WHEN REALITY STRIKES REALITY TV

The German cast members of the Big Brother Show were among the last people in the world to find out about the coronavirus pandemic, after they were told about it on live TV.

In an episode broadcast Tuesday night, cast members were seen getting emotional and teary-eyed after they were shown a news segment catching them up on the spread of the virus over the past weeks.

As the host Jochen Schropp broke the news in the opening minutes of the evening show, many sat in silence with some mouthing “oh my God” to each other.

“It’s a bit like the flu, some people don’t have any symptoms so they don’t notice they have any kind of illness; with other people it’s similar to the flu,” he said, as translated by Twitter user Beth Dremond. “It’s particularly dangerous for older people, for sick people and so you don’t start worrying we’ve obviously spoken with your loved ones.”

He sat behind a glass screen with the show’s resident doctor, explaining that they did so to protect the contestants from contracting the virus.

After the news segment, the cast watched video messages taped by their relatives.

Their relatives attempted to keep the mood light, saying that the cast members are probably in the “safest place in Germany right now.”

Some jokingly asked if they could bring back some toilet paper.

The cast entered the house in the beginning of February, when most of the cases were still concentrated in China.

Episodes from Canadian Big Brother show the cast, unaware of outside events, discussing why they couldn’t hear a live audience during a recent episode.

“Unless the house is now sound-proofed,” said a resident.

“All of a sudden?” asked another.

The Canadian cast have since been told of the pandemic and, after being assessed for signs and symptoms as well as assured that their family members were fine, decided to remain in the house.