The twenty-sixth series of the British reality television programme The Only Way Is Essex began airing on 13 September 2020. This series was due to air earlier in the year, but in March 2020, it was announced that filming had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Whilst off air, it was announced that the series would return later in the year and would go back to airing two episodes per week, and that filming would take place with social distancing to protect cast and crew. Ahead of the series, it was announced that cast members Chloe Ross and Jayden Beales had been axed from the show. It was also confirmed that original cast member Amy Childs would be returning. Nicole Bass, Harry Derbidge and Fran Parman also returned.

During the series, the show celebrated its tenth anniversary, kicking off on 6 September 2020 with a special episode entitled "TOWIE Turns 10: All Back to Essex". The ninth episode, airing on 11 October 2020, was extended and featured a number of flashbacks as well as one-off appearances from former cast members including Danni Armstrong, Elliott Wright, Frankie Essex and Mario Falcone. As well as this, a spin-off series entitled The Towie Years aired for ten episodes across five weeks beginning on 10 October 2020. The series focused on the most memorable moments from each year. A festive special, "The Only Way Is Essexmas" aired on 16 December 2020, where cast members Georgia and Tommy announced they were expecting a baby.

Cast

Episodes

Ratings Catch-up service totals were added to the official ratings. Episode Date Total ITVBe viewers 6 September 2020 389,000 Episode 1 13 September 2020 821,000 Episode 2 16 September 2020 693,000 Episode 3 20 September 2020 790,000 Episode 4 23 September 2020 831,000 Episode 5 27 September 2020 798,000 Episode 6 30 September 2020 848,000 Episode 7 4 October 2020 885,000 Episode 8 7 October 2020 759,000 Episode 9 11 October 2020 727,000 Episode 10 14 October 2020 683,000 Episode 11 18 October 2020 716,000 Episode 12 21 October 2020 830,000 Episode 13 25 October 2020 781,000 Episode 14 28 October 2020 677,000 Episode 15 1 November 2020 726,000 Episode 16 4 November 2020 614,000 Episode 17 8 November 2020 659,000 Episode 18 11 November 2020 590,000 Essexmas 16 December 2020 781,000 Series average 746,000

References