Big Brother is probably one of the oldest but also best-known reality shows in Germany. In the fifth season, Sascha Sirtl emerged as the winner and won a whopping million euros. But his huge winnings were quickly used up – but Sascha cannot be removed from the reality world.
With the fifth season, Big Brother broke new ground
The fifth season of the successful Big Brother format started in 2004. After the producers The concept had changed somewhat in previous seasonsfor example by setting up two areas (a luxury area and a barren area), they broke new ground with the 5th season.
Two different areas for the residents became three: the rich, the normal and the survivors. But the biggest highlight of the season was the running time. Because Big Brother ran for 365 days – a whole year. This was a big mental challenge for the residents. “You can’t pretend“Sascha Sirtl, the winner of the season, said afterwards. When he left the show as the winner after a year, he not only left the surveillance cameras behind him, but also took home a million euros in prize money.
When a million euros suddenly had to be taxed
Life changed suddenly for Sascha. With the million he has built a house for his motherbought an SUV and lent money to friends. He didn’t spend everything at once, but he wasn’t thrifty with his winnings either.
Then came the shock in 2012: after a court ruling Sascha Sirtl has to pay tax on his winnings. Because winning Big Brother is neither tied to luck nor is it a game. While you can keep a lottery winnings tax-free, Sascha had to pay a hefty additional tax.
Since Sascha Sirtl had won a whole million on Big Brother, he had to have one high six-figure amount pay. “I’m ruined“, he told the Bild newspaper at the time. He had to sell the status symbols he had acquired. How he was able to pay the horrendous repayment is still unclear today.
This is what the Big Brother star is doing today
But Sascha Sirtl can’t complain today. There is nothing left of his million-dollar winnings, but he lives happily with his partner Daniela Plamenova in Cologne.
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Sascha also tried her hand at being a reality star. Even before the fatal court verdict, he took took part in the 9th season of Big Brotherbut was abruptly voted out by the audience. In 2023 he was with his twin brother on Battle of the Reality Stars. He almost won there, but came a close second.
When will Big Brother continue?
Big Brother is currently not running, but a new season has been announced and is scheduled to air on February 24th at 7:15 p.m. The show will be broadcast on Joyn and sixx.