‘Love Island’ went out with a bang on Monday night (24 July), bringing in the highest viewing figures in ITV2’s history.
The finale saw Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay being crowned winners, with 2.43 million people tuning in to see him choose to share the £50,000 prize money with his girlfriend, after being given the chance to pocket it for himself.
As if these viewing figures weren’t impressive enough, a further 150,000 watched the action on ITV2+1.
These figures are sure to be even more of a blow to Channel 5, with their current series of ‘Big Brother’ pulling in the lowest ever ratings for the former reality TV juggernaut.
However, the ‘Love Island’ final failed to compete with ‘Diana: Our Mother Her Life’, which was airing on ITV at the same time, pulling in more than six million viewers.
ITV2 has already confirmed that a fourth series is being prepared for next summer but recent reports suggest ‘Love Island’ may be back on our screens sooner than that, as bosses are thought to be considering a winter edition, which would launch in January.
Show creator Richard Cowles has also expressed interest in a separate version of the show which would include LGBT+ contestants, while it’s also been suggested that a ‘Love Island’ spin-off focussing on Kem and Chris Hughes could also be in the works.
After the results of the most recent series were announced, an insider claimed: “Bosses don’t want to see an end to their bromance and are already brainstorming possible TV show ideas to pitch for when ‘Love Island’ is over.”