ITV I'm A Celebrity loses two million viewers as fans call for boycott over campmate
20.11.2023 - 14:45
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
ITV's I'm A Celebrity viewing figures have taken a hit according to ratings from last night's debut episode. It comes as fans called to boycott the show for reportedly paying former politician Nigel Farage £1.5 million to take part.
An average of 7 million viewers watched the return of I’m A Celebrity on Sunday night, while ITV reported a peak audience of 7.8 million watching the first episode of the 23rd series. This is two million less than the first episode of last year's series, which had an average audience of 9.1 million, according to ITV overnight ratings.
Within minutes of the show airing, disgruntled fans took to social media and threatened to switch off. Meanwhile ahead of the launch, the hashtag #BoycottImACeleb began trending on X, formerly Twitter. It resurged again on the site this morning.
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One viewer tweeted: "I've watched #ImACeleb for 0.5 seconds and Farage's stupid face and stupid voice already makes me want to turn it off and never watch it again." Another said: "The sight of HIM is making me want to turn off already #imaceleb."
Another said: "Vile really!!! He's only going in the Jungle to get support and achieve what he really wants to be an MP, at the next General Election It's all about next year for our Nige! #ImACeleb xxx."
Last week, ITV responded to backlash about Nigel featuring on the show, saying in a statement: "I’m A Celebrity has always featured a diverse cast from all areas of public life and has a history of featuring political figures throughout its 20