Insiders is a Spanish reality television series hosted by Najwa Nimri. It premiered on Netflix on October 21, 2021.
Premise Thirteen contestants are gathered in a 1,600 square-meter studio under the guise of the final stage of the casting process for a reality show. What they do not know is that, in fact, they are already in the show: cameras are secretly filming them during all their stay in the area. The objective of this is to catch contestants off guard and make them confront the differences in their behavior between the times they know they are being filmed and the times they think they are not. The winner will earn a €100,000 prize.
Season 1 (2021) Contestants Name Age Hometown Occupation Entered Exited Result Nicole 27 Canary Islands Social media personality 1 7 Winner Laura 25 Madrid Graduate in Journalism 1 7 Runner-Up Olaya 21 Barcelona Luxury store salesperson 1 7 Third PlaceIván and Olaya's eliminations in the finale were announced at the same time without disclosing the full results; therefore, they are considered to be tied for third. Iván Molina 28 Valencia Professional poker player 1 7 Peter 26 Madrid Engineer and DJ 1 7 8th Eliminated Estefanía 29 Valencia Student 1 6 7th Eliminated Fama 26 Blanes Graduate in Physical Education 1 6 6th Eliminated Hugo 33 Madrid Cook 1 5 5th Eliminated Bárbara "Bibi" 25 Madrid Make-up artist 1 4 4th Eliminated / Fan Favourite Cynthia 24 Barcelona Graduate in Tourism 2 3 3rd Eliminated Query 35 Chipiona Hospital attendant and town councilman 1 3 2nd Eliminated Iván Míguez 33 Ibiza Restaurant manager 1 2 1st Eliminated Tatiana 28 Málaga Comedian 1 2 Fake contestantTatiana was later revealed to be an actress who was there to fool the contestants.
Results and elimination Casting Phase12 DaysStreaming Phase7 DaysEpisode 1Episode 2Episode 3Episode 4Episode 5Episode 6Episode 7FinalNicole Exempt Pass Pass Pass Peter Exempt NotEligible NotEligible FinalistWinner(Episode 7)Laura Exempt Pass Pass Pass Hugo NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible FinalistRunner-up(Episode 7)Iván Molina Exempt Pass Pass Pass Hugo NotEligible NotEligiblePeter FinalistThird Place(Episode 7)Olaya Exempt Pass Pass Pass Nicole NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible FinalistThird Place(Episode 7)Peter Exempt Pass Pass Pass Hugo Exempt NotEligible NotEligible Eliminated(Episode 7) LauraEstefanía Exempt Pass Pass Pass Nicole NotEligible NotEligible Eliminated(Episode 6) Iván MolinaFama Exempt Pass Pass Pass Hugo NotEligible Estefanía Eliminated(Episode 6) LauraHugo Exempt Pass Pass Pass Peter Fama Eliminated(Episode 5) NicoleBárbara Exempt Pass Pass Failed Eliminated(Episode 4) NicoleCynthiaNot inHouse Exempt Failed Eliminated(Episode 3) NicoleQuery Exempt Pass Failed Eliminated(Episode 3) NicoleIván Míguez Exempt Failed Eliminated(Episode 2) OlayaTatiana Exempt Left(Episode 2)EliminatedTatiana Fake contestantIván MíguezCommittee's choiceto eliminateQueryCommittee's choiceto eliminateBárbaraCommittee's choiceto eliminateHugo4 of 8 votesto eliminateFamaHugo's choiceto eliminateEstefaníaFama's choiceto eliminatePeterIván Molina's choiceto eliminate WinnerNicole4 of 8 votesto winFinalistLaura2 of 8 votesto winCynthiaCommittee's choiceto eliminateIván Molina1 of 8 votesto winOlaya1 of 8 votesto win
Season 2 (2022) During a press conference for Netflix's Spanish originals at the 2021 Vitoria FesTVal, Álvaro Díaz, Netflix Spain's director of non-fiction content, confirmed that a second season had already been filmed. Season 2 premiered on May 19, 2022. Laura and Peter from Season 1 returned as 'mole' contestants, trained by the show's crew for a special assignment.
