so far risen to a peak of 11.3 million viewers, according to the latest available consolidated data.’
Gruelling: The viewership so far in the 2021 series pales into comparison to the ratings series 18 in 2018 – won by Harry Redknapp – which averaged a whopping 12.14
Taking into account on demand viewers, they added: ‘This represents a 2.3 million increase since the overnight peak audience, when catch up viewing so far is taken into account, showing that viewers are also catching at their own convenience after the main broadcast.’
They continued: ‘The full 7 day consolidated data for the launch will be available next Monday, however, based on currently available part consolidated data and Hub viewing, the average audience across the 100 minute opening episode has so far risen to nearly 10 million viewers.’
It comes after the ITV show was forced off air for three nights after the extreme weather in Wales caused technical damage on set and meant the celebrities had to be removed from their camp and returned to quarantine.
Addressing the show’s return at the start of the programme, Dec quipped: ‘Hello! It’s been a crazy few days but the castle is back in business and the storm clouds have almost cleared on I’m A Celebrity!’
Ant then added: ‘It feels so good to be back, we haven’t been with you since Friday as it caused a lot of damage the storm did. The castle was fine though, it turns out these places are built to last! We were working hard to get the show back up, and the team did an incredible job.’
We’re back! The I’m A Celebrity campmates returned to Gwrych Castle on Tuesday after being evacuated due to Storm Arwen and it didn’t take long for things to heat up (pictured are hosts Ant and Dec addressing the show’s return)
Meanwhile, with meals at stake after a weekend in the relative comfort of central heated isolation away from the makeshift camp, Arlene and Kadeena joined forces for the ominously named Bed Chamber Of Chills for Tuesday’s trial.
After their fellow campmates decided amongst themselves that Kadeena and Arlene would compete for stars in the latest trial, the two set off to meet hosts Ant and Dec.
They soon discovered that they would be hopping onto a bunkbed before being plunged into darkness to secure coveted stars as snakes slithered over them.
However despite the scary trial, viewers were left underwhelmed with the show, branding it boring, while others even switched off entirely after complaining it was only five minuted longer than a normal episode after an entire three shows were missed.
‘It’s just not the same as the jungle. Huge disappointment,’ one fan fumed, while another wrote: ‘I’m A Celeb 2021 is officially dead.’
Another complained: ‘I don’t know why they bothered carrying on with this series. It’s so boring.’
Reaction: However despite the scary trial, viewers were left underwhelmed with the show, branding it boring, while other even switched off entirely