MORE than 3.6 million people tuned in to watch Limerick rugby player Greg O'Shea and Amber Gill crowned the surprise Love Island winners.
ITV last night said a further 400,000 fans streamed the episode on non-TV devices such as phones and tablets, as Amber and Greg split the £50k winnings between them.
Newcastle beautician Amber and Greg - who only got together just two weeks ago - beat favourites Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague, who had been seeing one another for 54 days.
The winning couple are now set to cash in on lucrative brand deals and promotional posts after their victory on the ITV2 show.
Amber already has 1.8 million followers on Instagram, while Greg has 587,000.
Earlier in the live final on Monday, Longford model Maura Higgins and professional dancer Curtis Pritchard were the first couple to be axed on the reality show, leaving them in fourth place.
Basketball player Ovie Soko and India Reynolds were placed third.
ITV said that the climax of the reality dating series was watched by 3.63 million, up slightly from the 3.56 million who tuned in to watch Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham win last year.
This made it the most watched Love Island final ever and the most watched episode of the series.
Amber and Greg, whose parents were both sprinters for Ireland, are the first winning pair who have not been together for the majority of the series.
The Limerick-based sportsman only entered the villa during the July 16 episode as the last bombshell of the two-month series.
A player for the Ireland national rugby sevens team, who represented them at the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup as a fly-half, he is also currently studying for a law degree.
"I never thought this was going to happen at any stage," he said.
"I wasn't even in the villa two weeks ago, I wasn't here two weeks ago and obviously the public saw us kick it off and it just went from there."
Romance blossomed between the pair after Amber was dumped by Michael Griffiths for Joanna Chimonides.
After Joanna was axed, Michael expressed interest in reviving his romance with Amber, but she chose to pursue a relationship with the Irish newcomer.
Amber last night said she believed she would not have won if she had taken Michael back and her decision to move on was pivotal to her and Greg's win.
"No, I don't think I would have won if I'd been with Michael," she said.
"I think that me and Greg have a good laugh and that he came in when I needed him.
"I feel like that's why it went to us."
Confirming the pair had become exclusive, Greg put their win down to Amber's journey in the villa.
"My girl Amber smashed it the whole way," he said.
"She's been in from the first day and she's had an incredible journey and I was just happy I could come in and help her out and put a smile back on her face.
"Now we are together and she's had a great last couple of weeks I hope we just go from here now."
Greg said he planned to invest his winnings because it was "probably the smartest thing to do".
Amber, however, said she was going to buy "at least one" designer outfit before putting the rest into savings.
