REALITY television show Castaway is so far proving to be a turn-off for viewers.

Audience figures have slumped alarmingly since the BBC show starring 22-year-old Erica Hurst, from Bolton, began last Friday night.

The first show, which aired on BBC1, drew an average audience of 4.1 million.

By Sunday, this figure had dropped to 2.9 million and the programme, which is also shown on BBC3, is continuing to see dwindling audiences.

It has been left trailing behind programmes on rival channels and even failed to match the appeal of the Crufts final.

Erica is settling into life with 12 other castaways on New Zealand's remote Great Barrier Island.

The show will follow their fortunes over the next three months.

They will be growing and collecting their food and using the land and ocean to feed themselves.

Presented by Danny Wallace, it runs every night from Monday to Thursday on BBC3.

It is a far cry from the original Castaway in 2000 which, at its peak, had seven million viewers - a 30 per cent audience share.

A BBC spokesman said: "The series got off to a good start. It's early days for the programme. There are some good characters there that we hope viewers will enjoy getting to know over the coming weeks."

Reports from journalists who have visited the island say it is a popular tourist destination with a thriving community, an Irish pub and a Thai restaurant.

It has attracted criticism that the current contestants are not as isolated as the previous group, which had to live on the remote Hebridean island of Taransay.

On Great Barrier Island, a local shop has been meeting the 120-strong television crew's demand for wine and beer.

Former lapdancer Erica married nightclub security manager Matthew Williams, aged 24, from Lostock, in Las Vegas on February 5, following a whirlwind romance which began at Manchester's trendy Warehouse Project club last October.

Matthew has said his wife would have no trouble coping with the conditions on the island, where the 13 castaways - joined by one viewer during the 12-week run - will use their individual skills to develop their community.

Matthew said he was avidly watching BBC3's nightly show Castaway . . . The Last 24 Hours.

He said: "She seems to be enjoying herself. The audience figures are always slow with reality TV.

"It's the same with Big Brother early on.

"I'm not really bothered about the viewing figures anyway, that's the BBC's problem. I'm just concerned about Erica's wellbeing.

"Erica has had a lot of publicity and it's just a matter of people seeing the real her now."

He said the programme might be better if it did not cram 24 hours of action into short half-hour shows.

Unlike Big Brother, Castaway has no evictions and no overall winner.

Erica hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ben Fogle, who went on to a successful TV career after starring in the original series.