While the hype around Maya Jama taking over the Love Island reigns seemed to be utterly dominating social media over the past few months, it looks like the hysteria hasn’t translated into actual viewing figures, with the show reportedly drawing its lowest audiences since 2016.
According to TV statistics reported by Super TV, the premier episode of the second Winter Love Islandamassed figures of just 1.4m, the lowest before the 2017 series exploded with the likes of Marcell ‘I Was In Blazin’ Sqad’ Somerville and the bromance for the ages between Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay, which drew 1.10m.
The biggest first episode was series five (Molly-Mae Hagues series, which drew audiences of 3.5m) and the last three series have averaged at 2.5m, meaning rough figures gave dropped by over a million viewers.
To be fair, there is something to be said of the fact that two Love Island series a year is a little excessive, with the summer series still set to go ahead as usual in June. 2020 saw the first winter series hit screens, with lots of us tuning in purely out of curiosity, and as it transpired was the only series of the year thanks to a little spanner in the works called the global pandemic.
But with the likelihood of another earth-shattering plague on the horizon slim (fingers crossed), 2023 could be the first year with a double dose of Islanders and it seems even the most dedicated of fans think it’s overkill.
‘Love Island once a year in the summer is perfect,’ said one person on Twitter. ‘Winter version is an overkill. They need to drop it after this year.’
And some social media commentators went so far as to suggest that Love Island has already been usurped as the reigning champion of reality TV thanks to a 12-day series that landed on the Beeb just before Christmas and has already spawned a US spin-off.
‘To be honest I’m not surprised, after watching The Traitors people are fed up of these influencers,’ said one, and another wrote, ‘The Traitors and the reaction have shown that people are sick of influencers, YouTube celebs etc. it’s just fake and people just want a bit of normality. Good riddance to it.’
Are people really bored of influencers? With a reported 260 alumni from the show already and no signs of slowing down, there’s no denying the market – and peoples’ tolerance – could be at risk of becoming oversaturated. A recent Channel 4 documentary with TikTok commentator Will Njobvu called Life After Love Island claimed that of that number, 130 have returned to their day jobs and only a slim margin are earning a good living from their post-villa influencer careers, so perhaps even going on the show could be less appealing in the near future.
With much of The Traitors' success resting on its cast of diverse, unfiltered and comparatively 'normal' participants, maybe the era of the influencer is finally coming to an end.