The Mole is a reality television game show which was originally created in 1999 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT in Belgium. It was conceived by Michiel Devlieger, Bart de Pauw, Tom Lenaerts and Michel Vanhove, and won the famous Rose d'Or in Montreux, Switzerland, in 2000. The format has been licensed in 40 countries from all around the world.
Players in The Mole must work together to complete various physical and mental challenges to build up a significant cash prize for the winner. One of them, however, is "the Mole", a double agent hired by the producers to sabotage the efforts of the group. The Mole must be careful to avoid drawing too much suspicion to himself or herself. Using journals, players must track vast amounts of minutiae about the person(s) they suspect of being the Mole, such as seating positions, clothing colors, minor discussion topics, and so on. The quiz at the end of each episode tests players' knowledge of the Mole, and determines by lowest score (or slowest time, in the event of a tie) who is eliminated from the game.
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Each installment of The Mole involves a number of contestants, averaging around twelve. During each episode, the contestants participate in a number of challenges, each assigned a monetary value. If the contestants, as a team, complete the challenge, that money is added to the final prize for the game. However, one of these contestants has been selected by production to be the Mole; his or her job is to try to prevent the other players from winning challenges without revealing himself or herself to others. The Mole may be told ahead of time of how to do this or what challenges to expect, while at other times the Mole must decide whether to intervene or not.
At the end of each episode, the contestants take a quiz regarding the identity of the Mole and his or her involvement in the previous activities. The player who scores the lowest on this quiz, or was slowest to answer in case of a tie, is eliminated from the game. The winner of the game is the one that answers the most questions correctly on the final quiz given when there are only three players remaining (including the Mole), and is awarded the total amount of money won over the course of the game.
While success in the challenges is important in order to build up potential winnings, it is also critical to stay in the game by scoring better than opponents on the quiz, usually by attempting to draw their suspicions of the Mole's identity toward oneself. Since the Mole must use subterfuge to misdirect attention from his/her attempts to derail the team, disingenuous attempts to emulate the Mole must be subtle, while still noticeable and suspicious.
Like other reality shows, The Mole features challenges in which the players received money that was added to a group pot which only one person could win. However, unlike challenges in other reality shows, the ones seen on The Mole offered players ways to disrupt the game, as well as ways of disguising their betrayal. Below are some of the more popular recurring challenges seen throughout the series:
The quiz is the primary device of eliminating contestants across all series. Traditionally between ten and twenty questions, the quiz asks the players to identify the Mole and several pieces of information regarding the Mole, including the Mole's activity in challenges, biographical profile, their fashion and/or culinary choices during the show, etc. The player scoring lowest on the quiz (and taking the longest time to do so, in the event of tied scores) is eliminated from the game. The US version saw a format change from twenty questions to ten questions from Season 2 on, usually with all questions available to the public. Season 5 of the Australian series had contestants answer five questions about the Mole (not filmed), plus a further five questions for the live eliminations. On two separate occasions, the live elimination computer quiz system malfunctioned and didn't record some contestants' responses. The rules stated that if this were to happen the elimination would be based on the five questions answered before the live show.
Depending on the edition, players have occasionally had the chance to alter their scores, and thus their chances of surviving the elimination. In Season 1 of the UK edition, players were given chips to replace incorrect answers on their quiz in one of the challenges. In the latest editions of The Mole in the Netherlands, players can earn "jokers" to be used at any point in the series to erase incorrect answers. In 2008 the show in the Netherlands introduced "topito's", a 1/8 piece of a full circle ("Topo"). If a player has a full topo of the same color or with 8 different colors, the player will get a free pass for the next test. Only the first full and correct topo will be rewarded with a free pass for the next test.
In most editions of The Mole, however, players are usually given the chance at "exemptions" or "free passes". Should a player earn an exemption, he or she is not required to take the quiz and thus safe from elimination. Traditionally, an exemption must be earned by preventing the team from winning their challenges (such as being successful in evading identification by the other contestants in a photo hunt). Seasons 2 and 5 of The Mole in the US saw the most prevalent use of exemptions, with nearly one every episode, and multiple exemptions on occasion. In the latest edition in The Netherlands (2009) the "super exemption" was introduced. In the episode the contestants were able to find two regular exemptions. If, during the quiz, only one exemption was used it counted as an exemption for the person who used it. He or she could take someone with him or her to stay another round. If, however, both exemptions were to be used none of the players would have to leave, hence the "super exemption". In the fifth season of the Australian version, its host Tom Williams referred to them frequently as "immunity" rather than "exemptions" or "free passes".
