The Only Way is Essex pulls in nearly 2 million viewers

The Only Way is EssexITV2’s ‘scripted reality’ series The Only Way is Essex returned last night for a third series with strong ratings.

The popular series, produced by Hollyoaks makers Lime Pictures, follows the lives, loves, traumas’ and tantrums of a group of friends in the county of Essex. The series has made household names of the likes of Amy Childs – who has since quit – and Mark Wright. It has led to similar shows such as Made in Chelsea on E4 and Geordie Shore in MTV.

The series won a BAFTA earlier this year. The Only Way is Essex returned for a third series last night to 1.6 million viewers which is its best season opener yet – the second series launched in March with 1.5 million viewers. An additional 174,000 watched via the ITV2 timeshift channel giving the edition a combined audience of 1.8 million viewers.

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