ITV's revamped Celebrity Big Brother debut pulls in largest viewership in ten years, surpassing last Channel 5 season by 1.3 million viewers

The launch episode of ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother attracted its biggest audience in over a decade, consolidated figures show.

The reboot series kicked off on Monday, March 4 and drew in 3.8m viewers across all devices, an increase of 1.3 million viewers from the last launch.

The celebrity spin-off of the reality show last aired on Channel 5 in 2018, but was axed after its viewing figures for both versions dropped.

The first episode of the final celebrity Channel 5 series drew in 2.1 million viewers, peaking with a total of 2.5 million viewers.

The ITV series has proved to be a ratings hit, and has already been streamed over 7 million times on ITVX.

The launch episode of ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother attracted its biggest audience in over a decade, consolidated figures show

The reboot series kicked off on Monday, March 4 and drew in 3.8m viewers across all devices, an increase of 1.3 million viewers from the last launch

The ITV series has proved to be a ratings hit, and has already been streamed over 7 million times on ITVX, while the launch got 2.8 million viewers on the night, beating the civilian series

The launch got 2.8 million viewers on the night, peaking at 3.2 million and meant ITV1 had more than double the audience of any other channel during its linear air time, according to overnight reports.

It also beat the launch of the civilian series, which aired in October and saw 2.5million people tune in to watch the show return to screens.

It comes after MailOnline exclusively revealed that Sharon Osbourne will leave the Celebrity Big Brother house on Tuesday night during the show’s second live eviction.

The former X Factor judge, 71, joined the cast as Big Brother’s ‘lodger’, staying in her own living quarters complete with private toilet, and has lasted a total of eight days in the TV house.

She had previously revealed that she could only stay on the ITV series for a short period due to needing to get back to husband Ozzy Osbourne, 75, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.

The ‘original reality star’ has been vocal about her opinions since starring on the programme, making scathing remarks towards the likes of singer Adele and former talk show host James Corden.

Her departure from the series will happen during Tuesday night’s live final, where either Louis Walsh, Lauren Simon or Fern Britton will be voted out by the public.

A source close to the show told MailOnline: ‘Tuesday will be Sharon’s last day in the Celebrity Big Brother house.

It comes after MailOnline exclusively revealed that Sharon Osbourne will leave the Celebrity Big Brother house on Tuesday night during the show’s second live eviction

The former X Factor judge, 71, joined the cast as Big Brother’s ‘lodger’, staying in her own living quarters complete with private toilet, and has lasted a total of eight days in the TV house

Since her arrival in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Sharon has been given special privileges such as staying in her own bedroom away from her co-stars

‘She had made it clear from the beginning that she was only staying on the show for a short duration but she has certainly made an long-lasting impact.

‘As always, family comes first and Sharon needs to be back with her husband Ozzy but she will be missed by her housemates, especially as they say goodbye to another celebrity during tonight’s eviction.’

Since her arrival in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Sharon has been given special privileges such as staying in her own bedroom away from her co-stars.

But on Monday, her VIP treatment reached new heights and she was given permission to listen in on nominations, without the knowledge of her housemates, who are strictly banned from discussing who they put up for public vote.

Big Brother gave the TV veteran the chance to save one of the nominated celebrities, with Sharon choosing influencer Zeze Millz, 34, but her decision came at a price, and she had to replace her with a different cast member.

Sharon picked Fern Britton, 66, over her belief that the former This Morning presenter wasn’t gelling as well with the rest of the group, due to her older age.

She also predicts that the voting public will opt to save her close friend and former X Factor co-star Louis as well as Fern and Lauren will be evicted.

The mother-of-three will be remembered for her celebrity anecdotes and putdowns.

Fans were shocked after Sharon was given the choice to save one of the nominated celebrities from facing the public vote and instead of picking pal Louis Walsh she opted for Zeze Mills

She also picked Fern Britton over her belief that the former This Morning presenter wasn’t gelling as well with the rest of the group, due to her older age

Sharon claimed singer Adele uses a ‘fake cockney accent’ and slammed James Corden for relentlessly name dropping and showing off about his designer possessions.

Sharon explained prior to entering the house that she could only complete a week of the show’s 19-day run due to needing to be present for her unwell husband.

She said: ‘I don’t want to stay away from Ozzy for too long. We’re incredibly close as a family.

‘I can’t recall a time when I went a week without speaking to any of them. Through all our fights and feuds, we’ve maintained communication, and this separation will undoubtedly be the longest.’

Celebrity Big Brother: Late & Live continues tonight at 10:30pm on ITV2 and ITVX