I'm A Celebrity suffers ratings blow as half a million viewers 'switch off'
I'M A CELEBRITY... GET ME OUT OF HERE! is persevering with its second series in Gwrych Castle, but the chaos of Storm Arwen over the weekend has led to a dramatic fall in viewership.
By Lucas Hill-Paul
21:23, Fri, Dec 3, 2021 | UPDATED: 21:23, Fri, Dec 3, 2021
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This year's outing had already taken a turn for the worse when ITV presenter Richard Madeley was forced to drop out following a hospital visit. After significant delays to the popular reality series, I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! has suffered its lowest ratings in years over the last week.
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The show was pulled off air on Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening in the wake of Storm Arwen.
Recent reports have now confirmed just over four and a half million people tuned into Thursday night's episode of the series.
This was a substantial half a million drop in viewers from the previous evening.
An average of 4.6million viewers tuned in on Thursday night, though the ratings peaked at 5.46million.
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I'm A Celebrity suffers ratings blow as half a million viewers 'switch off' (Image: ITV)
I'm A Celebrity has suffered its worst ratings in years (Image: ITV)
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However, this was still a drop of 340,00 compared to peak ratings on Wednesday.
The figures arrive after a steady decline throughout the week following Storm Arwen disrupting the I'm A Celeb camp over the weekend.
On Friday, November 26, the series was forced to pre-record the live segments of the show for the first time ever due to the poor weather.
The celebs, including Naughty Boy and Frankie Bridge, were then temporarily removed from the castle on Saturday 27.
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After a three day hiatus, the series resumed its normal programming on Tuesday, November 30.
Unfortunately, it appears a number of viewers had already thrown in the towel following the show's chaotic weekend.
Twitter user Carole Baker said: "#ImACeleb has viewers leaving in droves. After watching since it started I will now be one of them.
"Time to rest it for a year or five. Even @antanddec can't save it."
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And Phil Taylor complained: "Major turn off this year for many.
"The show is so dated and predictable, time to call it a day. After 21 series of the same format, it's boring and ratings speak for themselves."
Despite the drop in audience, I'm A Celeb has remained the most-viewed show in its time slot.
A whopping 30.6 percent of TV audiences made it their evening's entertainment on Thursday, and series 21 still debuted with an impressive 8 million viewers.
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This was a dramatic drop from last year's premiere, though, with 14 million UK fans watching when it began last November.
I'm A Celeb is still dominating the conversation when it comes to primetime viewing despite this year's pitfalls.
However, the new location clearly hasn't caught fire in the same way as the classic series, so time will tell if it remains must-see TV in the years to come.
I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! continues Saturday at 9pm on ITV.
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