'Big Brother' Accused Of Copying 'Love Island' With New Dating Twist, Amid Ratings Struggle

'BB' has fallen way behind its rival in the ratings battle of the reality shows.
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ā€™Big Brotherā€™ bosses have been accused of copying ā€˜Love Islandā€™ with the latest twist they have planned for the housemates.

On Mondayā€™s (19 June) edition of ā€˜This Morningā€™, ā€˜Bit On The Sideā€™ presenter Rylan Clark-Neal announced that three female guests would be entering the house as part of a dating task, with the housemates then selecting two of them to become permanent residents.

ā€œMake of it what you will. Connect the dots - itā€™s Channel 5,ā€ Rylan said, hinting perhaps it could like to the networkā€™s recent reboot of ā€˜Blind Dateā€™.

'Love Island' and 'Big Brother' have been going head-to-head in the ratings
'Love Island' and 'Big Brother' have been going head-to-head in the ratings
ITV/Channel 5

However, some fans noted how similar it sounded to the premise of ā€˜Love Islandā€™, which is entirely based around dating and new arrivals being dropped in the villa to entice existing residents.

Many shared their theories on Twitter:

So bb is trying to be love island with those 3 girls go on a date thing. Could've at least put in a guy but w/e #BBUK

ā€” Is my name Moses? (@Trixylove19) June 19, 2017

3 girls enter, go on a date, one doesn't get chosen and is dumped. There is no way to down play this however hard you try. #BBUK #LoveIsland

ā€” Super TV 24/7 (@superTV247) June 19, 2017

A dating task you say, Big Brother? This cannot be C5's way of trying to steal ITV2 viewers? Not quite a Villa, mind. #BBUK

ā€” Nick BarnesšŸ‘‹šŸ¼ (@imnickbarnes) June 19, 2017

Stop trying to be love island it's embarrassing and it's not why people aren't watching. Wake up #bbuk

ā€” LewisJ815 (@LJay815) June 19, 2017

A dating task? So literally exactly like Love Island and what Geordie Shore did? šŸ˜“šŸ˜“

ā€” MatthewPenny. (@MrMattPenny) June 19, 2017

@bbspy three new female guests going in tomorrow on a date...it's not love island! Then housemates get to keep two as housemates!šŸ‘ŽšŸ¼ #BBUK

ā€” Laura Newton (@LauraNewton) June 19, 2017

ā€˜Big Brotherā€™ producers have been forced to draft in new housemates after Kayleigh Morris was removed from the house over the weekend, and Arthur Fulford and Sukhvinder Javeed both walked last week.

Their latest twist comes as the latest episode of ā€˜Love Islandā€™ scored almost double the amount of viewers as the shows went head to head on Sunday night.

ā€˜Big Brotherā€™ drew just 0.89 million viewers at 9pm on Channel 5, in comparison to Love Islandā€™s 1.51 million, when it aired at the same time on ITV2.

It was the sixth consecutive day in a row that figures for ā€˜BBā€™ have fallen below a million, while ā€˜Love Islandā€™ continues to hit ratings highs for its third series.

ā€˜Big Brotherā€™ continues tonight at 10pm on Channel 5, with ā€˜Love Islandā€™ airing an hour earlier on ITV2.

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