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*Grande Fratello*
Grande Fratello
Created by	John de Mol Jr.
Directed by	Fosco Gasperi (2000–2001); Fabio Calvi (2003–2004, 2006–2009); Sergio Colabona (2009–2012, 2014–2015); Alessio Pollacci (2018–2019, 2023–present); Marco Fuortes (2018–2019, 2023–present)
Presented by	Daria Bignardi (2000–2001); Barbara D'Urso (2003–2004, 2018–2019); Alessia Marcuzzi (2006–2012, 2014–2015); Alfonso Signorini (2023–present)
Country of origin	Italy
Original language	Italian
No. of series	18
No. of episodes	282 (lives shows)
Production
Running time	190-220 min (approx.)
Production company	Endemol Shine Italy
Original release
Network	Canale 5 (main show and daily recaps, 2000–present); Italia 1 (daily recaps; 2014–present); Stream TV (live; 2000–2003); Sky (live; 2004, 2008–2009); Mediaset Premium (live; 2006–2015); Mediaset Extra (live; 2018–present); La5 (live; 2010–present); Rete 4 (daily recaps; 2023–2024)
Release	14 September 2000 –; present
Related
	Grande Fratello VIP

Grande Fratello (also known by the acronym GF) is the Italian version of the reality television franchise Big Brother. Begun in September 2000, it has gone on to become a cultural phenomenon in Italy. There have been twenty-two completed seasons as of 2023, sixteen regular seasons and seven celebrity seasons.^[1]

Format

Based on the original Dutch version created by Endemol, the show sees a number of "housemates", divided by gender, social backgrounds and geographical locations, locked up together in a house, where the viewing public can watch them twenty-four hours a day, and vote them out of the house as they choose.^[2]^[3]

The housemates can visit the "confessional" at any time during the day, either to talk to psychologists if they need to, talk to "Big Brother", or to nominate.

The title is inspired by the George Orwell novel 1984. The novel tells of a Big Brother, head of the totalitarian state of Oceania that constantly monitors its inhabitants by the camera in an attempt to suppress their free will. The tag line of the novel is "Big Brother is watching you", which inspired the show, as it is Big Brother who now has total control over the situation in the house.

The housemates live in a house 24 hours a day, bugged by numerous cameras and microphones which capture their every move. Every week the housemates participate in tasks that determine their food budget for that week, or could even affect that week's nominations. The overall goal is to be the final surviving housemate and claim the prize fund. A PlayStation game based on this version was released in 2003.

Series details

Seasons	Launch date	Finale date	Days	Housemates	Winner	Presenter	Reporter		Opinionist		Direction		Location		Grand prize	Average viewers (in millions)	Average share
Seasons	Launch date	Finale date	Days	Housemates	Winner	Presenter	External	Social	Opinionist		Home	Study	Home	Study	Grand prize	Average viewers (in millions)	Average share
1	14 September 2000	21 December 2000	99	10	Cristina Plevani	Daria Bignardi	Marco Liorni	none	none		Alessio Pollacci	Fosco Gasperi	Study of Cinecittà, Rome	Theater 1 of Cinecittà, Rome	₤250,000,000^{[N 1]}	9.82	37.00%
2	20 September 2001	20 December 2001	92	16	Flavio Montrucchio	Daria Bignardi						Fosco Gasperi		Theater 1 of Cinecittà, Rome	₤250,000,000^{[N 1]}	8.00	32.74%
3	30 January 2003	8 May 2003	99	16	Floriana Secondi	Barbara D'Urso						Fabio Calvi		Theater 5 of Cinecittà, Rome	€241,000^{[N 2]}	8.00	33.15%
4	22 January 2004	6 May 2004	106	15	Serena Garitta										€300,000	8.44	33.89%
5	23 September 2004	2 December 2004	71	17	Jonathan Kashanian										€250,000	6.86	30.70%
6	19 January 2006	27 April 2006	99^{[N 3]}	18	Augusto De Megni	Alessia Marcuzzi								Palastudio of Cinecittà, Rome	€900,000^{[N 4]}	6.51	31.68%
7	18 January 2007	19 April 2007	92	19	Milo Coretti										€500,000	5.57	25.80%
8	21 January 2008	21 April 2008	92	21	Mario Ferretti				Alfonso Signorini						€500,000	5.46	25.19%
9	12 January 2009	20 April 2009	99	23	Ferdi Berisa		none								€300,000	6.63	29.17%
10	26 October 2009	8 March 2010	134	26	Mauro Marin							Sergio Colabona			€250,000	6.16	27.83%
11	18 October 2010	18 April 2011	183^{[N 5]}	35	Andrea Cocco										€300,000^{[N 2]}	5.43	23.55%
12	24 October 2011	1 April 2012	161^{[N 6]}	36	Sabrina Mbarek										€240,000^{[N 2]}	3.85	17.40%
13	3 March 2014	26 May 2014	85	17^{[N 7]}	Mirco Petrilli				Manuela Arcuri^{[N 8]}	Cesare Cunaccia^{[N 8]}					€250,000	4.12	19.15%
13	3 March 2014	26 May 2014	85	17^{[N 7]}	Mirco Petrilli				Vladimir Luxuria^{[N 9]}						€250,000	4.12	19.15%
14	24 September 2015	10 December 2015	78	19	Federica Lepanto			Chiara Tortorella	Cristiano Malgioglio	Claudio Amendola					€200,000^{[N 2]}	3.52	18.74%
15	17 April 2018	4 June 2018	49	17	Alberto Mezzetti	Barbara D'Urso		none		Simona Izzo	Marco Fuortes	Alessio Pollacci			€100,000	3.88	23.25%
16	8 April 2019	10 June 2019	64	19	Martina Nasoni	Barbara D'Urso		none		Iva Zanicchi						3.25	19.94%
17	11 September 2023	25 March 2024	197	35	Perla Vatiero	Alfonso Signorini		Rebecca Staffelli	Cesara Buonamici	none				Voxson studies, Rome		2.44	18.59%
18	16 September 2024					Alfonso Signorini		Rebecca Staffelli	Cesara Buonamici	Beatrice Luzzi			Lumina Studios, Rome

Popularity

The program has broken several records, including exceeding a 50% share of the ratings (with peaks of 60% during season one). The fifth season recorded a decline in ratings which was put down to both the competition from rival reality television shows and the season's poor and hasty production. By the ninth season, the show recorded increasing ratings which took the program back to its original popularity.

Despite a decline in viewing figures over the years (especially in the twelfth season), Grande Fratello is still one of the most successful reality shows in Italy.