Big Brother VIP, also known as Big Brother Albania VIP or Big Brother VIP Albania, is a reality television spin-off series of the Albanian version of Big Brother Albania, based on the Dutch show Big Brother and created by producer John de Mol.[1] The first season premiered on 5 October 2021 on Top Channel, hosted by Arbana Osmani.[2] The show follows a number of celebrity contestants, known as housemates, who are isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built house. Each week, one of the housemates is evicted by a public vote, with the last housemate remaining winning a cash prize of €100,000. Ballet dancer Ilir Shaqiri was announced as the first winner of Big Brother VIP in the show's final episode on February 18, 2022.
Unlike the original version, the live shows or live eviction shows, of the celebrity version, were seen every Tuesday and Friday on Top Channel. Also in the same channel, from Monday to Saturday on afternoon was seen the daily summary, for one hour. Like the original version, every Sunday was covered in a spin-off series with the name Big Brother VIP - Fans' Club.
Due to satisfactory ratings of the first season, Top Channel announced a second season of Big Brother VIP, which will begin airing on December 2022, after the end of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[3][4]
In September 2017, it was rumored that Top Channel had decided to start the celebrity version after the success of the original version.[5] The show was confirmed for its first season in early January 2018 with a trailer along with the renewals of The Voice Kids Albania.[6] However, plans for production were never officially released until 2021, where on 17 May 2021, Top Channel announced that the season would air later in the year, after a four-year hiatus from the original version. They also announced that applications were open to all Albanian celebrities.[7]
The celebrity version of the show was expected to start during the 2017–2018 television season.[8] In 2019, Top Channel announced that Big Brother would come back for the 2019–2020 television season in Albania, but they didn't say if will be an original or a celebrity version.[9][10] On 12 August 2021, Top Channel confirmed that the season would air in October 2021.[11] On 30 September 2021, Top Channel announced that the show will begin airing on 5 October 2021.[12] The show was originally scheduled to last 100 days, with the finale on 11 January 2022. However, due to satisfactory ratings, the show was extended by over one month, making it 137 days long and with the finale on 18 February 2022.[13]
The first trailer of the show premiered on 29 January 2018 and read "...It's hard, being a VIP! They deserve to relax! And where is the VIP resort?! Big Brother Vip ... coming soon only on Top Channel."[14] Top Channel released in August 2021, a trailer and read "We have been told that you miss him." and at the end of the trailer we hear Arbana Osmani telling "Returns soon to Top Channel.".[15]