Contestants Name Age Hometown Occupation Entered Exited Result Raquel Arias29MadridModelEpisode 1Episode 7 Winner Lorenzo34Ciudad RealGraphic designerEpisode 1Episode 7 Runner-Up Ainhoa "Nowa"29MéridaSocial workerEpisode 1Episode 7 Third Place Ramón30IbizaPrivate chefEpisode 1Episode 7 Fourth Place Marta25MadridHREpisode 1Episode 66th Eliminated Adán30SevilleBusinessmanEpisode 1Episode 65th Eliminated Tania35La RiojaStore clerkEpisode 1Episode 54th Eliminated Pablo29HuelvaEngineerEpisode 1Episode 33rd Eliminated Sofía25Santa CruzBusiness Administration studentEpisode 1Episode 32nd Eliminated Álex34MadridCommercial advisorEpisode 1Episode 21st Eliminated Laura25MadridGraduate in JournalismEpisode 1Episode 2Fake contestants Peter24MadridEngineer and DJEpisode 1Episode 4
Results and elimination Casting Phase12 DaysStreaming Phase7 DaysEpisode 1Episode 2Episode 3Episode 4Episode 5Episode 6Episode 7FinalRaquel Exempt Pass Pass Pass Lorenzo NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible FinalistWinner(Episode 7)Lorenzo Exempt Pass Pass Pass RamónTania NotEligible NotEligible FinalistRunner-up(Episode 7)Nowa Exempt Pass Pass Pass Adán NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible FinalistThird Place(Episode 7)Ramón Exempt Pass Pass Pass Lorenzo NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible FinalistFourth Place(Episode 7)Marta Exempt Pass Pass Pass Raquel NotEligible NotEligible NotEligible Eliminated(Episode 6) LorenzoAdán Exempt Pass Pass Pass TaniaTania NotEligible Marta Eliminated(Episode 6) RaquelTania Exempt Pass Pass Pass Adán NotEligible Adán Eliminated(Episode 5) NowaPeter Exempt Pass Pass Pass Left(Episode 4)Pablo Exempt Pass Failed Eliminated(Episode 3) RaquelSofía Exempt Pass Failed Eliminated(Episode 3) RaquelÁlex Exempt Failed Eliminated(Episode 2) LorenzoLaura Exempt Left(Episode 2)EliminatedLaura Fake contestantÁlexCommittee's choiceto eliminateSofíaCommittee's choiceto eliminatePeter Fake contestantLorenzo2 of 7 votesto fake evictTaniaLorenzo &Adán's choiceto eliminateAdánTania's choiceto eliminateMartaAdán's choiceto eliminate WinnerRaquel3 of 6 votesto winFinalistLorenzo2 of 6 votesto winPabloCommittee's choiceto eliminateAdán2 of 7 votesto fake evictNowa1 of 6 votesto winRamón0 of 6 votesto win
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (2021)
Season 2 (2022)
Critical reception Insiders was met with positive to mixed reviews in Spain, being hailed as a return to the essence of reality television. FormulaTV's Sergio Navarro compared the show to American television series Unreal, noting that it showed the crew plotting where the show was heading. "And it is thrilling to witness those private meetings, unbeknownst to the contestants, where you can see how they weave the twists and turns and how they come together to create an exciting program."
Bluper's Juan M. Fernández also picked up on the comparison to Unreal, while praising the decision to keep the runtime at an hour or less per episode: "It was about time that shows with episodes of no more than 50 minutes were done in this country. The show wins with it. More so with such outstanding music. Insiders cuts to the chase, gets right down to business."
Espinof's Mikel Zorrilla was less impressed, noting that the format becomes overcomplicated in its attempt to keep contestants and viewers alike on their toes: "Insiders wants to outsmart everyone, at once trying to retrieve something unique and to constantly surprise. The mixture is striking at first, but there is a point where everything turns out kind of random, leaving the show at a strange middle ground between the search for something real and the completely manufactured."
For similar reasons, Decider's Joel Keller advised readers to skip the show, concluding: "There’s a good reality competition somewhere within the convoluted format of Insiders. But the pains the producers take to keep their secret from the contestants makes it all about the conceit and not the contestants themselves."
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