‘Big Brother’ Producers Share Whether Show Will Feature Returnees on Every Season
What To Know
- Producers of Big Brother talk about the future of returning players.
- Recent seasons have included both Big Brother alumni and contestants from other reality shows.
- Reports suggest an All-Star season with a $1M prize and iconic players is being considered.
The motto of Big Brother is “expect the unexpected,” but one thing fans can expect from the CBS show is that a BB alum is bound to show up every few seasons. Following the success of Season 28, the show’s producers spoke about the future of returning houseguests.
After the first All-Star Season (Season 6), the show began to bring back former contestants mixed with newbies. This happened in Seasons 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, and 19, before another All-Star Season for 22. Then Rachel Reilly was the only alum amongst newbies for Season 26.
Season 28 changed the game when not only was Season 26’s Angela Murray brought back, but also two Survivor players — Dee Valladares and Rick Devens — entered the game. Devens went on to win and became the highest-ever winner in the show’s history. Survivor‘s Cirie Fields was also the only reality show alum on Season 25.
With the ratings for the past two seasons soaring, and a two-season renewal for Big Brother, will the show feature returning players again? The producers say to never count it out.
“The truth is, it’s been a success,” executive producer Allison Grodner told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s been really, really fun to watch. It certainly helped jump-start the conversation of the summer to have it. So it’s been successful.”
“Does it mean that it’s gonna happen every time? I don’t know. I think it just depends on the creative of that season. But there’s no doubt that it’s been a positive.” The EP went on to say that decisions like that are not made until closer to the season. They start developing ideas for the upcoming summer in February. Most of the decisions to bring people back are often tied to the theme of the season.
Rich Meehan said that while it has been successful, he doesn’t think it is an “every season thing.” “But once we start locking into creative, who knows where we go with it. We don’t put limits on ourselves. We just go wherever the creative takes us,” he told the outlet.
The U.S. Sun reported earlier this month that the producers are looking to up the prize amount to $1 million and are eyeing an All-Star cast.n“It will be an all-star season with some of the most iconic vets of the game,” a source told the outlet. “The budget will be bigger, and they want to increase the prize money too to $1 million. They want it to be the biggest season of Big Brother yet.”
Do you want BB alum or other reality TV veterans to play Big Brother again? Let us know in the comments.
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