Julie Chen Moonves Takes Fans Inside the 28th Season of 'Big Brother'

Julie Chen Moonves Takes Fans Inside the 28th Season of 'Big Brother'

Reality television has changed dramatically since Big Brother first invited strangers to live together under constant surveillance. Entire genres have emerged. Social media has transformed the way audiences experience the game. Competition series have come and gone. Yet through every shift, one thing has remained remarkably consistent: Big Brother has always found a way to reinvent itself.

Season 28, premiering July 9 on CBS and streaming on Paramount+, embraces that legacy in an unexpected way. Rather than simply introducing another game-changing twist, the new season turns the clock back. Anchored by a season-long time travel theme "Big Brother: Time Trip" and arriving alongside the franchise's landmark 1,000th episode, Big Brother celebrates its own history while proving that even after nearly three decades on television, the social experiment still has plenty of surprises in store.

Few people have witnessed that evolution more closely than host Julie Chen Moonves.

Since the series debuted in 2000, Chen Moonves has become synonymous with Big Brother, guiding viewers through every blindside, every shattered alliance, every unforgettable competition, and every finale.

"I am so very grateful to be part of television history," she says. "Being the youngest of three daughters to immigrants... and growing up in Queens, New York, not seeing anyone like me on primetime TV is really a gift from God."

Ahead of the season premiere, we spoke with Chen Moonves to look back on past seasons and hear her insights on why there's still no blueprint for winning Big Brother and what continues to make every summer inside the house completely unpredictable.

A Trip Through Big Brother History

After 27 seasons, and additional editions including Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother: Over the Top, series producers found themselves with something few television series ever have: decades of iconic moments to revisit.

Instead of treating that history as nostalgia, Season 28 turns it into part of the game.

"The fact that we have 27 previous seasons under our belt... we have the luxury this summer to go back in time and make it fun and FUNNY while laughing at ourselves," Chen Moonves said.

Without revealing specific twists, Chen Moonves teases a season built around time travel, flashbacks, and unexpected turns that reward longtime viewers while remaining accessible to newcomers. She said: "If you liked Hot Tub Time Machine, you will LOVE this 28th season of Biiiiiig Brotherrrrrr!!!"

Why No One Has Figured Out the Game

Every summer begins with the same premise: strangers move into a house, cut off from the outside world, where every conversation, alliance, and competition has consequences. But once the doors close, the game belongs to the houseguests.

Some winners have dominated competitions. Others have quietly maneuvered behind the scenes. Some relied on charm, others on deception, and a few simply survived long enough for the house to turn on itself.

"The beauty of this game is that there is no formula to winning," Chen Moonves said.

She points to champions, including Dr. Will Kirby, Dan Gheesling, Rachel Reilly, Taylor Hale, Ian Terry, Derrick Levasseur, Maggie Ausburn, and "Evel" Dick Donato, as proof that completely different personalities and strategies can all arrive at the same destination.

Taylor Hale, Season 24 Winner

Even after hosting every season, Chen Moonves said predicting a winner remains impossible: "We who work on the show also must expect the unexpected."

The Next 1,000 Episodes Start Here

Season 28 marks a historic milestone as Big Brother will become the first primetime series to reach 1,000 original episodes.

The show's enduring appeal lies in its ability to reinvent itself without losing sight of the social experiment at its core. Season 28's time travel theme uses the franchise's own history to create something new, celebrating the moments fans remember while introducing fresh surprises for a new generation of houseguests.

Nearly 1,000 episodes later, the show's greatest twist isn't hidden inside a competition or revealed on eviction night. It's the simple truth that has fueled the series since day one: put 16 strangers under one roof, and no amount of planning can predict what happens next.

Or, as Chen Moonves has been reminding audiences for years: expect the unexpected.

Lightning Round

Describe Season 28 in three words.

Time machine hijinks

What has been your favorite competition over the years?

It's a 3 way tie between OTEV, the wall competition (endurance) and the "slip and slide" because it takes endurance and skill.

OTEV

What's one reason fans shouldn't miss Season 28?

Zingbot. But you must know the personalities/quirks of the houseguests to get his jokes. Hilarious/borderline wrong.

Zingbot and Julie Chen Moonves