The Red Door opens again and this time Big Brother chooses to do so by bringing together some of the faces who have written the history of Italian reality, contestants who know the dynamics of television very well and a younger generation who grew up among social networks, dance, fashion and new formats. Big Brother VIP 9 returns in prime time on Canale 5ninth edition of the celebrity version of the reality show, with Ilary Blasi back to management and Cesara Buonamici and Selvaggia Lucarelli confirmed in the role of commentators. In total they will be 18 competitors called to live under the cameras.
The program, produced by Endemol Shine Italy, also starts with a particularly intense television week: after the debut on Thursday 17 September, a second appointment is scheduled for Saturday 19, while the following week the reality show will return on Monday 21 and Friday 25 September. The studio has also been completely renovated, while the central mechanism remains the one that has accompanied the format since its birth: coexistence, tests, televoting and a final prize money for the winner, the amount of which has not been specified in the official communications released so far.
Big Brother began before the first episode
The real departure, in reality, took place two days before the television debut. On Tuesday 15 September, four competitors crossed the Red Door early thanks to theOpen Housea sort of prologue to the edition broadcast in streaming on Mediaset Infinity, designed to show the public the very first hours of coexistence before the entry of the rest of the cast.
The House was inaugurated Carmen Di Pietro, Jonathan Kashanian, Piera Meloni and Alessandro Varsiimmediately involved in the first test of the season. Francesca Manzini joined them, tasked with preparing a choreography with them, the outcome of which will be decided by the public during the debut episode on 17 September. A departure that allows the reality show to create dynamics even before the Canale 5 live broadcast officially turns the spotlight on the new edition.
Ilary Blasi returns to the center of Big Brother
For Ilary Blasi this is the fifth edition at the helm of Big Brother VIP, a return that also brings together the television trio with Cesara Buonamici and Selvaggia Lucarelli. The two commentators will have the task of reading and commenting on what will happen in the House, in an edition that already from the composition of the cast brings together personalities with very different television experiences.
On the one hand there are in fact competitors who know the Big Brother machine perfectly and, in some cases, have marked entire seasons of it; on the other hand come models, dancers, creators and characters who for the first time are confronted with a coexistence continuously observed by cameras. It is precisely this meeting between the memory of the format and new television and social languages that characterizes the group chosen for 2026.
Alex Belli returns to the House
Among the returns inevitably destined to attract attention is that of Alex Belliactor and model who became popular with CentoVetrine and already a competitor on Big Brother VIP in 2021. That participation transformed him into one of the absolute protagonists of the season, especially for the relationship built in the House with Soleil Sorge and for the consequences that that closeness had on his marriage to Delia Duran.
Since then Belli’s private life has changed profoundly: in March 2026 he and Delia Duran became parents of little Gabriel. His return to the House therefore comes five years after his previous participation and in a completely different personal phase.
Marina La Rosa and Jonathan Kashanian, Big Brother returns to its origins
The connection with the history of the program is even more evident through two names. Marina La Rosa in fact, she belongs to the first ever generation of Italian Big Brother: in 2000 she was one of the contestants in the historic first edition, the one that transformed reality TV into a television and cultural phenomenon. Over the years he continued to work between television and acting, he participated inIsland of the Famous in 2019 and today he returns to the House more than a quarter of a century after his television debut.
Jonathan Kashanianhowever, not only does he know the programme, but he has already won it: he won the fifth edition of Big Brother in 2004. Having graduated as a stylist and then became a television face and fashion expert, in 2018 he also took part inIsland of the Famous. Twenty-two years after that victory he therefore returns to the place that began his public career.
Valeria Marini, Carmen Di Pietro and Guendalina Tavassi: the reality TV veterans
If there is a language of reality TV, Valeria Marini he probably knows him better than almost all the other contestants. Showgirl, actress and historical leading lady of Bagaglino, over the years she has taken part in numerous formats, fromIsland of the Famous to Temptation Island VIPuntil Supervivientes in Spain. Even the Big Brother House is not at all unknown to her: she has entered it several times as a competitor or guest and the last appearance dates back to the spring of 2026.
Also Carmen Di Pietro comes with a very long TV CV. Showgirl born in Potenza, participated in theIsland of the Famous in 2004 and again in 2022 and had already entered the Big Brother VIP universe. This time she was also chosen to inaugurate the Open House, becoming one of the first four contestants to enter the House.
Completes the group of great reality TV connoisseurs Guendalina Tavassiwho became famous thanks to Big Brother in 2010. She later participated twice inIsland of the Famousin 2012 and 2022, on the second occasion together with his brother Edoardo. For her too, therefore, 2026 is a sort of return to her television origins.
