UK

Celebrity Big Brother live final attracts 1.7 million viewers

ITV said the episode saw a peak audience of two million viewers.

David Potts won the inaugural ITV Celebrity Big Brother series
David Potts won the inaugural ITV Celebrity Big Brother series (Ian West/PA)
By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

The live final of Celebrity Big Brother drew more than one million viewers to the ITV reality show, according to overnight ratings.

When the episode aired, from 9pm to 10.30pm on Friday, 30-year-old Ibiza Weekender star David Potts beat 26-year-old Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin and became the first winner of the ITV series.

Former Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas had previously been the last Celebrity Big Brother winner six years ago when the format was broadcast on Channel 5.

ITV said the end of its 2024 series saw a peak TV audience of two million viewers and an average of 1.7 million viewers.

Following a public vote on Friday, the remaining stars left the Big Brother house before Potts was crowned the winner.

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Coronation Street actor Colson Smith placed third, former X Factor judge Louis Walsh came fourth and TV presenter Fern Britton placed fifth.

Irish talent manager Walsh had attracted controversy during his time on the series for making remarks about various celebrities, including duo Jedward, who he previously represented.

He called the Irish musicians, whose real names are John and Edward Grimes, “vile” and they hit back on social media criticising his management style and saying he was an “absolute weirdo”.

Many of the previous contestants attended the final, with the maternal uncle of the Princess of Wales, Gary Goldsmith, pulling out at the last minute following Kate’s cancer announcement.

Goldsmith was the first housemate evicted from the ITV reality show, with the businessman and podcast host surviving five days before he was evicted in a public vote.

Former Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu was also a contestant while Sharon Osbourne was a brief housemate and referred to as a “celebrity lodger”.

Louis Walsh was one of the contestants on the ITV series.
Louis Walsh was one of the contestants on the ITV series. (Matt Crossick/PA)

The opening episode of ITV’s debut series attracted 2.8 million viewers and a peak audience of 3.2 million viewers, according to overnight ratings.

Channel 5 axed their version of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother amid a ratings slump in 2018.

It had previously aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2010.

In October, ITV revived Big Brother, with lawyer Jordan being crowned the winner.

AJ Odudu and Will Best have both co-hosted the channel’s celebrity and standard format of the reality show.