Steamy bedroom antics have helped give Love Island its highest ever viewing figures.
The ITV2 reality programme’s episode on Tuesday, which included two couples getting intimate on-screen, was watched by 1.5 million viewers with a 7.5% share of the overall audience when it aired at 9pm, according to overnight ratings.
The equivalent episode in the second series last year was watched by an average of 693,000 fans.
The third series – in the second week of a seven-week run – has averaged 1.2 million viewers per episode in overnight ratings.
Love Island has almost doubled its audience in the 16 to 34 age bracket year-on-year.
Tuesday’s episode saw couples Jessica Shears and Dominic Lever and Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay become the first in the show’s luxurious villa to have sex.
Dom in the hideaway like..🕺🕺🕺#LoveIsland @LoveIsland @_DomLever @Jessica_Rose_UK pic.twitter.com/Unascjknxm
— ITV2 (@itv2) June 13, 2017
Shears and Lever were seen indulging in a night of passion in the villa’s private hideaway, while Davies and Cetinay were in the communal bedroom.
Lever had written and recited a poem for Shears for her birthday, after which she confessed she was falling for him.
Two complaints have been made to regulatory body Ofcom about the episode, although neither are in relation to the sexual content.
Last year Love Island was ruled not to be in breach of the watchdog’s rules after it was investigated over complaints made about sex being broadcast shortly after the watershed.