The Mole Returning to Italy

Mediaset has ordered the return of the Primitives format The Mole for Canale 5 in Italy, 14 years after it last aired in the country.

The reality competition format sees ten contestants travel to an unknown destination, where they must figure out who is secretly sabotaging their group efforts to carry out challenges or risk being eliminated. Fascino will produce the new Italian iteration.

The series, known locally as La Talpa, first broadcast on RAI1 in 2004, followed by two seasons on Italia 1 in 2005 and 2008. It is set to return in early 2023 on Canale 5.

The Mole originally launched in Belgium in 1998 and, distributed by Primitives, has since been produced in more than 20 countries. It currently runs on Play4 in Belgium, NPO1 in the Netherlands and MTV3 in Finland. A new series is also in production for Discovery+ in Sweden.

“The memory of La Talpa has never faded in Italy, and we are sure that the production quality and creativity of Fascino will be able to reinvigorate the format and bring it back to success,” said Massimo Porta, head of entertainment at RTI.

“We are so pleased that The Mole will relaunch in Italy next year,” added Simone de Pruyssenaere, director of sales and acquisitions at Primitives. “The format is a huge international success, and this proves that a 20-plus-year-old format can be very much alive. It’s breaking ratings records in Belgium and the Netherlands and really is one of those formats that doesn’t age. I’m convinced that the Italian audience will embrace the program again and will all join the hunt to discover the mole.”