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The contestants on the German version of Big Brother have now been told about the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the 14 housemates were among the only people in the country unaware of the Covid-19 outbreak, as producers had chosen to keep them entirely in the dark, in keeping with the show’s rule about not receiving any news from the outside world.

However, after a backlash on social media, it was decided the housemates should be told in a special live episode, which aired on German TV on Tuesday night.

Watch their reactions in the video below:

At the beginning of the episode, the housemates had the pandemic explained to them, including the scale of the outbreak and its symptoms, by Dr Andreas Kaniewski and the show’s host Jochen Schropp.

They were also shown a video montage, which included speeches from German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The contestants were then invited to ask the pair – who were seated behind a glass screen – any questions they had about the situation.

As the conversation continued, many of the housemates became emotional as they learned more about the severity of the situation.

The group was also shown video messages from their friends and families in the outside world, one of whom light-heartedly assured the group they were “probably in the safest place in Germany right now”, while another jokingly requested some toilet paper from the Big Brother house.

Although the British version of Big Brother ended in 2018 after 19 series, the reality format still exists all over the world, with several series airing right now. 

While the Australian version decided to tell housemates about coronavirus, contestants in Canada and Brazil are still in the dark about the situation.