| Creator: | Charlie Parsons |
| Director: | Egidio Romio (2003–2012) Roberto Cenci (2015–2018, 2021–present) Paolo Riccadonna (2019) |
| Presenter: | Simona Ventura (2003–2008, 2010–2011) Nicola Savino (2011–2012) Alessia Marcuzzi (2015–2019) Ilary Blasi (2021–2023) Vladimir Luxuria (2024) |
| Country: | Italy |
| Company: | Banijay Italia |
| Network: | Rai 2 (2003–2008, 2010–2012) Canale 5 (2015–2019, 2021–2024) |
| Last Aired: | present |
| Num Seasons: | 17 |
| Related: | Expedition Robinson Survivor Spain Survivor U.S. |
L'isola dei famosi (pronounced as /it/; Italian for The Celebrity Island or The island of the famous) is an Italian reality show, first aired on Rai 2 in 2003, before moving to Canale 5 in 2015. This program is the Italian Survivor for celebrities.
The first eight seasons of the show, broadcast from 2003 to 2011, were aired on Rai 2 and hosted by Simona Ventura: after her departure in June 2011[1] to Sky Italia the program underwent a big change in the format; starting in the ninth season in 2012, the program had two new hosts, Nicola Savino in the studio of Rai 2 and former winner Vladimir Luxuria from the island; in 2015 both were replaced: Alessia Marcuzzi is the host in the studio, while Alberto "Alvin" Bonato is the host from the island. Alvin was replaced in 2017 by Stefano Bettarini, Ventura's former husband. Bettarini was replaced in 2018 by Stefano De Martino, former husband of Belén Rodríguez, therefore in 2019 De Martino was replaced by Alvin. Following the spread of COVID-19 in the winter of 2020, Mediaset decided to cancel this program due to social distancing rules; in 2021 Marcuzzi, as host in the studio, and Alvin, as host from the island, were replaced by Ilary Blasi and Massimiliano Rosolino.[2] Blasi in 2022 kept her position as host in the studio while Rosolino was replaced by Alvin, who came back, for the fourth time, as host from the island.[3]
L'isola dei famosi is the Italian version of the international format of Survivor, created by Charlie Parsons. In February 2001, a show with a very similar format, called Survivor, was aired on Italia 1 and hosted by two journalist of TG5, Benedetta Corbi (as host in the studio) and Pietro Suber (as host from the island), but this program failed in TV ratings and was cancelled after one season. The first three seasons of L'isola took place in the Dominican Republic on the Samaná Peninsula. The show moved from the 4th to 6th season to Cayos Cochinos, Honduras. Due to the 2009 Honduran coup, however, the 7th season of the show was held in the Corn Islands, Nicaragua only to return to Honduras from the 8th season.
In L'isola dei famosi, a group of celebrity competitors (and non-celebrity competitors as well, in certain seasons) must survive on a desert island with no facilities. Competitors must build shelter, procure food and water, and find ways to maintain warmth. Candidates have a basic survival kit which, through group efforts, can be enhanced with new objects. Once a week there is a challenge winner, determined through contests of skill, balance, strength, or other factors. The competitor(s) who wins the week's challenge becomes immune from the elimination: a live nomination takes place every week, in which competitors are gradually eliminated. The last remaining contenders compete for the final prize during the season finale. Usually a portion of the final prize is donated to charity. Note that each contestant is paid by the production based on how many weeks he/she participates in the reality show.
Seasons Network Presenter Launch date Finale date Episodes Days Opinionists Sent Castaways Director Prize Location Winner In the studio Connecting 1 Rai 2 Simona Ventura 19 settembre 2003 14 novembre 2003 9 57 Alfonso Signorini Pierluigi Diaco Selvaggia Lucarelli Not present Marco Mazzocchi 11 Egidio Romio €200,000 Samaná (Dominican Republic) Walter Nudo Andrea G. Pinketts Maria Venturi 2 17 September 2004[4] 19 novembre 2004 Luca Giurato Antonio Mazzi Massimo Caputi 13 Sergio Múñiz Aldo Biscardi Sandro Mayer Bruno Vespa Giada De Blanck 3 21 settembre 2005 16 November 2005 Antonella Elia 15 Lory Del Santo 4 13 September 2006 8 November 2006 Nicola Savino Michele Cucuzza Nancy Dell'Olio Paolo Brosio 19 Cayos Cochinos (Honduras) Luca Calvani Lory Del Santo Katia Ricciarelli Cesare Cadeo Elena Santarelli Alessandro Meluzzi Michela Rocco di Torrepadula Riccardo Rossi Antonio Mazza Fabio Canino Maria Giovanna Elmi Alba Parietti Platinette Alessandro Rostagno 5 19 September 2007 28 November 2007 11 71 Mara Venier Alfonso Signorini Sandro Mayer Francesco Facchinetti 18 Manuela Villa Gianluca Nicoletti Alda D'Eusanio 6 15 September 2008 24 November 2008 Luca Giurato Pamela Prati Filippo Magnini 23 Vladimir Luxuria 7 24 February 2010 5 May 2010 Adriano Aragozzini Antonia Dell'Atte Rossano Rubicondi 22 Corn Islands (Nicaragua) Daniele Battaglia Gabriella Sassone Pierluigi Diaco Rocco Barocco Monica Setta Claudio Lippi Nadège du Bospertus Andrea Pucci Cristiano Malgioglio Francesco Facchinetti 8 Simona Ventura[5] Nicola Savino[6] 14 February 2011 26 April 2011 72 Vladimir Luxuria Alba Parietti Daniele Battaglia Cayos Cochinos (Honduras) Giorgia Palmas 9 Nicola Savino 25 January 2012 5 April 2012 Diego Passoni Lucilla Agosti Laura Barriales Vladimir Luxuria 20 Antonella Elia Nina Morić Barbara De Rossi 10 Canale 5 Alessia Marcuzzi 26 January 2015[7] 23 March 2015 8 50 Mara Venier Alfonso Signorini Alvin 14 Roberto Cenci €100,000 Le Donatella (Giulia and Silvia Provvedi) 11 9 March 2016 9 May 2016 10 62 18 Giacobbe Fragomeni 12 31 January 2017 11 April 2017 11 73 Vladimir Luxuria Stefano Bettarini 14 Raz Degan 13 22 January 2018 16 April 2018 13 85 Mara Venier Daniele Bossari Gialappa's Band Stefano De Martino 20 Nino "Gaspare" Formicola 14 24 January 2019 1 April 2019 12 68 Alda D'Eusanio Alba Parietti Alvin 23 Paolo Riccadonna Marco Maddaloni 15 Ilary Blasi 15 March 2021 7 June 2021 22 85 Iva Zanicchi Elettra Lamborghini Tommaso Zorzi Not present Massimiliano Rosolino 26 Roberto Cenci Simone "Awed" Paciello 16 21 March 2022 27 June 2022 25 99 Nicola Savino Vladimir Luxuria Alvin 32 Nicolas Vaporidis 17 17 April 2023 19 June 2023 10 64 Enrico Papi 18 Marco Mazzoli 18 Vladimir Luxuria 8 April 2024 5 June 2024 14 59 Sonia Bruganelli Dario Maltese Elenoire Casalegno 24 Aras Şenol
| Season | Average Viewers | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6,357,000 | 26.98% | |
| 2 | 7,479,000 | 32.73% | |
| 3 | 7,643,000 | 35.25% | |
| 4 | 4,972,000 | 25.88% | |
| 5 | 5,207,000 | 23.75% | |
| 6 | 5,037,000 | 22.39% | |
| 7 | 4,391,000 | 19.94% | |
| 8 | 3,908,000 | 15.70% | |
| 9 | 3,574,000 | 14.52% | |
| 10 | 5,256,000 | 25.08% | |
| 11 | 4,270,000 | 22.39% | |
| 12 | 4,003,000 | 20.96% | |
| 13 | 4,456,000 | 24.07% | |
| 14 | 2,820,000 | 16.39% | |
| 15 | 3,067,000 | 18.30% | |
| 16 | 2,489,000 | 18.52% | |
| 17 | 2,515,000 | 19.51% |