# Grande Fratello

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.

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

## 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.