Short answer: A Fazenda 18 starts with 22 official contestants and four visitors — two men and two women. The four enter the headquarters during the premiere, take part in decisions, game dynamics and challenges throughout the first week, and only then learn, through a public vote, who will actually remain in the competition. The number can be zero, one, two, three or all four. As of the early evening of September 14, 2026, before the TV premiere, RECORD had not yet explained the exact voting format.
How many of the four visitors can become permanent contestants?
No fixed number has been announced. Rodrigo Carelli, head of RECORD's reality programming, said the public may decide whether “one, two, three, four or none” stay. In other words, this is not a contest for a single available spot: all four may become contestants, but it is also possible that none of them will remain.
This distinction matters because all four will be physically inside the headquarters before they have a permanent place in the cast. The network calls them visitors precisely because their continued participation still depends on the public's decision.
How the twist was announced, step by step
- The 22 official contestants begin in confinement. On September 13, Carelli said the 22 regular participants were already inside the headquarters. The premiere takes place on September 14.
- Four visitors enter the headquarters. They are two men and two women. Production announced that Adriane Galisteu will call the four into the house during the premiere.
- They arrive knowing who the 22 contestants are. According to Carelli, the visitors will have watched an “atividade de apontamento” and will receive a photo-and-profile board with information about the participants. In other words, they enter with prior information about the official cast.
- They must make a decision as soon as they arrive. The director said the four will immediately have to make a decision involving the participants. The concrete consequence of that choice had not been publicly detailed before the premiere.
- The four take part in the week's game dynamics. RECORD said the visitors will be involved in activities and challenges that may affect the game while they remain in the headquarters.
- The public decides who stays. At some point during the first week, a public decision about the visitors' permanence will open. The result may turn anywhere from none to all four into permanent contestants.
The details were presented by RECORD itself during the press conference and in pre-premiere coverage. The main references are the explanation of the new visitor twist, the press conference recap, and the confirmation that the four will depend on the public.
A visitor is not an official contestant from the first minute
Entering the headquarters does not automatically mean entering the competition permanently. The season was announced with 22 contestants and four visitors, and the network itself treats those as separate statuses. The visitors live with the cast, make decisions and take part in activities, but a permanent place is only settled after the public has its say.
That is why, before the twist is completed, it is more accurate to say they are inside the headquarters than to state that they are already official contestants. It is also unsafe to assume that they immediately have all the same rights, obligations, advantages or risks as the 22 regular participants; any additional rule needs to be confirmed by the show.
What is confirmed and what still needs to be explained
| Question | Status before the premiere |
|---|---|
| How many visitors are there? | Four: two men and two women. |
| Do all four enter the headquarters together? | Yes. Production announced that the four will enter during the premiere. |
| Do they receive information about the contestants? | Yes. They arrive after watching an activity and receive profiles of the 22 participants. |
| Do they make decisions that affect the game? | Yes. There is an immediate decision and further involvement in game dynamics during the week. |
| Do they take part in challenges? | Yes, according to Carelli's explanation at the press conference. |
| How many can remain? | From zero to four. |
| Who decides who remains? | The public. |
| How will the vote work? | RECORD had not yet revealed the exact mechanism before the premiere. |
What RECORD had not yet revealed
The main unanswered question is how the public will make the choice. Carelli confirmed the range of possible outcomes but said the decision method would be shown during the first week. Before the premiere, it was not public whether there would be an individual vote for each visitor, a simultaneous choice among combinations, successive rounds, or another format.
The exact opening and closing time of the vote, the specific effect of the four's first decision, and which challenges or activities will directly affect their permanence had also not been detailed. Those points should be treated as pending rather than filled in by analogy with previous seasons.
Why the visitors may change the first week
From a game perspective, the twist creates a clear information imbalance: the four arrive after observing an activity and receive material about the 22 contestants. That gives them context for their first decision and later interactions. It is an information advantage, but it does not, by itself, mean immunity, nomination power or a lasting benefit — none of those had been confirmed.
For the contestants, the presence of people who are still competing for a place adds uncertainty to the start of confinement. Depending on the public result, the cast may remain at the original 22 or grow by one, two, three or four new competitors.
How to follow the twist without confusing speculation with confirmed rules
Because the twist will be explained throughout the first week, check the official A Fazenda 18 page and the explanations shown on the program before treating any voting format as final. Polls on social media or fan sites may measure preference, but they do not replace the official decision announced by the network.
In short: the four visitors enter the headquarters, but the number who become permanent contestants is not predetermined. The public may choose anywhere from none to all four. What was still unknown before the September 14, 2026 premiere was the exact mechanism that would turn that public choice into permanence in the game.