A standard elimination checks each player's status on whether he or she will continue to the following episode. In most formats, a computer shows a green screen to signify they are continuing or a red screen to show they have earned the lowest score. Poland used red and green feathers, and some versions have used an eye instead.
Many editions have seen special eliminations. A player, for example, may be given a second chance in the game, should they redeem themselves in a challenge. In one edition, the remaining players had a chance to stop the elimination, if they surrendered their prize money up to that point. There have been several editions where either no players or multiple players were eliminated. Buy-out offers, or "bribes", may also be presented during executions, in which a player may take a guaranteed monetary offer in exchange for voluntarily opting out of the game. On the fourth season of the Australian version, there were two atypical eliminations. In one episode, a genuine contestant appeared to be the third contestant eliminated, but immediately after his elimination the players had the power to "resurrect" him and in that event, one contestant alone decided to bring him back for $50,000 added to the kitty. Later on in the season, another contestant was eliminated, but was given the offer to return herself into the game, if she'd pay $50,000 from the kitty. She accepted this offer and returned. Later on, the contestant resurrected by the group was eliminated one round short from the final, whilst the other contestant wound up being revealed as the Mole. It was later revealed in that season's Mole reveal that the fake eliminations were a trick to get people to suspect the second contestant as the Mole as none of the contestants suspected her until after her elimination and return.
A staple of The Mole franchise includes the various obscure and subtle clues planted by the producers. For example, in one challenge on the second United States series, host Anderson Cooper was eating an apple. Apples are the official fruit of Washington, the Mole's home state. Rumor has it that not even the Mole spotted this clue until it was revealed during the finale. Similarly, in the Belgian and UK's first season, the first words of each episode could be linked together to reveal the identity of the Mole; in the second season, contestants were introduced in alphabetical order of their surnames, except for the Mole, who was in the correct position for "Mole". Some players in later series chose to seek out clues, most often in vain. Allegedly, this is what led to the demise of Corbin Bernsen in Celebrity Mole Hawaii, as he was too distracted searching for clues that he didn't focus enough attention on the game.
Clues are generally planted for viewers to catch, rather than the players themselves. Some clues are only given to the viewing audience, added in during post-production. For example, two episodes of the second US seasons featured words quickly displayed in the title sequence. However, their cryptic meanings often remain hidden to everyone until they are revealed at the end of the season. The second edition in the Netherlands contained two voice-clues. These clues were added to scenes that showed the country. If played backwards "Nico is de mol" (which is Dutch for "Nico is the mole") could be heard. During a Belgian season the location of the group was small on screen during the introduction of the host. The letters faded out, but some letters faded out slower, combining those letters lead to a phrase in the bible revealing the identity of the mole.
The Australian version of the program that aired on Seven -- hosted by former Blue Heelers star Grant Bowler -- began in 2000 and has since been followed by four more seasons.
The producers offered to tell Bowler who the Mole was, but he declined the invitation, believing that he could better host the show and play around with the contestants if he didn't know. Some reports, however, claimed that he was told the identity of the Mole in the fourth season.
Like the UK version, the first two Australian seasons included a 'special episode' which revealed all the clues as to the identity of the Mole and how close each player had been to finding them. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly popular with audiences and so, in subsequent seasons, it was replaced by a five-minute segment at the end of the final episode in which all of the clues were briefly revealed.
In the second season it was decided to alter the structure of the beginning of the game by bringing in 16 (4 from Brisbane, 4 from Sydney, 4 from Hobart and 4 from Canberra) contestants with an early challenge deciding which 10 of them got to continue playing. This elimination process was not continued in later seasons. The second season was replayed during the day in December 2006.
In the third season, the contestants were spontaneously sent on a trip during the play of the game, but not knowing why. They were blindfolded for the entire trip back, and all was revealed when they found themselves at Seven Studios on the set of The Weakest Link. They had to play a game, as well as endure host Cornelia Frances, for a shot at $100,000 added to their kitty. In the end, they achieved $14,100, which was touted as the lowest amount ever won on the Australian version of The Weakest Link. However, as all amounts have been rounded off to the highest thousand, $15,000 was added to the kitty instead.
The program's fourth season, in 2003, was set on the Pacific island nation of New Caledonia and entitled The Mole: in Paradise. In an attempt to steer any suspicion from her being the Mole, Petrina was eliminated in one episode but returned on the next episode after accepting an offer from the host to buy her way back into the game. While this worked for a short time, it was not as successful as had been hoped, with some of the other contestants even more convinced that she was the Mole. This series was replayed during the day in April 2007.
