Big Brother enjoyed a slight rise in ratings on Friday night as Sallie Axl became the first housemate to be evicted and 'people's puppet' Michael Dylan was unmasked.
According to overnight figures an average of 1.8m - including those watching an hour later on the catch-up service Channel 5+1.
And the audience peaked at over 2m as Sallie lost out to Gina Rio in the first public vote of the series.
The show also featured an unexpected shock for the housemates as Michael Dylan revealed he was an actor who had been secretly working for Big Brother - before he also quit the house for good.
The ratings offered a boost to Big Brother, which has so far suffered disappointing ratings.
This year's launch night edition was the least watched in show history, with around 2.1m tuning in - and the show losing out to BBC Two's documentary The Secret Life Of The Cat, which attracted an audience of almost 5m.
Since then viewing figures have dropped, with an average of around 1.2m watching this week's instalments.
Meanwhile, the housemates have finally been reunited with their suitcases after being led to believe that Michael had shredded them on their first night in the house.
The actor had pretended to destroy their belongings in order to save his own - leaving them without their own things for a week until his eventual departure.
