Information about the coronavirus outbreak is hard to avoid, unless you’ve already been on lockdown for a different reason – like reality TV.

Did you know that Big Brother was still a thing? I didn’t.

I thought the show died out, along with the N’SYNC in the early to mid-2000s.

Anyway, Big Brother contestants may be the last people in the world to find out about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to TIME.

Big Brother began in the Netherlands in the late 1990s and has become a reality TV staple in numerous countries, including the United States. Versions of the show are currently airing in six countries and a season is also being taped in Australia to air at a later date.

The whole idea behind the show is to see what happens when people are isolated from the outside world, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t get any info about the global pandemic.

When the 18 contestants of the German edition of Big Brother began shooting the show in early February of this year, no massive shutdowns had been announced. CNN reports that this is what was happening when the show aired:

Germany had 13 confirmed cases of the virus. The United States had 12, and the United Kingdom just 3. Sporting events, concerts and social gatherings were continuing as normal, and much of the world’s population was blissfully unaware of the unprecedented crisis looming. And for the remaining participants in the long-running reality series, that’s how it has stayed.

Newer contestants were prohibited from speaking about the COVID-19 virus situation to those already cut off from the world.

However, after public backlash against the show’s decision to withhold information about the virus, some contestants in some countries were told about the status of the global coronavirus pandemic.

We’re still waiting for the footage of that dropped bomb to air.

Other versions of the show, like the Canadian Big Brother, have already told the cast about the situation. Hand sanitiser has even begun to feature in some episodes.

On a positive note, Big Brother contestants can rest easy knowing that they have been safely quarantined for the duration of filming.

There’s a lot more incentive, I would imagine, to not get voted out of the house.

[sources:time&cnn]