70,000 applied, 17 got in, but there was only one: Alida Kurras (46) won the second season of “Big Brother” almost 23 years ago. How has your life changed since then?
New Year’s Eve 2000. Shortly before everyone popped the corks and rockets, Alida-Nadine Kurras celebrated. She prevailed in the final of the second season of “Big Brother” after 106 days of “television prison” against “Big” Harry Schmidt and Frank Röthen and received the prize money. That was – that’s how long ago it was – 250,000 German marks. The youngest person in the container, who was 23 at the time, showed everyone and even beat out such eccentric competitors as Christian “Nominator” Möllmann and “Hexe” Hanka Rackwitz.
Things have now become very quiet around Alida. But there is a sad reason for that.
As a presenter, Alida Kurras set a world record
After the triumph, the victorious container nestling also tried to further increase its popularity. Others, like Zlatko and Jürgen, the stars from season one, recorded singles. Alida preferred to start as a presenter at 9Live. As such, she even set a world record in September 2003 that is still valid today. She moderated the longest television quiz in the world for a total of 52 hours and 45 minutes, taking turns with four colleagues.
At 9Live she also met Frank William Lauenstein. She fell in love with the then program director and married him in 2006. They divorced in 2010. Although Alida repeatedly appeared as a presenter or guest on later “Big Brother” seasons, things became increasingly quiet around her. She is currently regularly in front of the camera for the teleshopping channel Channel 21. “I’ve been able to experience and achieved so much that I’m really satisfied”she revealed in an RTL interview in May 2023.
Because of her father’s serious illness, Alida withdrew
There is another reason why she stepped away from the spotlight and avoided industry events. Her father became ill. “Due to my father’s illness, who was seriously ill with cancer, I withdrew completely,” said Alida, who became the mother of a daughter in 2018, in an interview with RTL. “In moments like this you learn that other things are more important than hopping around in the media. That completely overshadowed everything else for me.”
Kurras spent many intensive hours with her sick father, with whom she was “one heart and soul”. “We were allowed to clarify everything. I was allowed to tell him everything. We spent an incredibly intense time dealing with this illness and enjoyed every day,” she said in the RTL interview. But a happy ending was not possible: her father died at the end of 2021, aged just 69.
Alida Kurras: Is there a comeback on the floor?
She no longer has anything to do with reality TV – which once made her so famous that she caused fainting spells and traffic jams at autograph sessions – but she does think back to her “Big Brother” days with gratitude: “My life would be different otherwise I’m eternally grateful.” But today, she told RTL, she would no longer want to take part in any reality show.
Although, an exception would be conceivable: “The only thing I would maybe do again would actually be ‘Let’s Dance’,” she admitted in the interview. “I think this show is sensational.”
The post first appeared on www.prosieben.de