I'm A Celebrity bosses have been left red-faced as 3.6 million fewer viewers tuned in for Sunday night's final compared to last year.
The show saw Sam Thompson beat Tony Bellew to be crowned King of the Jungle, with Nigel Farage finishing third. Farage, the former UKIP leader, was reportedly paid a whopping £1.5 million to appear on the show – the highest amount any celeb has ever received in the programme's 21-year history.
His inclusion sparked a viewer backlash, similar to the case of ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock last year. The Brexit champion was blamed for the drop in viewing figures, with 10.2 million tuning in to the first episode – 2.1 million fewer than the previous year.
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This trend continued, and by the mid-point of the series, viewing figures were on average 1.5 million less per evening than in 2022. Despite higher numbers than the 2021 series, which took place in Wales due to the pandemic, they were lower than every series filmed in the Australian jungle since 2015.
The final viewing figures for ITV's show are in, and it's not looking good. With a peak audience of 7.5 million and an average of 6.5 million tuning in to see Sam's victory, the numbers are down by 3.6 million on average.
A TV insider told the Mirror: "People I know working on the show think Farage is one of the least interesting campmates ever. He is very boring and producers have struggled with fun storylines to show a different side to him. He's good for Brexit and culture wars stuff, but outside of that, the local wildlife is more entertaining than he is."
Other factors may have affected the viewership, including the disappointment of seeing Jamie Lynn Spears and Grace Dent leave the show due to health reasons. The constant bad weather might have also played a part.
One viewer took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their disappointment, saying: "I usually love this show but towards the end I stopped. It didn't have the comradery between campmates as it normally does. Even last year felt a bit off and I can't help but think it's cus of the MPs. Also, the people leaving, what a mess."
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Another chimed in with: "It's had its day. Retire it." A third agreed: "Think it needs a couple of years rest now! Same thing year in year out." And a fourth said: "Feels like a victory against the idea that it's ok to put a dangerous politician like Farage into the middle of a popular family show and try and normalise him for all to see."
In response to these figures, an ITV spokesperson told the Mirror: "I'm A Celebrity is the biggest entertainment show on any channel this year having launched with 10.9 million. The series is currently averaging a consolidated 9 million viewers and last night's finale drew a peak overnight audience of 7.6 million (average 6.6 million).
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