Ananova :

Producers of versions of Big Brother around the world have decided to stick to their rule forbidding participants from learning about anything outside the house.

Only the Netherlands, where the show originated, made an exception for the 18 contestants in the Dutch house.

But producers in Belgium, Denmark and South Africa say they will probably inform the house if a war was to start.

"This is such a great disaster, it has so much influence on society, that we decided to break the rules and tell people," said Endemol Netherlands spokeswoman Sammy Saal. "They have a right to know what happened."

But in Belgium, a psychologist for the Big Brother producers advised against letting the 12 people in the house know, said Kristina Vanhaute, spokeswoman for Belgium's Kanaal 2.

"It's one of the basic themes in 'Big Brother' that they have no contact with what is happening outside of the house," she said. "If you show them these images, you immediately create a panic situation because they won't know how things will evolve."

She said the producers checked with contestants' families to make sure that no one inside the house had ties to victims of the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

As contestants are voted off the show, which began on September 3 in Belgium and runs until mid-December, they will be informed about the attacks by a psychologist, she said.

Big Brother in South Africa also checked with families before deciding not to tell their contestants.

Eric Engesgaard, spokesman for the Danish show, said the producers there also had concern about the emotional impact of the images. "There could be some sensationalism in breaking our promise and informing the people inside the house to see how they react," he said.

Story filed: 16:02 Friday 14th September 2001

• Big Brother
• South Africa
• Denmark
• Belgium
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• US terror attacks
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