Julie Chen Sticking With ‘Big Brother’ For Season 22, Signs New Deal With CBS

It appears that any animosity that existed last summer between Big Brother host Julie Chen and the CBS network is over and behind them. There had been plenty of speculation after last summer’s finale regarding whether or not Julie would return, following all of the drama with her husband, Les Moonves, being booted from the network. However, now news has emerged indicating that Chen has already signed on for BB22.

According to Deadline, CBS isn’t going to leave fans hanging this fall as Season 21 of Big Brother wraps up. The show will return next summer for Season 22, and Julie will be back hosting again. Last year, both of those tidbits seemed somewhat uncertain as the show wrapped for the year.

Apparently, this time, Julie made it quite clear to all involved that she wanted to come back for another round of Big Brother. The past few weeks have been spent negotiating smaller details within the deal, but it doesn’t sound as if Chen or the network were ever very far apart.

This is a big change from last year when securing Julie’s participation came right on the heels of her husband’s exit from CBS. The buzz seems to be that any controversy or ill will has fully evaporated over the past year.

At the time, Variety noted that the allegations against Moonves did spark Chen’s exit from The Talk. In addition, Julie started pointedly using her married name of Chen-Moonves during Big Brother.

Despite all of that drama, Julie promised fans shortly after last year’s finale that she planned to return. Now, it seems she’s feeling no need to hesitate in committing to another season.

Luckily, it also seems that CBS hasn’t seen any reason to hold off on confirming they’ll be bringing the show back for Season 22 next summer. In fact, Deadline details that CBS decided on the show’s renewal back in May, much earlier than they did for the season currently airing.

What about Celebrity Big Brother? Viewers have embraced that spinoff for the past two winters, but so far, there doesn’t seem to be any word yet about a third season on the horizon.

Deadline says that CBB wasn’t a part of Julie’s new deal with the network, nor does the network appear to be planning for it in 2020. According to TVLine, CBS says they haven’t made up their mind one way or the other yet.

Season 21 of Big Brother is set to wrap up later this month. Now fans can find comfort in knowing that the show, and host Julie Chen, will be back again next summer for at least one more season.