Report: 'Big Brother' to Return for All-Star Season Amid Pandemic
It's all but official.
About a month after it was reported that a new season of the CBS reality show "Big Brother" is in the works this summer — with an all-star cast — TMZ is now reporting that the season is a go despite the pandemic.
Sources from the long-running show's production told the website the it was in the middle of casting the new season when COVID-19 broke out and shut things down in May. They added that execs for "BB" had to switch things up and pivot to an all-stars edition.
Our sources say an All-Star cast made the most sense, because those contestants are already familiar with the show and have already been vetted by network execs ... plus it would have been difficult to cast fresh faces for a new season in the middle of a pandemic, a process we're told would have dragged on for weeks.
The coronavirus isn't preventing another season, but it is delaying things a bit ... we're told contestants were supposed to head to Los Angeles at the beginning of July to begin testing and quarantines, but the timetable is being pushed back to the end of the month.
Our sources say, contestants, who are flying in from across the country, will be tested for the virus and then quarantined for 2 weeks before being cleared to enter the "Big Brother" house.
The newest season will be the show's 22nd overall and second all-star season since Season 7, back in 2006. The cast of all returning players has not been officially announced but it is likely that Julie Chen Moonves will return as host.