| Company: | Endemol Shine Italy |
| Runtime: | 190-220 min (approx.) |
| Presenter: | Daria Bignardi (2000–2001) Barbara D'Urso (2003–2004, 2018–2019) Alessia Marcuzzi (2006–2012, 2014–2015) Alfonso Signorini (2023–present) |
| Director: | 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) |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
| 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) |
| Last Aired: | present |
| Num Series: | 18 |
| Creator: | John de Mol Jr. |
| Num Episodes: | 282 (lives shows) |
| 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]
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.
| Seasons | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Housemates | Winner | Presenter | Reporter | Opinionist | Direction | Location | Grand prize | Average viewers (in millions) | Average share | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| External | Social | Home | Study | Home | Study | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 14 September 2000 | 21 December 2000 | 99 | 10 | Cristina Plevani | none | none | Alessio Pollacci | ₤250,000,000[4] | 9.82 | 37.00% | ||||||
| 2 | 20 September 2001 | 20 December 2001 | 92 | 16 | 8.00 | 32.74% | |||||||||||
| 3 | 30 January 2003 | 8 May 2003 | 99 | Floriana Secondi | Fabio Calvi | €241,000[5] | 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 | €250,000 | 6.86 | 30.70% | ||||||||||
| 6 | 19 January 2006 | 27 April 2006 | 99[6] | 18 | Augusto De Megni | €900,000[7] | 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 | 21 | Mario Ferretti | Alfonso Signorini | 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[8] | 35 | Andrea Cocco | €300,000 | 5.43 | 23.55% | |||||||||
| 12 | 24 October 2011 | 1 April 2012 | 161[9] | 36 | Sabrina Mbarek | €240,000 | 3.85 | 17.40% | |||||||||
| 13 | 3 March 2014 | 26 May 2014 | 85 | 17[10] | Mirco Petrilli | Manuela Arcuri[11] | Cesare Cunaccia | €250,000 | 4.12 | 19.15% | |||||||
| Vladimir Luxuria[12] | |||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 24 September 2015 | 10 December 2015 | 78 | 19 | Federica Lepanto | Chiara Tortorella | €200,000 | 3.52 | 18.74% | ||||||||
| 15 | 17 April 2018 | 4 June 2018 | 49 | 17 | Alberto Mezzetti | none | Marco Fuortes | Alessio Pollacci | €100,000 | 3.88 | 23.25% | ||||||
| 16 | 8 April 2019 | 10 June 2019 | 64 | 19 | Martina Nasoni | 3.25 | 19.94% | ||||||||||
| 17 | 11 September 2023 | 25 March 2024 | 197 | 35 | Perla Vatiero | none | 2.44 | 18.59% | |||||||||
| 18 | 16 September 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
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.