Desafío 2021: The Box is the seventeenth season of the Colombian reality show El desafío, produced and broadcast by Caracol Televisión.

On this occasion, the show will once again feature Andrea Serna as main host and former Miss Colombia Daniella Álvarez in the role of special hostess, both in their second participation as hosts in this reality show. In addition, one man and one woman will win and the prizes to be awarded will correspond to a sum of 800,000,000 Cop.^[1]

The news about the realization of the program officially came to light during the broadcast of the last episode of Desafío 2019, when Andrea Serna mentioned that the production was devising what would be the next season, contemplating the possibility of recording it and broadcasting it live and direct.

Thus, in early 2020, Caracol Televisión issued the relevant communications and announced the opening of registrations for all those who wanted to represent their regions.

At that time, the channel was in the transmissions of the third edition of the talent show A otro nivel.

However, due to the health emergency triggered by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the production had to be postponed until further notice. In December, through a media conference, Canal Caracol made public the fact that the new version of Desafío was already in the process of creation. It also stated that the reality show would be called The Box and would be filmed entirely in Colombia, for which a citadel would be built in the middle of the jungle.

El Desafío officially premiered on March 15, 2021.

Initially, it was thought that the Dominican Republic would be the country in which the competition would take place, due to the fact that the 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions had taken place there. However, the health crisis due to COVID-19, forced the reality production team to formulate a new plan to be able to carry out the program. Thus, it was concluded that the best option would be to use the paradisiacal locations of Colombia as the epicenter for the recording of the format, which is why the construction of a citadel in the middle of the jungle ecosystems of the national territory began. This citadel, created in the village of Cañadas, in the municipality of Nimaima, Cundinamarca, near the town of Tobia, Cundinamarca, (on the right bank of the Dulce River), will have all the biosecurity protocols to keep the participants and the production team healthy, taking into account the implications of recording in a pandemic.

In the competitions, the teams of Amazónicos, Antioqueños, Cachacos, Cafeteros, Costeños, Llaneros, Pastusos, Santandereanos, Tolima Grande and Vallecaucanos will face each other; with the addition of a new region with challengers from the department of Boyacá, who will form a group called "Boyacenses".

This time, the contestants will not fight to win the best territory, since they will all arrive at small Playas Altas, spaces with multiple benefits such as beds, Swimming pools, a complete menu, public services, Internet, among others; all this to have a pleasant stay. However, every time they lose a competition, they will have to say goodbye to some benefits and comforts until they become, little by little, small Low Beaches.

In addition, each night, viewers will be able to interact with the Desafío to win a lot of money.

The first step will be to register at www.caracoltv.com/desafío.

Once the process is completed, they will get the chance to play and support their favorite team.

The following day, during the broadcast of the program Día a día, one viewer will be chosen from among those who supported the winners of the test, and will win COL$ 5,000,000.^[2][3][4]