Sonia Kruger reveals how the Big Brother housemates reacted after being told about coronavirus

Sonia Kruger says the Big Brother Australia housemates were completely floored after learning about the coronavirus pandemic. 

Appearing on Thursday’s Sunrise, Big Brother’s host Sonia confirmed that the housemates were made aware of COVID-19 last Friday, but the scene wasn’t filmed.    

Sonia said: ‘We advised the housemates last Friday. Our executive producer went into the house and spoke to them through the diary room – but it wasn’t filmed. 

‘She didn’t enter the house. She spoke to them through the diary room and answered all of their questions. They were shocked, as most people would be learning of this worldwide pandemic.’

She then revealed that the housemates had one particularly bizarre fear after hearing the news. 

‘They were really quite concerned to hear about the football codes- NRL and AFL, potentially not going ahead,’ she said. 

‘We’ve since learned that it will happen so we’ll give them that news and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled,’ she mused.   

Sonia confirmed that the housemates are being regularly updated about COVID-19 and had access to their families via a ‘wellness manager’.  

On Monday, an Endemol Shine spokesperson confirmed that producers were working hard at protecting the housemates from a coronavirus outbreak on set. 

Producers are taking the contestants’ health ‘extremely seriously’ and ‘working in line with current guidelines’ on television production, they said. 

Daily Mail Australia understands that production company Endemol Shine has limited the number of staff working on the show to allow for social distancing. 

Big Brother Australia, which is being pre-recorded this year for the first time in its history, began filming in Manly last month – before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.  

There have been 568 cases of coronavirus identified and six deaths in Australia as of Thursday morning – but more are expected in the coming days and weeks.