by Julia Pearlman
Brand Republic 9 Jun 2005
LONDON - ITV's 'Celebrity Love Island' won the ratings war with 'Big Brother' last night by attracting an extra 200,000 viewers as the appeal of beachside antics take over from housemate brawls and bitching.
'Celebrity Love Island' drew in 3.6m viewers with 'Big Brother' averaging 3.4m across the equivalent time slot. This gave ITV1 a 17.5% share at 10pm compared with Channel 4, which averaged 200,000 fewer viewers. ITV had a 25% share of the all important 16-34 demographic up 6.1 points.
In 'Celebrity Love Island', former 'Hollyoaks' actor Paul Danan and Playboy pin-up Nikki Ziering spent four minutes of "quality time" together in the toilets last night, made infamous by Calum Best and Rebecca Loos who spent 18 minutes in there last week.
ITV is planning to set pulses racing among the girls, after Zeiring's surprise arrival to the Fijian island, with Australian surfing champion Paul Fisher set to join the group today.
Abi Titmuss has cheered up after fearing no one liked her, by being voted into the Love Shack with former Manchester United footballer Lee Sharpe, who had sent her a postcard from the secluded beach retreat saying "not the same without you," to which Abi replied, "We're going to have some fun."
Sharpe and Ziering's time on the Love Shack did not go to plan with the model refusing to go snorkelling in case it ruined her hair and dragging Sharpe around the shops in her quest for a new bikini.