UK Ratings: ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ Takes 9M Viewers

07.11.2022 - 14:43 / deadline.com

ITV’s evergreen series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! was back this weekend and made a return to form after last year’s disappointing launch episode ratings.

The Lifted Entertainment-produced celebrity survival format returned to its regular outback base in Australia following two years in the UK and took 9M last night, a share of nearly 53%, between 9pm and 10.45pm local time. It peaked at over 10M, according to Barb data from overnights.tv.

In 2021, the show was broadcast from a castle in Wales for the second time and took just 8.4M. That’s still a pretty monster number for UK broadcast ratings these days but it was down nearly 3M on the 2020 edition, when Covid-19 was at its height and few people were out in the evenings.

This weekend’s ratings makes the launch episode the fourth-most watched episode of the year in the UK, with coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral by far the largest audience.

I’m a Celebrity… has been drumming up significant publicity after it emerged Tory MP Matt Hancock had been cast alongside the likes of former England Lioness footballer Jill Scott, presenter Scarlette Douglas and Love Island contestant Olivia Attwood.

Hancock, who has been suspended from the Conservative Party over his decision to appear on the show, was not present for the episode, however.

I’m a Celebrity… will run stripped across the next three weeks, putting it up against BBC behemoth Strictly Come Dancing.