ITV viewers stayed home all weekend after getting ‘hooked’ on ‘genius’ show

ITV viewers cancelled all their social plans on the last weekend of the summer to stay in and binge a new reality show.

Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends premiered on Sunday – and it made quite the impression on fans on social media who branded the 11-parter ‘genius.’

The programme follows eight badly behaved boyfriends who flow to a Greek island under the premise of filming a series about manhood and bromance in a hedonistic holiday mecca.

But their dreams are shattered when former Love Island star Olivia, 33, reveals the true purpose of the show – to whip them into better boyfriend shape through a series of challenges.

On X, viewers, including @RoisinMcConway, said they became ‘hooked’ on Bad Boyfriends just minutes into the first episode.

Echoing their sentiment, @Erin_M_Fuller exclaimed: ‘One word, AMAZING! Thank you @oliviajade_att #BadBoyfriends.’

@TheRealJasonD90 said: ‘First ep of #BadBoyfriends was so good. The guys faces when @oliviajade_att entered were priceless. Honestly them girls need a medal for putting up with them.’

Speaking about Bad Boyfriends, Olivia previously said: ‘It feels like a dream come true. Coming into this industry via reality television, it feels like a real full circle moment and something I’ve been working really hard towards over the last six or seven years and something I feel like I’m ready for,’ she stated.

‘I’ve been doing the documentaries which has been a great learning curve and now being a part of Loose Women and various other smaller hosting roles, they’ve all been great training tools towards hosting a format of my own.’

Bad Boyfriends is not the only show deemed essential September viewing by TV viewers.

‘One of the greatest shows to come out of Britain full stop’ Slow Horses is returning to Apple TV Plus on Wednesday for season 4.

The gripping crime show follows MI5 rejects exiled to the bleak Slough House to undertake the intelligence service’s least glamourous tasks under the stewardship of the filthy Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman).

Slow Horses has consistently been a hit with viewers and critics since it debuted in 2022 – and season 4 is no exception, having already achieved a 100% score on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Nick Clark in The Evening Standard said: ‘It’s one of the great shows to come out of Britain full stop. And series four delivers more of the same: a fully realised world, superb script, a stellar cast all at the top of their game and a lot of great action.’

Viewers have also been devouring BBC crime drama Sherwood after it returned for a second season last Sunday. It is airing weekly on Sundays and Mondays until next week.

Created and written by James Graham, Sherwood followed a series of dramatic murders in the Nottinghamshire mining village, where locals were still reeling from the impact of the 1980s miners’ strikes.

On X, @DaddyPobbin raved: ‘‘Absolutely brilliant series, quality drama.’

TV critic Scott Bryan urged: ‘You *should* watch the first series of Sherwood this weekend if you haven’t already on BBC iPlayer,’ to which @skillman_ethan replied: ‘I binged the whole show yesterday after seeing one of your tweets. Best decision I’ve made in a long time! Can’t wait for series 2 now.’

The first season also managed to achieve a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 71% average audience score.

Olivia Attwood: Bad Boyfriends is available to stream on ITVX.

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