Poor ratings resulted in there being no 2004 season but in July 2005 The Mole returned to Australian TV for its fifth season, subtitled as The Amazing Game. Tom Williams (Co-host of The Great Outdoors and winner of the Australian edition of Dancing with the Stars) was chosen to take over as host from Bowler, as he was not available for the project due to family commitments. This was met with mixed reaction from fans. This season also introduced a new concept to the show - live eliminations. The contestants spent the weekend in New Zealand working on various challenges, and then their actions were broadcast on TV the following Thursday night, with a live elimination following directly after. There have since been no more seasons, owing to poor ratings in the latter two series.
| Season | Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | Total prize money | Potential prize money | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000 | Alan Mason | Jan Moody | Abby Coleman | $115,000 | $200,000 | Australia (Tasmania) |
| 2 | 2001 | Michael Laffy | Brooke Marshall | Hal Pritchard | $100,000 | $255,000 | Australia (Victoria) |
| 3 | 2002 | Alaina Taylor | Crystal-Rose Cluff | Marc Jongebloed | $108,000 | $416,000 | Australia (Gold Coast) |
| 4 | 2003 | Petrina Edge | Shaun Faulkner | Nathan Beves | $104,000 | $531,000 | New Caledonia |
| 5 | 2005 | John Whitehall | Liz Cantor | Craig Murell | $203,000 | $539,000 | New Zealand |
Despite strong rumors that a sixth series (which would be an All Stars series) had been given the go ahead and filmed, there has still been no announcement as to when, or even if, it will be forthcoming. Other rumours have suggested that the sixth season of The Mole would be a celebrity edition, However in 2006, channel 7 created Celebrity Survivor instead, and it broadcast at the same time of year that The Mole had the preceding year.
However on an episode of Good as Gold there was a segment on The Mole, whilst playing clips from the show, 2000-2005 was written next to the title, this would suggest that there will be no more seasons of The Mole in Australia.
The show originated in Belgium, in 1999. There were three series, all hosted by Michiel Devlieger. The show was extremely popular with the Belgian audience. The original plans were to only make 2 series, in order to avoid milking and stretching out the format too much. In 2003 the producers caved in under huge popular demand and made one final series, which once again had very high ratings.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Magda (travel guide) | Hugo (staff manager) | Mon (retired teacher) | France |
| 2000 | Hugo (retired colonel) | Marianne Dupon (crisis manager) | Niki (masseuse) | Spain |
| 2003 | Mark Simons (insurer) | Stijn Vandaele (student Sinology) | Sandra Welvaert (shopkeeper) / Inge Boere (vet) | Italy |
In Catalonia (a region of Spain), the program was called El talp. The season was recorded in September, 2003 and watched the following autumn by TV3, the television of Catalonia. Pol Izquierdo was the showman. Players could win a maximum quantity of €90,000, but they only managed to retain 44,500 of the potential pot. Gemma was revealed as the Mole and Nùria won. Ferran was the runner-up although he was the first one who correctly identified the Mole.
The German version of The Mole, called Der Maulwurf: Die Abenteuershow aired on ProSieben. It ran two seasons: the first season in 2000 was hosted by former professional tennis player Michael Stich, and the second season in 2001 was hosted by Steven Gatjen.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Sabine | Edeltraud | Edgar | France |
| 2001 | Jens | Sven | Esther | Canary Islands |
In Italy the format is different from the other countries: the Italian version of the show wasn't recorded but it was broadcast live. Contestants were celebrities who had to live together for about 60 days in a home. Every day a 20–25 minutes recap of what happened the day before in the home was broadcast on TV and, once a week, there was a 4 hours prime-time live show with the contestants linked from the location of the game. The missions where the Mole could act against the rest of the team to add money to her Loot are various:
- Weekly Mission: usually a physically based challenge recorded during the week
- Night of the Mole: a special long-resistance challenge recorded in a casual night of the week (generally contestants had to resist for some hours in a very particular and tiring position/situation)
- Special Ceremony (in the 1st series)/ Access-Challenge (in the 2nd series): a prime-time challenge where the contestants had to undergo a particular ceremony, traditional of the place hosting the game (for example eating a particular food or drink typical of the local tradition). If the Team passed a challenge of these, then some money were decanted from the Mole Loot to the Team Pot. The main difference between the two challenges is that in the first series this particular game was only proposed to the contestants, by a production crew decision, when the Mole Loot was reaching the same level of money of the Team Pot, while in the second series this was instead a fixed moment of the prime-time live show. Besides, in the second series this challenge didn't have a money value, but it was used to give an extra penalty to the Team in the Weekly Live Challenge, in case the Team didn't pass it, making the Live Challenge more difficult.
