'Big Bro' leaves players in dark

Reality show contestants uninformed of tragedy

By ERICH BOEHM

LONDON -- It is hard to believe that anyone in the world does not know about last week's events, but it has emerged that the producers of "Big Brother" in Denmark, Belgium and South Africa have withheld the news from the reality show's contestants.

The program is currently on air in four countries, and only in Holland were the contestants informed of the tragedy.

Part of the "Big Brother" premise is that the house's inhabitants receive no information on what is going on in the outside world.

The Danish producers said it would be sensationalism to tell them what happened and then observe their reaction. The Belgian and South African producers asked the families of the contestants how they should proceed.