Of
Alessio Di Sauro
The Milanese PR and the 25 years of the program: «I thought I would win and pocket the 250 million lire, but they ganged up against me. Casalino saw us longer and longer. In the house I spoke to the trees”
We are republishing Alessio Di Sauro’s interview with Roberta Beta, published in September, one of the most appreciated by our readers in 2025.
«I was the only contestant in the history of Big Brother to be nominated by all the others».
She put in the effort.
«They couldn’t stand me, after all the authors chose me precisely to create confusion. But just think that after 25 years there are still people who stop me to ask me if I won.”
But no, he didn’t win Roberta Betaand, at least according to statistics, it wasn’t even close. She was the second eliminated in the history of the show that a quarter of a century ago revolutionized the dogmas of TV and the customs of Italian society, and yet much more than others she proved to be at ease swimming in the media aquarium where each of the fish that were catapulted into it claimed their role in comedy: the obtuse-angled Sergio Volpini – copyright Gialappa’s Band -, the lifeguard Cristina Plevani, the bodybuilder and late Pietro Taricone; Rocco Casalino, who would earn the names – more than one – in the years to come. And then there was her. The pr, “the Milanese”, when it was doing well, “the unpleasant one”, when it was doing worse.
He is now 60 years old.
«But I remain the big sister for everyone».
Nail?
«It’s the title of my autobiography. It is in the libraries of the most prestigious universities in the world, from Oxford to Harvard.”
Nothing less.
«Big Brother was a planetary phenomenon».
Could he have imagined it?
“Never. Even in the house no one understood what was happening outside. The newspapers had the GF page, crazy stuff, but we were in a bubble, no one thought of becoming famous.”
And instead.
«The only one who understood that we were making a splash was Casalino. He always saw us longer.”
Pioneers, in your own way.
«For us it started by chance, we were without a network. In the summer I read in a magazine about this strange game inspired by Orwell’s 1984, my father was against it. I was already 35 years old, had experience in fashion, and worked in Milan in a public relations agency. The truth is that I thought I would win, pocket 250 million lire and reinvest it to start my own business.”
He kept it simple.
Already during the selection process it was complicated, when I got an audition the castings were almost closed. And then I had already participated in the Wheel of Fortune, so in theory I wouldn’t have been able to compete.”
One thing is clear though.
«At the interview the executive producer Giorgio Carnevali asked me if I was engaged. I told him no, but added that “I had a lover who lived on a sailing boat with a silver piranha around his neck.” It was the decisive card, they thought: “This will put them all in line”.
She put them in line for a short time, she only stayed in the house for 28 days.
“I would never have survived the full three months.”
The house, therefore.
«I still remember the smell, a mixture of carpet and overheated plastic from lights and cables. The chickens in the garden, the paddling pool.”
First impact?
“Appalling.”
For the cameras?
«No, those didn’t bother me. The problem is that I found myself talking to the trees.”
Excuse me?
«I had no point of contact with the other tenants, no topic of conversation. I was 10 years older than them, an adult, I came from Milan, from a cosmopolitan environment. They came from small towns, they were little more than boys. We literally didn’t know what to say.”
He passed for the snobbish Milanese.
«They formed a coalition, even though the regulations did not foresee conspiracies, they agreed to send me to the televote against Taricone, who was already very popular. Man against woman, north against south. He won.”
Taricone, the symbol.
«Pietro and I were the strongest personalities of that edition, by detachment».
And the others?
«No hard feelings, we also have a group chat. Liorni is also there, only Daria Bignardi is missing. Time is a gentleman, Salvo Veneziano also confessed it to me: “I don’t know how you managed to put up with us”. But he understands it now, at 50.”
The popularity was huge once it was out.
«Something scary in some ways, it was almost a robbery of freedom. I would wander the streets and get attacked like Madonna. But I wasn’t ready.”
It will have monetized.
«Little or nothing, I didn’t like going around opening supermarkets. Plus my son was born in 2002, he forced me to slow down just at the moment when I was very fast.” However, he worked on TV and radio.
But I refused to join the cast of Centovetrine, I avoided being represented by Lele Mora and I said no to Maria De Filippi, who wanted me to be a commentator on Men and Women. Huge opportunities thrown to the wind.”
She was a candidate in Rome with Marchini in the administrative elections, but it was a flop.
«It was a mistake, I let my ex-partner drag me along. They wanted me as a decoy, but I don’t care about politics.”
His Linkedin photo has the “Open to work” badge.
«I host my podcast on the history of theatre, “Su la mask”, it is my project and I am proud of it. Then of course, if the right call comes on the phone I will answer.”
Would you do the Gf again?
«Tomorrow too. But only for one million euros.”
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January 1, 2026
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