- Weekly Challenge (live in the prime-time): this was the main moment of the prime-time live show, and was usually the biggest and hardest challenge the contestants had to face every week. It generally was a physical extreme challenge, studied by the production crew to put to the test the limits and the fears of every member of the Team.
| Year | Host | Co-host | Tv channel | "from...to..." |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Amanda Lear / Paola Perego | Guido Bagatta | Rai Due | from January 30 to April 2 |
| 2005 | Paola Perego | Stefano Bettarini | Italia 1 | from September 20 to November 22 |
| 2008 | Paola Perego | Paola Barale | Italia 1 | from October 9 to November 27 |
Another news is that the people watching the show could vote by telephone or SMS which was their suspected Mole during all the game; so, the most suspected contestant became the first executable member of the Team. Next, it was time for the Team nominations: each of the participants had to nominate his suspected Mole(with secret votes only in the first and second series): the contestant receiving most of the votes became the second executable Team member; in case of draw between some contestants, the one of them who received most of the votes by the audience was declared the Team suspected contestant. So, the 2 suspects had to answer a 10 questions questionnaire about the Mole identity: the contestant who got most of the answers wrong had to leave the game. In case of draw, in the first series the contestant spending more time answering the questions was eliminated from the game; in the second series, during the questionnaire contestants heartbeat was controlled by a "cardio frequency meter", so the contestant having the fastest average heartbeat was executed: that made the Mole executable too! In this eventuality (never happened), a new Mole had to be selected by the production crew.
The mole was only informed of his identity in the first prime-time show, with a particular ceremony: each contestant had to open a folder containing a secret paper with a "No" or "Yes" inscription: so, the contestant receiving the "Yes" paper could know to be the Mole. Then, contestants had to burn in a brazier that paper (Typical of the show the tag "Apri, leggi, e brucia!" - "Open, Read, then Burn!").
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Marco Predolin (tv presenter) | Angela Melillo (showgirl) | Karim Capuano (model/actor) | Mexico (Yucatán) |
| 2005 | Paolo Vallesi (singer) | Gianni Sperti (dancer) | Roberto Ciufoli (actor) | Kenya |
| 2008 | Franco Trentalance (porn-actor) | Karina Cascella (tv personality) | Clemente Russo (boxer) | South Africa |
Main article: Wie is... de Mol?
The Netherlands is the only country who changed the original show's name into Who is the Mole? (Wie is... de Mol?). It's the longest-running iteration of the show, now spanning TWELVE seasons, not including the "Junior" (kids) season. The show ran for four standard versions, after which EIGHT celebrity versions, like in the US, followed, although unlike the American celebrity editions, still being called Who is the Mole?, without an explicit reference to its celebrity status.
The first five series were presented by Angela Groothuizen, the sixth and the seventh by Karel van de Graaf, the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh by Pieter Jan Hagens and the twelfth series is presented by the winner of last year: Art Rooijakkers. In the first four seasons, Groothuizen was informed from the beginning who the Mole was, but in her last series (the first celebrity edition), she was not told. Van de Graaf and Hagens both chose not to know. Before the final episode of the 2006 version aired, in which Frédérique Huydts was revealed as the winner, she died of cancer. Huydts chose to donate her money to the WWF and KiKa, a fund for children with cancer. She also expressed her wish for the show to be aired normally.
