I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! made its highly-anticipated return on Sunday night and the staggering number of fans that tuned in has been revealed.
A massive 9million viewers watched Ant and Dec's return to ITV making it the number one entertainment show of 2024 on any channel so far.
The launch episode of I'm A Celebrity, which saw Coleen Rooney, Oti Mabuse and Danny Jones enter the jungle, has already beaten all episodes of Strictly Come Dancing so far this year.
Strictly and I'm A Celeb have been in a ratings battle throughout their 20-year histories.
But Strictly's first live show in September saw its ratings plummet as the BBC show recorded a loss of one million viewers, a drop from 7.3million in last year to just 6.7million this year.
A massive 9million viewers tuned in for I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! return this week to ITV making it the number one entertainment show of 2024 on any channel so far; pictured Ant and Dec
Strictly and I'm A Celeb have been in a ratings battle throughout their 20-year histories but Strictly's first live show in September saw its ratings plummet from 7.3million in last year to just 6.7million this year; pictured Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman
Despite Strictly's rating increasing to 8.1million for the results show in Blackpool last week, it is still just under one million short from the I'm A Celeb launch night which took place on the same day.
ITV are thrilled by the rating figures and an ITV insider told The Mail: 'All they care about is beating Strictly this year. That's their number one goal.
'If they do that, they'll be happy. And, of course, getting more viewers than last year, but that's been the same every time.'
The source continued: 'GK Barry is considered this year's secret weapon, there's hope all around that she will bring in a whole new younger audience for the show and hike up the viewing figures.'
The new series of I'm A Celebrity kicked off on Sunday night, with Coleen Rooney, Danny Jones, Tulisa, Jane Moore, Dean McCullough, and Oti Mabuse skydiving into camp.
Meanwhile, Barry McGuigan, GK Barry, Alan Halsall, Coleen, and Melvin Odoom waited at the beach for the other five campmates to join them before taking on a boat challenge.
And just as the campmates have been settling in, Love Island bombshell Maura Higgins is to make a huge arrival alongside Revered Richard Coles.
Maura turned Love Island upside down in 2019 as a bombshell contestant and her unfiltered fiery antics led to that year being the most-watched series in the show's history.
The launch episode of I'm A Celebrity, which saw Coleen Rooney , Oti Mabuse and Danny Jones enter the jungle, has already beaten all episodes of Strictly Come Dancing so far this year; pictured Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Despite Strictly's rating increasing to 8.1million for the results show in Blackpool last week, it is still just under one million short from the I'm A Celeb launch night which took place on the same day; pictured Coleen Rooney
An ITV insider told The Mail: 'All they care about is beating Strictly this year. That's their number one goal. If they do that, they'll be happy. And, of course, getting more viewers than last year, but that's been the same every time'
And just as the campmates have been settling in, Love Island bombshell Maura Higgins is to make a huge arrival alongside Revered Richard Coles
Now as she makes a late arrival tonight and warns viewers, 'You're not ready,' even more viewers could be tuning into the ITV show.
A TV source told MailOnline: 'At the beginning, everyone thought it was going to be Coleen or GK Barry that was the hook for this series, but it appears it's going to be Maura.
'She's got that perfect 'second wave' energy and it's so funny she's coming in with a Reverend, it's going to be amazing.
'Firecracker energy is what's needed in the camp right now as they all seem to be getting on a bit too well…
'There are a lot of strong women in there so the race for Queen of the Jungle is going to be a tough one, especially now that she's [Maura] in the mix.'
