22-07-2025
Huge new ITV reality show packed with celebs TANKS in ratings – and is beaten by rerun of Death in Paradise
AMBITIOUS new reality show Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters has tanked in the ratings.
The ITV programme sees stars including Helen George, Rachel Riley and Sir Lenny Henry brave man-eating animals in the waters off Bimini Island in the Bahamas.
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But a peak of only 1.5m tuned in to watch the show's launch last week and then it scraped 1m on Monday.
Instead of July 14th's launch, more viewers - ironically - watched a rerun of Death In Paradise from series 11, which first aired in 2021.
The BBC's repeat of Ralf Little 's gentle crime drama drew in 1.8m during the same 9pm to 10pm time slot.
And BBC2' s stroll through the evolution of man, Human, attracted 1.6m.
Shark! fared no better this week either, when double - 2m - tuned in to BBC1's Fake or Fortune? antiques show.
Both weeks, the most watched show of the evening was Coronation Street, with 3.3m and 3m watching respectively.
It comes after David Tennant 's gameshow The Genius Game was branded an " expensive flop" after the £2.5m series drew an average audience of 661,000 by the end.
In the five-part show, seven brave celebrities spent several weeks taking to dangerous waters in an effort to overcome their fears and also deliver an ecological message.
The line-up also included comedians Ross Noble and Lucy Punch as well as McFly star Dougie Poynter and athlete Ade Adepitan.
In the early episodes viewers have watched Helen battle with her fear of the sea after a childhood incident at an aqua park left her scared of even entering the water.
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters
The actress, who plays Trixie in Call The Midwife, found even being lowered into the depths in a cage too much and begged to be released.
Mum-of-two Helen, 41, said: 'I was terrified of putting my head underwater.
'I have a real deep-rooted fear.
'My kids know that I am scared of the water, and my seven-year-old is more confident in the water than I am, and I realised I've got to do something about that as it's not safe.'
ITV say after seven days the first episode has now been watched by 2.8m viewers and the series has been popular with 25-54 year olds.
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