''Big Brother 1999'' is the first season of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

version of ''Big Brother'', and also served as the debut season of the '' Big Brother franchise''. The show ran between September 16 and December 30, 1999 for a total of 106 days and was broadcast by the Dutch television channel Veronica. The specially built house was located at a factory-site in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

and presented by

Rolf Wouters Rolf Wouters (born 23 April 1963) is a Dutch television presenter. Before his career as a television presenter, Wouters worked in advertising man and was actor in the film Flodder. Wouters has not been active on TV since 2005 and has lived in Po ...

and

Daphne Deckers Daphne Muriël Deckers (born 10 November 1968) is a Dutch television presenter, writer and occasional actress. In 1989 she started her career at RTL-Véronique, where she eventually became the host of ''Holland's Next Top Model'', which she too ...

Development

The program was an instant hit and experienced exceptionally high ratings. Viewers and stream-watchers of

internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

FOK! alike were fascinated by the

boredom In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occu ...

and the

group dynamics Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision- ...

of the nine housemates. Brabant-born Ruud was considered to be the

alpha male In biology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social groups interact, creating a ranking system. A dominant higher-ranking individual is som ...

of the little

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

. This

Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following: *Someone or something from Burgundy. *Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...

became the darling of the public with his often repeated oneliners and his simple

philosophies Philosophical schools of thought and philosophical movements. A Absurdism - Action, philosophy of - Actual idealism - Actualism - Advaita Vedanta - Aesthetic Realism - Aesthetics - African philosophy - Afrocentrism - Agential realism - ...

in the diary room. His

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

was the Frisian Willem, who took up the role of house

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

. Hotly debated was the relation between the leading female,

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

Karin (who had recently been cured of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

), and her much younger '

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

' Maurice. Also much talked about was a sex-scene between youngsters Bart and Sabine. The long-awaited action under the blankets was captured by the night-vision cameras in the bedroom. The first-ever evicted housemate was Martin, who also vied for Sabine's attention and had accused Bart of being

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He was voted out with 30% of the vote with Bart being a close second. The first-ever voluntary exit was for young Tara, who left after only nine days because of boredom. Much maligned was

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

-born intruder Mona, who took her place. In the end, Willem betrayed his friend Ruud in the nominations, and

Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...

became the first-ever winner of ''Big Brother''. He has won ƒ250,000. During the season the housemates were visited by artists George Baker,

Marco Borsato Marco Roberto Borsato (; born 21 December 1966) is a Dutch singer. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, he started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He has consistently been one of the most successful and biggest grossing artist ...

and Anouk. After they had left the house, both Tara and Sabine obtained photoshoots in the Dutch

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

. The communally recorded song ''Big Brother'' and the tune ''Leef'' (Han van Eijk) reached number one in the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

Housemates

Anouk

Anouk Drost was a 22-year-old account management student from

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

. She entered on Day 48 and was evicted on Day 70.

Bart

Bart Spring in 't Veld Bart Spring in 't Veld (born 18 September 1976 in Roelofarendsveen) is a Dutch television producer and the first winner of Big Brother in the world: in 1999 he won the first Big Brother in the Netherlands. Ever since then, he has been trying to ...

was the first winner of Big Brother in the world. He was 22 when he entered and he was from

Roelofarendsveen Roelofarendsveen is a town in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Kaag en Braassem, South Holland, about 10 km east of Leiden. History The village was first mentioned in 1575 as "Roelifaerts Veen", and means "b ...

Bianca

Bianca Plune was a 25-year-old civil servant from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. She entered on Day 1, and walked on Day 43 in exchange for 10,000 Guilder.

Cyrille

Cyrille van Hoof was a singer and dancer from

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

. She was 26 when she entered the house. She was evicted on Day 56 and entered on Day 48 with Anouk.

Karin

Karin van Elswijk was 39 years old and was the oldest female in the house. She was a housewife from

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

. She was the last remaining female and was evicted on Day 99.

Martin

Martin was the first-ever evictee in Big Brother. He was a 32-year-old company owner from

Spijkenisse Spijkenisse () is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the municipality of Nissewaard, and has a population of 72,500. It covers an area of of which is water. It is part ...

Maurice

Maurice was always struggling with ping pong, widely believed to be the main reason to be ousted early on the show.

Mona

Mona Rooth-de Leeuw was a 29-year-old barwoman from

. She replaced Tara on Day 15 and she took a 10,000 Guilder bribe from Big Brother on Day 43.

Ruud

Ruud Benard was a 44-year-old sport masseur from

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. He was the oldest housemate in the house and made it to the final, finishing second.

Sabine

Sabine Wendel was a 25-year-old saleswoman from

. She was the second to be evicted on Day 36.

Tara

Tara van den Bergh was a 20-year-old police constable from

. She became the first person ever to walk away. Tara left on Day 10 due to being bored.

Willem

Willem Boomsma was a 37-year-old cook from

Lemmer Lemmer () is a town in the municipality of De Fryske Marren, in the Dutch province of Friesland. Lemmer lies adjacent to the IJsselmeer and the Frisian Lakes and is one of Friesland's best-known surface water sports locations. Lemmer is a bustlin ...