Structured as a traditional advent series, the show features 24 episodes of 12 minutes each, offering viewers a daily dose of festive intrigue, humour, and reality-TV absurdity throughout the month of December.
Positioned at the intersection of scripted comedy and reality-competition parody, Santas in Disguise draws clear inspiration from today’s most talked-about unscripted formats, including global hit franchises such as The Traitors and Bloody Game. The result is a tongue-in-cheek narrative that playfully examines modern reality tropes through a distinctly Nordic holiday lens.
For 24 days, 24 contestants will live and compete as Santas, proving they have mastered the quintessential skill of every true Christmas icon: the ability to judge who has been naughty and who has been nice. However, not all Santas are as wholesome as they appear. Hidden within the group is a Santa in Disguise—a mischievous infiltrator tasked with sabotaging missions, sowing confusion, and secretly stealing money from the accumulating prize pot.
Each evening, the Santas gather to vote for the person they suspect is the impostor. If they identify the saboteur, the game continues—and the prize money remains secure. If they eliminate an innocent Santa, the disguised saboteur grows stronger in their mission. The ultimate goal: ensure that only one true, noble Santa is left standing by Christmas Eve to claim the grand prize of $100,000.
Santas in Disguise builds on NRK’s longstanding tradition of holiday satire. The franchise first appeared on Norwegian screens as Santas in the Barn, which premiered in December 2001 and quickly became a seasonal cult favourite. Two subsequent seasons followed, each intentionally lampooning dominant reality formats of their time—Season 2 in 2011, and Season 3 in 2021. All the four seasons have been produced by Seefood.