| Season | The Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999/2000 | Deborah | Petra (€37.437,-) | Robin | Australia |
| 2001 | Nico | Sigrid (€31.765,-) | Yvonne | United Kingdom |
| 2002 | George | John (€42.300,-) | Jantien | Portugal |
| 2003 | Elise | Ron (€35.550,-) | Chandrika | Canada |
| 2005 | Yvon | Marc-Marie (€23.000,-) | Lottie | Australia, Indonesia |
| 2006 | Milouska | Frédérique (€24.475,-) | Roderick | Argentina |
| 2007 | Inge | Paul (€17.300,-) | Renate, Eva | Thailand |
| 2008 | Dennis | Edo (€20.375,-) | Regina | Mexico |
| 2008 Junior Edition |
Amin | Naomi | Lara | Netherlands |
| 2009 | Jon | Viviënne (€22.650,-) | Anniek | United Kingdom Jordan |
| 2010 | Kim | Frits (€21.950,-) | Sanne | Japan |
| 2011 | Patrick | Art (€19.540,-) | Soundos | El Salvador Nicaragua |
| 2012 | still running | Iceland |
In Poland The Mole was called "Agent". It was aired on TVN. All three seasons were hosted by Marcin Meller.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Agnieszka Królak | Liwia Kwiecień (111,400 PLN,-) | Jerzy | France |
| 2001 | Mirosław Pasek | Bartosz Arłukowicz (125,000 PLN,-) | Hanka | Spain |
| 2002 | Mirosław Grześkowiak | Małgorzata Goździkowska (121,500 PLN,-) | Wojciech | Portugal |
In Spain The Mole has had different editions. Regional channels TV3 and ETB aired local version of the show. On Summer 2006, a nationwide version took place. It was called "El Traidor" and was based on the fifth Australian season. It was aired on Cuatro. The first and only season was hosted by Luis Larrodera and Sergio Muñiz. However, on June 2009 the competing private channel Telecinco started a new version of the show, based on the latest U.S. season, under the name "El Topo". The hosts are Daniel Domenjó and Emilio Pineda, and Australia is used as location.[1] The show was cancelled on its second week due to the lack of audience. According to Telecinco, it was unbearable to produce a weekly show from Australia with such a little market share (9.0%). Natalia was then revealed to be the mole and the rest of the contestants shared the 10,000€ in the group's pot.
| Year | Airdates | Mole | Winner | Prize | Runner-up | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | July 12, 2006 September 8, 2006 |
Eva Pablo | David Rua | 49,000 € | Iria Pose | Spain (Andalusia) |
| 2009 | June 25, 2009 CANCELLED. |
Natalia | None | 10,000€, shared | None | Australia |
In Sweden, The Mole is called "Mullvaden" and airs on Kanal 5. It was originally hosted by Pontus Gårdinger. After a six year break, the show is back on Swedish television, but now with Hans Fahlén as the host.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2000 | Christian Rosengren | Hans Buxfeldt | Thomas Mätzsch | France |
| Autumn 2000 | Joakim Antelius | Wilhelm Lundborg | Susanne Grundström | Spain |
| Autumn 2001 | Christine Borkman | Lena Winterros | Fabian Vreede | Canada |
| Spring 2007 | Anna Lundberg | Alexandra Öfverman | Emanuel Roosvald | Portugal |
The show had two series in the United Kingdom, hosted by Glenn Hugill on Channel 5. Despite its cult following and despite adverts to appear in the next series appearing at the end of the second, a third series was not commissioned. Both series had a special episode at the end detailing the various clues about the Mole's identity, and general details on the production of the show. The top prize is £200,000 (about US$396,000).
| Series | # of Episodes | Airdates | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | January 12, 2001-
March 9, 2001 |
David Buxton | Zi Khan (£100,000) |
Jennifer Waller | Jersey, France |
| 2 | 9 | October 14, 2001-
December 9, 2001 |
Tanya Buck | Chris Lintern (£88,500) |
Paul Tregear* | Canada |
The premiere season of The Mole on ABC in the United States debuted in January 2001. The second season, Mole 2: The Next Betrayal, debuted in September 2001, but was put on hiatus after only three episodes following disappointing ratings in the wake of 9/11, and the poor Friday time slot. In June 2002, the second season returned, restarting from the beginning, running as a summer replacement series.
The third and fourth seasons featured celebrity contestants, and were collectively referred to as Celebrity Mole. In late 2007, Stone and Co. Entertainment secured the rights to bring back the show, and the fifth season started June 2, 2008.[3] Jon Kelley is the current host.[4]
| Season | # of Episodes | Airdates | Host | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | January 9, 2001-
February 28, 2001 |
Anderson Cooper | Kathryn Price | Steven Cowles ($510,000) | Jim Morrison | United States, France, Monaco, Spain |
| 2 | 13 | September 28, 2001-
October 12, 2001; June 4, 2002- August 6, 2002 |
William "Bill" McDaniel | Dorothy Hui ($636,000) | Heather Campbell | Switzerland, Italy |
|
| 3 | 6 | January 8, 2003-
February 12, 2003 |
Ahmad Rashād | Frederique van der Wal | Kathy Griffin ($233,000) | Erik von Detten | United States (Hawaii) |
| 4 | 7 | January 7, 2004-
February 18, 2004 |
Angie Everhart | Dennis Rodman ($222,000) | Mark Curry | Mexico (Yucatán) | |
| 5 | 11 | June 2, 2008-
August 11, 2008 |
Jon Kelley | Craig Slike | Mark Lambrecht ($420,000) | Nicole Williams | Chile, Argentina |
The Mole has also been produced in Austria, Norway (Muldvarpen), Israel, Portugal (O Sabotador), and New Zealand.