Love Island suffered a huge blow to ratings on Monday night (June 5) as Maya Jama slow-mo strutted into the Majorcan villa for the first time. The ITV2 reality show, usually a huge hit with viewers and a sure sign that summer is here, was watched live on the channel by 1.3 million viewers on Monday, as series 10 got underway.
According to the BBC, this figure is down by a million from the series eight opening episode in summer 2022, which was watched by an average TV audience of 2.4 million. Four years ago, the first episode of the 2019 series attracted a staggering 3.3 million.
The fall in ratings comes amid suggestions that the nation's obsession with the reality dating show has waned. Despite this, fans have been full of praise for Bristolian bombshell Maya, who was announced as Laura Whitmore's replacement in late 2022.
Read more: Love Island fans go wild for Bristol City's new arrival announcement
Series 10 is Maya's first summer series after she made her debut as host in South Africa earlier this year, for the second ever winter edition of Love Island. The former Radio 1 DJ has proved to be a hit with fans, with her enviable wardrobe of cutout dresses and white ensembles winning them over.
Including ITVX viewers, ITV has claimed that viewing figures for Monday night's episode stand at 1.7 million. However, the programme attracted the most viewers of the day from the 16 to 34-year-old age demographic, and was the second most watched programme in its time slot, the broadcaster has said.
Following on from Monday night's opening episode, The Sun claimed producers know "Love Island fatigue is in danger of creeping in", hence why they included a "cheeky little twist" to keep viewers on their toes. It comes as the ratings of the winter series, which ran from January to March of this year, "melted".
Maya delivered some game-changing news to the fresh cohort of islanders on Monday night, as the girls and boys entered the Spanish villa together, rather than one sex going in before the other. The beloved host arrived at the famed property to reveal that the contestants would not be choosing who to couple up with, as voting members of the public had already made that decision for them.
At the end of the show, Maya tested the new couples with the "ultimate dare". The host dared the girls to reveal if they were unhappy with their partners, with two contestants stepping forward before a new bombshell was dropped on the villa.
Click here to subscribe to the TV Talk newsletter, bringing you the latest showbiz news, gossip and features from across the West Country every week.
Read more:
