Big Brother 2021 is the first cooperation season of the Dutch and Belgian version of Big Brother. It is the seventh regular version of Big Brother in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The show is broadcast on RTL 5 in the Netherlands and VIER (the channel rebranded as Play4 on 28 January 2021) in Belgium beginning on 3 January 2021. Live streams are available 24/7 on Videoland for Dutch viewers and on VIER(later GoPlay.be) and Telenet for Belgian viewers.
On 7 June 2020, it was announced by RTL that there would be a new Dutch season of Big Brother after an absence of 14 years to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Big Brother ever. On 23 July 2020, it was announced that it would be a cooperation with Belgian broadcaster SBS België, making it the first cooperated Big Brother season with housemates from both Netherlands and Belgium and the first Belgian season in 13 years.
Geraldine Kemper and Peter Van de Veire are co-hosts of the show. The show began airing on 4 January 2021. Eight housemates entered the house on launch night on New Year's Eve, 31 December 2020. The reception of the premiere episode of the season - "De Start" was successful, with more than 1.3 million viewers in the Netherlands and over 500,000 viewers in Belgium.
The final was on 8 April 2021 and the winner was Jill Goede. There was some controversy because the voting websites crashed because of high demand during the final vote. The bailiff declared the winner consulting the last intermediate score. The final was watched by 488.000 viewers in the Netherlands and 401.062 viewers in Belgium. The Belgian broadcaster Play4 called the season a modest hit with 378.00 daily viewers and 10 million views at the website. A new season was teased during the final.
Production
Format Big Brother 2021 followed the same format as the previous season of the program. Housemates lived in isolation from the outside world in a custom-built house for a period of 100 days, hoping to be the last one to leave the house as the winner, and walk away with a large cash prize.
Concept Producers of the reality show called the comeback of the show a necessity in times where reality was filtered, enhanced and changed by social media. The show states that it would expose the housemates like they truly are. During the show Big Brother shared messages, pictures or videos posted by the housemates on their personal social media before their stay in the house with all the housemates.
This season was a reintroduction of Big Brother in both Netherlands and Belgium, it was again promoted as a social experiment.
Broadcasts The premiere show is known as De Start (lit. The Start) was pre-recorded on the evening of 31 December 2020 and simultaneously broadcast on RTL 4 and RTL 5 in the Netherlands, VIER on Belgium on 4 January 2021. The show aired from Monday to Friday with the live show on Thursday night.
During the live shows, there were experts who gave their views about the interactions in the house. These experts were psychologist Kas Stuyf, sexologist Lotte Vanwezemael and social media expert Diederik Broekhuizen.
House A new house was built in Amsterdam, next to the Johan Cruyff Arena at a parking lot of Endemol Shine Nederland in a few months. It was a 300 m2 House and had 125 cameras installed (100 indoor cameras and 25 outdoor cameras) and 39 speakers.
Changes Unlike in previous Big Brother seasons, there were changes to minimise controversies that occasionally happen on the Big Brother series. Firstly, during the house tour, it was announced that the cameras in the showers would only be used if it was needed for character or interaction progress and not for voyeurism. Additionally, there was a change in the sexual activity that happens inside the Big Brother house. The rule was made between the producer and the housemates, in which the housemates are allowed to have sex with each other only if both housemates show their thumbs up towards the camera. The housemates can only receive beer and wine in small quantities on special occasions or weekends. The production team hopes that this will prevent untoward incidents that eventually cause problems later from happening in the house.
Impact of COVID-19 Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, contestants had to be in quarantine ten days before entering the house. Each housemate was tested four times before participation. Since the housemates had tested negative for COVID-19, they could form a household and did not need to practice social distancing, following the COVID-19 regulations in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Housemates Despite the announcement that fourteen housemates would enter the house on launch night, it was revealed on 28 December 2020 that during the launch night, only four housemates from the Netherlands and four housemates from Belgium will enter the house. Name Age Occupation Country Residence Day entered Day exited Status Jill Goede 22 Cabin crew trainee Landsmeer 9 99 Nick Kraft 30 Driver and DJ Morkhoven 3 99 Liese Luwel 28 Nurse Halen 1 99 Michel Hennipman 36 Navy veteran Maarssen 20 97 Julie Vanderzijl 34 Daycare owner Affligem 20 92 Naomi Timmerman 31 Biologist and vegan lunch bar employee Mechelen 1 85 Matt Herrijgers 19 Event manager and DJ Zundert 36 75 Zoey Hasselbank 29 DJ Schaerbeek 9 71 Mike Voets 28 Advisor Veghel 37 64 Thomas Nagels 23 Commercial advisor Etterbeek 1 57 Jerrel Baumann 25 Make-up artist Amstelveen 36 50 Patrick Van Staeyen 59 Shop owner Schoten 20 43 Daniëlle Dielemans 40 Teacher Made 1 31 Jowendrick "Jowi" Maduro 25 Student The Hague 1 31 Nathalie Eling 23 Student Groningen 1 31 Els Trollmann 57 Team leader at driving school Dronten 3 29 René Lubbers 29 ICT consultant Hoorn 9 22 Theo Sijtzema 54 DIY company owner Amsterdam 1 15 Zakaria "Ziko" Ouchchen 34 Choreographer Lokeren 1 8
Non-chosen candidates After the voluntary exits of Daniëlle, Jowi and Nathalie, the production decided to put new housemates into the house. On Day 32, mysterious pictures of five candidates appeared on the screen inside the house. On Day 34, more additional information about the five candidates revealed to the housemates. On Day 35, Big Brother calls the housemates to the living room and played voice introductions from the five candidates. A photo of each candidate also appears. During the live show on Day 36, the five candidates were finally introduced to the viewers. Housemates had to choose two candidates they like to see entering the house, they were Jerrel and Matt. Unbeknown to the other housemates, the third new housemates would be decided by the viewers among Jeroen, Mike and Mona. On the morning of Day 37, it was revealed that Mike was the third new housemate and entered the house.
Name Age Occupation Country Residence Jeroen van Beek 51 Gym owner Mona Jackson 23 None; Recently graduated Breda
Twist Prize money In this season, housemates were required to do several tasks every week. These tasks were known as "secret mission", "challenge" or "weekly tasks". If the housemate(s) completed, they earned prize money for the winner of this season.
Current total amountTaskWorthResultIncreased/decreasedWeek 1€0(Initial) Secret mission for Liese. €5,000 Weekly task for Daniëlle and Jowi. €4,000 Secret mission for Liese. €5,000 Week 2 €7,000 Endurance challenge for housemates in duos.+ Duos• Theo and Els€1,000• Jowi and Nathalie€2,000• Rene and Naomi€3,000• Daniëlle and Liese€4,000• Zoey and Nick€5,000 Week 3 €11,000 Challenge for Nick. €1,500 Challenge for housemates.+ Worth of balls• Golden ball€?x2• Pink ball€10• Black ballBankrupt Week 4 €16,760 Challenge for Jowi and Zoey. €1,500 Week 5€17,310 Dance marathon of 10 hours for housemates. €5,000 Three options for individuals+ Options1. Knowing why their fellow housemates nominated them./2. Receive a personal item.Deduct €1003. Receive a personal video message from home.Deduct €250 Week 6 €20,960 Weekly task for all housemates.+ • Pink box€50• Purple box€100• Blue box€500 If a box hit the ground, then that box worth nothing. Week 7 €24,060 Puzzel challenge for all housemates. €4,000 each puzzel A joint artwork challenge for all housemates except nominees A work of art by the viewer. Week 8 €32,560 10-hour long challenge for all housemates. €12.50 per minute a housemate holds the weight for more than half an hour. Maximum: €7,125 • The weight falls or made an error in the "Twister" game.Deduct €250• The housemate cannot survive half an hour.Deduct €500 Week 9€36,297.50 Domino challenge for males and females each. €2,000 per team. If domino falls, then it worth €0. Task for female housemates. €1,500 Week 10 €41,797.50 Challenge for all housemates. €12,000- €500 per wrong answer Week 11 €50,297.50 Dilemma on Day 75 Estimate the chances of reaching the final.The first to agree to leave the house today will receive money from the prize money.€15,000 Phone connection challenge for all housemates. €9,000 but the counter continuing decrease until the connection is established.Bonus: a voicemail message for one housemate. Week 12 €37,497.50 Mission for Jill and Julie in the White Room in 27 hours. Ride an electric bicycle. €30 per kilometer. Five secret missions for Naomi. €500 per mission. Answer ten questions about stories told by former housemates. €100 per right answer. Week 13 €49,197.50 Housemates had to simultaneously play two games. €3,000 Challenge for all housemates The first to finish earns €250, the second earns €500, the third earns €750, the fourth earns €1,000 and the fifth earns €2,500 A foam party Various Week 14 €58,157.50 Challenge for ex-housemate Matt. €1,000 Challenge for ex-housemate Naomi. €1,000 Blindfold play for Jill and Liese. €10,000 Total €70,405.50
Caretaker & house rules
Every week, the viewers decided who became the Caretaker (). The Caretaker can't be nominated for eviction, they can create three house rules for that week and have to manage the grocery budget. Week Caretaker Caretaker's house rules 1 Jowi 2 Thomas Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the person may only drink water for the rest of the week. 3 Nick Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the person should do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups in the middle of the group. 4 Liese Penalty rule: If the house rules are not properly or correctly observed, a penalty will follow: take a dip in the hot tub. 5 Naomi Penalty rule: If someone does not follow the rules, they must read a Big Brother poem of at least 10 lines to the whole house. 6 Jill Penalty rule: Every time you go to the bathroom, give each one a high five first. 7 Zoey Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the person will receive a cold shower in the middle shower with clothes. 8 Mike Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is sleeping outside the bedroom on a folding bed. 9 colspan="2" 10 Julie Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is one minute of planks in the garden. 11 Nick Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is the person must prepare breakfast for everyone. Big Brother changed rule #1: Get up every morning with a polonaise. This rule was voted by the viewers. 12 Michel Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is to do 25 burpees. 13 rowspan="2" Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is to sleep outside on a folding bed. 14 Penalty rule: If the rules are not followed, the penalty is to do the polonaise in the morning and unexpectedly at night.
Immunity token