Big Brother stars ‘furious’ over treatment during planning for 1,000th episode
BIG Brother alumni are furious with production as CBS prepares to celebrate its landmark 1,000th episode, with multiple former Houseguests claiming they have been treated like ‘garbage.’
The U.S. Sun spoke to four Big Brother alums from across different seasons who all shared similar frustrations over the plans for the milestone – which CBS is heavily promoting as a major celebration of the show’s 26-year history.
Stars of Big Brother 7: All-Stars L-R: James Rhine, Diane Henry, Jennifer Dedmon, Danielle Reyes, Alison Irwin, Jase Wirey and George Boswell pose on the finale on September 12, 2006 in Los Angeles, California Credit: GettyThe main issue stems from CBS seemingly asking the former Houseguests to make the trip to their Los Angeles studio from all over the country without covering their travel, accommodations, or providing an appearance fee.
One former contestant spilled: “A lot of the vets feel totally disrespected by CBS or the Big Brother producers or whoever is being cheap and treating us like garbage.
“They aren’t offering any kind of compensation for us coming to LA to appear on the big episode they are promoting so much. And on top of that, they aren’t even willing to pay for us to fly out there and won’t provide accommodations.
“A multi-billion dollar network cannot spare some cash to take care of the people who helped build this franchise. It’s hurtful and it pisses me off, if I’m being completely honest with you.”
Another alum compared the situation to how CBS handled Survivor’s 50th season celebration earlier this year.
“The Survivor players got flown out to LA and put up in nice hotels for the 50 finale,” the insider claimed.
“CBS was fine footing the bill for that but for Big Brother, we’re treated like we’re lesser-than. We’re not important enough to pay for.”
The former Big Brother contestant was referring to Survivor’s historic 50th season going all out – with the cast being touted like rockstars when the live finale was turned into a full-on television spectacle in May.
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The Survivor team flew in nearly all of their winners along with other fan-favorites from the long-running series while putting the contestants up in a lavish West Hollywood hotel on the Sunset Strip, a separate source confirmed.
CBS’ apparent generosity towards Survivor hit a nerve with another alum, with the previous All-Star saying: “We’ve always been the black sheep of the family where as Survivor is the golden child.
“We’ve given our lives to this game and this is the return we get. It’s really unfair and it’s made a lot of people very upset.”
While one more complained that it’s “not just about asking for some huge appearance fee.”
”It’s about basic respect and being taken care of when you’re being asked to show up for something this important,” they added.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Big Brother reps for comment.
The network has billed the milestone broadcast as television history with Big Brother becoming the first primetime series to reach 1,000 original episodes.
CBS has teased that the episode will look back at memorable moments spanning the show’s 26-year run while still functioning as a regular night of the game, with the BB Blockbuster competition and a live eviction from Season 28 remaining part of the show.
The cast of Big Brother 7: All-Stars at the CBS Radford in Studio City, California Credit: Getty
Julie Chen Moonves with some of the BB27 cast: Zach Cornell, Jimmy Heagerty, Rylie Jeffries, Adrian Rocha, Katherine Woodman, Amy Bingham, Mickey Lee and Isaiah ‘Zae’ Frederich Credit: GettyBut most of all, the network is also promising plenty of nostalgia.
The milestone will feature surprise appearances from former Houseguests selected through fan voting, with CBS already announcing three categories that determined the alumni appearances: Favorite Showmance, Favorite Winner and Best Player to Have Never Won.
According to the show insider, those who win these categories will be ond of the few paid to participate in the 1,000th episode by CBS.
CBS has not yet publicly released a definitive list of the former Houseguests who will appear during the August 27 episode.
Executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan boasted that the 1,000 episode would not have been possible without the people behind the scenes, “the hundreds of brave houseguests” who have entered the house, host Julie Chen Moonves and the show’s loyal fanbase.
Julie has also reflected on how far the franchise has come since its debut in 2000, noting that there were once fears the show could be canceled because it was not drawing the same ratings as Survivor.
Now, nearly three decades later, the reality competition is the first to approach a four-digit episode count.
The milestone is particularly notable because CBS has spent much of Season 28 leaning into the franchise’s history.
The Big Brother: Time Trip theme was designed around the show’s past, with rooms, competitions and twists inspired by different eras, including the 1980s and Y2K.
CBS has also incorporated returning players and former houseguest appearances into the season’s nostalgia-heavy format, including Rachel Reilly and Morgan Pope.
The Season 28 cast has already featured several former reality stars as part of its twists, including Big Brother veteran Angela Murray and Survivor standouts Rick Devens and Dee Valladares.
Big Brother’s 1,000th episode is scheduled to air live Thursday, August 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+ – with the special 90-minute broadcast also kicking off what the network has called the “biggest twist of the summer.”
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