Giulia Provvedi returns without her sister Silvia
Another return concerns Giulia Provvedihalf of the duo Le Donatella together with her twin Silvia. The two made themselves known to X Factor in 2012, they won theIsland of the Famous in 2015 participating as the only competitor and in 2018 they entered the Big Brother VIP House together.
Eight years later, however, Giulia will cross the Red Door alone. It is a significant difference compared to his first experience on the program, in which the symbiotic relationship with his sister inevitably constituted a fundamental part of his television presence.
Simone Annicchiarico and Moreno Morello, two television faces outside their usual environment
Among the most recognizable competitors for the general public is Simone Annicchiaricoson of Walter Chiari and Alida Chelli and presenter known above all for the editions of Italy’s Got Talent. Born in 1970, he has a long television experience behind him and in 2024 he was a competitor on Such and Such Showwhile Big Brother represents a different experience for him compared to the programs that made him popular.
Another interesting entrance is that of Moreno Morellofor years one of the most instantly recognizable faces of The news spreadswhere since 2004 he has mainly dealt with scams and scams wearing his famous white suit. Before television he studied law, practiced athletics and was also a football referee; now it will be him, accustomed to telling others in front of the camera, to live constantly under the eyes of the public.
Andreas Müller, Megan Ria and Giancarlo Danto: dance enters the House
The component linked to dance is also very strong. Andreas Müllerborn in Germany and raised in the Marche region, won Friends in 2017 and subsequently worked as a dancer and choreographer. He has been married since 2025 to Veronica Peparini, with whom he had twins Penelope and Ginevra in 2024.
From the world of Friends also comes Megan Riaborn in 2005, dancer who appeared on television when she was very young and subsequently starred in music videos, including Tribal by Elodie. In 2022 she entered the school of Friendswhile more recently he has continued to work as a performer.
To complete the trio there is Giancarlo Dantodancer and performer originally from the province of Messina, who in turn passed through the dance troupe of Friends and then from programs like Hi Darwin And You are worth it.
Federica Morello and Michelle Masullo, between music, fashion and television
Federica Morello31 years old, arrives in the House as a dancer and DJ. Before dedicating herself completely to the world of entertainment she worked as a kindergarten teacher, while on television she was also the first woman in the dance troupe of Hi Darwin.
Music and fashion are also part of the path of Michelle Masulloalso known artistically as Mixelle. Born in 1999, she is a model and DJ and is professionally and personally linked to Jo Squillo, who she considers a sort of elective mother. His television journey includes experiences such as No sooner said than done, The Legacy And The Good Time.
The social generation: Piera Meloni, Alessandro Varsi and Giacomo Gallani
A part of the cast instead looks directly at the generation that grew up through social media. Piera Meloniborn in 2003 and originally from Sardinia, is a creator active above all in the beauty, fashion and lifestyle sectors and also hosts a musical radio program together with Numero Verde, the stage name of Andrea Cioffi. She is one of four contestants who entered the House early through the Open House.
He has already entered with her Alessandro Varsialso born in 2003, of Neapolitan and Colombian origins. He lives near Rome, works with his brother in the restaurant business and the public has already seen him in Too Hot to Handle Italy.
Giacomo Gallani he is instead a Roman model who lives between Rome and Dubai. He studied Economics and Management and worked in the world of fashion, combining this path with an activity on social media linked above all to fashion, fitness and lifestyle.
Alessandro Roncaccia completes the 18 competitors
Finally, it’s in the cast Alessandro Roncaccia25 years old, described in the official presentation as sporty, fun-loving and with an “old school” soul. For him, as for several of the younger faces of the edition, Big Brother represents above all the entry into a television dimension in which the public does not just observe a performance or content created for social media, but a prolonged coexistence.
The 18 contestants of Big Brother VIP 2026
The official cast is therefore composed of Alex Belli, Guendalina Tavassi, Jonathan Kashanian, Alessandro Roncaccia, Federica Morello, Carmen Di Pietro, Moreno Morello, Michelle Masullo, Simone Annicchiarico, Marina La Rosa, Megan Ria, Giacomo Gallani, Andreas Müller, Giancarlo Danto, Valeria Marini, Piera Meloni, Alessandro Varsi and Giulia Provvedi. A group in which former winners, characters who return to the House after many years, reality TV veterans and new faces mainly coming from dance, fashion and social networks coexist.
What begins on September 17th is therefore an edition which, at least in the initial composition, chooses not to erase the memory of Big Brother but to use it as part of the show, bringing back into the House contestants who belong to very different eras of Italian television and placing them alongside those who knew that television when social media had already become the main tool for building notoriety. The rest, as always, will begin when the Red Door really closes behind them and the presentations leave room for coexistence.
