Julie Chen Confirms Return To Host ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ On CBS This Winter
Host Julie Chen appears to be sticking with CBS and the Big Brother franchise, despite the speculation and worries that she might decide to leave. As the last season of BB wrapped up last summer, things got intense at CBS as Julie’s husband — Les Moonves — departed the network amidst a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations. Many following the affair wondered if she would follow suit.
As the high drama surrounding the Les Moonves allegations came to a head, Julie Chen left the CBS morning chat show The Talk, a show she had been on since it began. In addition, during the last few episodes of Big Brother, Julie started using her married name of Chen-Moonves — something that she had never done before.
All of this led to speculation that Chen might decide to leave her Big Brother hosting duties, especially as there was buzz about how long her contract continued. She signaled that she planned to stick around, but now it has been confirmed.
CBS has just released premiere dates for several of its midseason shows, including the next season of Celebrity Big Brother. In conjunction with that, Chen took to her Instagram page to share the date — and to make it clear that she’s returning with the show.
Julie shared a graphic showing her holding a Big Brother key and the Power of Veto medallion, smiling, with wording revealing that Celebrity Big Brother would debut on Monday, January 21. It’s too soon to know which celebrities will be cast on this upcoming season, but spoilers and speculation should start to emerge soon.
According to Deadline, Chen’s contract runs through this upcoming CBB season as well as the next traditional Big Brother season, assuming CBS renews the series. Technically, that renewal announcement has not come yet, but everybody seems to expect that the network will green-light Season 21. What will happen beyond that is unknown, although Julie has previously said that she hoped to stay with the series for years to come.
Julie Chen receives plenty of criticism from Big Brother fans, but it would be strange to have a hosting change after all of these years. Chen has been in that spot since the show began, and it’s a relief to many that she plans to stick around.
Celebrity Big Brother will air several nights a week for three weeks, with the finale airing on Wednesday, February 13. Julie Chen’s confirmed return will come as good news for long-time fans — and everybody will be anxious for spoilers regarding the celebrities joining the cast.
