'Big Brother' return sees 6.2m tune in

The return of Big Brother drew an impressive audience for Channel 4 last night, with an average 6.2 million tuning in to watch at 9pm.

The climax of the show saw the audience peak at 8 million - a 35% share of the audience - which equaled the previous highest peak of viewers for a Big Brother launch programme. Nearly half of all 16-34 year-old viewers watching television at the time were tuned into the show.

The all-female housemates, including 18-year-old twins and a 53-year-old peace protester, gave the channel an average 26% share of the audience over the hour, beating off BBC One's The Apprentice, which managed an average 4.8 million viewers between 9-10pm.

ITV1's British Soap Awards coverage pulled an average 6.2 million over a two-hour period from 8pm.

Channel 4 commissioning editor for Big Brother and head of E4, Angela Jain said, "This heralds a fantastic start to Big Brother. We remain as committed as ever to making this year's series the most entertaining yet."

Big Brother's Big Mouth scored 1.2 million on Channel 4 at 11:15pm, making it the second most watched programme at the time.