Love Island 2022 launch episode smashes last year's viewing figures

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Love Island 2022's first episode peaked at 3 million viewers, more than opening night for last year's series.

Amber, Indiyah, Tasha, Amber and Gemma raise their glasses in the air on Love Island 2022.
More than 2 million Love Island fans tuned in for the season premiere. (Image credit: ITV)

It looks like Love Island fans were more than ready for another summer of love, as the ITV dating show drew some very impressive viewing figures when it returned on Monday, June 6.

According to ITV, the launch episode of Love Island 2022 drew an average overnight TV audience of 2.4 million viewers and peaked with an audience of 3 million viewers. 

ITV went on to say that this means the 90-minute premiere episode drew over a million more viewers than the overnight audience for any Netflix, Disney Plus, or Prime Video launch in 2022 to date and that the Monday's show had a bigger audience than the programming on Channel 4, Channel 5 and BBC Two combined.

The launch episode posted the biggest TV audience of the night for 16 to 34-year-olds, drawing in 1.1 million younger viewers. This means it was one of only four shows released this year to attract over one million TV viewers in that age bracket. What's more, the show also registered the biggest digital channel TV audience in the same category this year. 

Once you include overnight ITV Hub viewing on other devices (PC, mobile and tablets), the average overnight audience figure rose to 3 million viewers across devices. 

Will the upcoming recoupling manage to top those figures when the show continues and Davide decides who he wants to couple up with? 

Laura Whitmore greets the first five female islanders in the Love Island villa.

Love Island host Laura Whitmore greeted the girls as they arrived in the villa. (Image credit: ITV)

How to watch Love Island UK 2022 online from anywhere in the world

Love Island is now underway on ITV2 and ITV Hub, with new episodes airing every night.

If you're away from home and can't access your usual streaming services, there's an easy way to catch up on Love Island no matter where you are — a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

A VPN lets you get around the usual frustrating digital barriers by changing your IP address, meaning you can watch your favorite TV shows even

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Love Island 2022 continues tonight at 9 pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub. New episodes are also available to stream on BritBox the morning after they air.

Martin Shore
Martin Shore
Staff Writer at WhatToWatch.com

Martin was a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produced a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. Now he works for our sister site Tom's Guide in the same role.

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, The Witcher, Doctor Who, and Ghosts. When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.