‘Big Brother’ host Emma Willis has attempted to play down the show’s rivalry with ‘Love Island’, after it was slaughtered in the ratings by the ITV2 series.
The latest civilian run of the Channel 5 show drew some of its lowest figures in its 17-year history throughout June and July, as ‘Love Island’ pulled in record ratings for ITV2, attracting over 2.5million people an episode.
But Emma doesn’t seem disheartened by the fact less than a million people often tuned in to ‘BB’, revealing her hopes it will reach its 20th series.
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I don’t think there is any rivalry between the two shows, they are completely different. They can both exist alongside each other.
She continued: “I hope it’s got legs. I’ve been obsessed with it since it began in 2000, but everything has a shelf life.
“Hopefully it will go for a little while longer. It would be nice for it to at least make 20 years.”
Her comments were markedly different to those made by ‘Love Island’ voice over guy Iain Stirling last month, who claimed his show was “more relevant”.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, he said: “It’s summertime, we’ve got beautiful people, big characters, the villa is gorgeous. What do you want to watch - a load of people in the arse end of England in a little house, or just beautiful people with six packs running around a luxury, multi-million pound villa?
“It’s just more visually entertaining.”
Meanwhile, Emma will be back on screens tonight (1 August) for the launch of the latest ‘Celebrity’ run of ‘Big Brother’, which will be unchallenged in the ratings, following Love Island’s final last week.
Among the names rumoured to be entering the ‘CBB’ house include Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding, ‘Ex On The Beach’ star Jemma Lucy and paranormal expert Derek Acorah, ‘Gogglebox’ favourite Sandi Bogle, ex-’Love Island’ star Paul Danan, ‘X Factor’ finalist Amelia Lily, former ‘EastEnders’ star Shaun Williamson and comedian Helen Lederer.
‘Celebrity Big Brother’ launches tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.
