Love Island UK season 8 is off to a great start, with the dating series earning its highest ratings since 2019. The latest season of the ITV hit premiered on Monday, June 6. The show was much-talked-about from day one, thanks to controversy over contestants Gemma and Davide's age gap.
In anticipation of the show's eighth season, some changes were made to mix things up. To start, the show moved to a new, larger, and revamped villa. When the premiere date was announced, it was also revealed the season would be two weeks longer than usual. And this year began with a twist, as viewers at home picked the day one couples. By comparison, in previous seasons, islanders would step forward for who they fancied. Now, it looks as if these changes were enough to give the long-running show a big boost in viewers.
As reported by The Daily Mail, the first viewer figures of season 8 have been revealed. Love Island season 8's premiere episode alone was watched by an impressive 5 million viewers. This means that, so far, this season has brought the highest ratings for the show since season 5 aired in 2019. This was also 0.2 million more viewers than last year. With 16-34 year olds, the show scored an average of 1.8 million viewers. This makes Love Island the second most-watched series of 2022 so far amongst that demographic. Mega-popular annual event Eurovision Song Contest bested it, but only by a marginal amount. 2.9 million tuned into the episode via the ITV Hub, making it the highest launch episode on the service to date. And season 8's popularity is only growing. Since it first aired, the premiere episode has been streamed a whopping 6.9 million times.
Season 7 was incredibly anticipated after the pandemic-caused long hiatus. However, many fans complained about it being boring. This year, producers have only amped up the drama since the widely-watched first night. For instance, fans were shocked when original contestant Gemma Owens' ex-boyfriend Jaques O'Neill entered as a new bombshell.
The uptick in ratings, especially with similarity in viewers to season 5, has to be exciting news for ITV. The 2019-set season earned the show it's highest numbers ever and dominated the conversation on social media that summer. Contestants like Molly-Mae Hague walked away with astronomically successful influencer careers. It is also widely considered the best season of the dating show, as well as one of the best of any reality TV show.
The ratings aren't the only way season 8 has drawn comparisons to season 5. Bombshell Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has been compared to season 5 fan favorite Maura Higgins. The Turkish actress has frequently trended on Twitter for her drama-causing antics. After successfully stealing Davide Sanclimenti from Gemma, she also went after Jaques. Fans who assumed the show would never reach season 5 heights again have been cautiously enthusiastic and optimistic about season 8 so far. For the time being, that is certainly reflected in the ratings. As the show is only in its second week, it's anyone's guess what the future looks like.
Love Island UK airs daily on ITV. American fans will be able to watch the season on Hulu starting Tuesday, June 21. Episodes will then drop on the streaming service two weeks after they initially air.
Source: The Daily Mail