The veteran host also encourages future houseguests to “not get married to anything from previous seasons.”
Last season of Big Brother was massive in many ways. Across a whopping 100 days, we saw never-before-seen twists, huge house flips, and record-breaking runs. But, when Parade asked host Julie Chen Moonves about what lessons the Big Brother 26 houseguests should take from the previous season into their own when they enter the house next week, the veteran host had a surprising answer.
“If you’re entering the house this season for Big Brother 26 and you’re a house guest, I would say don’t get married to anything from previous seasons,” she says. “Because we’re onto you. We see you season after season sitting around, speculating, ‘You know what that means? You know what they did in Season 13.’ Forget it. Expect the unexpected. Don’t cram because it’s not going to work. We come up with new things all the time. We’re always listening. So don’t study any past seasons. It’s all new.”
Indeed, the 26th season of the veteran reality series has been advertised to feature an all-new group of houseguests filling their summer with a game of competitions, cuddling, and cutting throats. And, though Chen Moonves has encouraged players not to dote too much on the past, we had her do just that by having her put together her “dream” houseguests by combining traits of previous legends.
“I would say the ideal Big Brother player would be part Janelle [Pierzina], part Will Kirby,” she tells Parade. “Will Kirby was a brilliant liar because he was charming. Janelle was a competition beast. Part Xavier Prather, because he knew how to keep his mouth quiet. And, except for one brief moment, he knew how to stay calm. But when you insult someone’s family member…oh my gosh. But he stayed cool. And I need someone with a lot of humor. I like Howie [Gordon] from the season with Janelle, who went on to become a weatherman. He made me laugh.”
Another “new” comes with the theme. Though, for Big Brother 26, it’s an idea that’s all too familiar to modern-day discourse: Artificial Intelligence. “One of the big hot topics, controversial, some people love it, some people hate it, is artificial intelligence,” Chen Moonves says in a separate interview for CBS. “But BB has their own way of doing things. Big Brother does things Big Brother style. So this year, it’s ‘BB AI.’ I call it artificial intelligence, Big Brother style.”
The show has yet to elaborate on the AI theme. Though it’s already been revealed that this season’s house sports decor is generated by “prompts,” it’s unknown how much “BB AI” will ultimately influence the games of these new houseguests. But, regardless of what they do inside the house’s walls, Chen Moonves has nothing but love for everyone who elects to play Big Brother.
“I love hosting the show because it’s gotten to the point where I feel like all these houseguests are my children,” she says. “My tagline is ‘love one another.’ And I know fans love to love on some people and hate on others. I like to put on my Jesus glasses and say, ‘Look, God created us all, and we all have a good side and a bad side, and it depends [on] who triggers what side to come out.’ So I love to look at all these people and even those who suddenly America has turned out and hate them. Give them a chance at redemption. Give them a chance to see themselves the way America saw them, and give them a chance to explain and change.”
“I also like to challenge myself, because I like to see if I can keep that love the whole season,” she continues. “Because, look, I’m human too, right? I know they call me the ‘Chenbot,’ but I’m human too. There are times I’m like, ‘I can’t believe that person did that! Wait, Julie, put on your Jesus glasses. Give that person a chance to explain.'”