Competing in “Big Brother” isn’t just for regular people; celebrities can get in on the fun too.
All the deception and backstabbing and competition was on display from a few of the world’s leading C-listers. This is where “Celebrity Big Brother” shined. While not everyone was the superstar the name implies, those who did compete surely did make names for themselves as the seasons went on.
And they had to. “Celebrity Big Brother” seasons are truncated for obvious reasons. Yet they still have everything an viewer could want.
In recent years, though, the spinoff has fallen by the wayside.
What is “Celebrity Big Brother?”
Just like the American version of the U.K. series, “Celebrity Big Brother” is a spinoff of the U.K. version of that show. The U.S. version doesn’t have as many seasons – the U.K. variant is up to 24 while the U.S. one only has three. Nor is it as popular.
Both share the similarities of having fits and starts. The U.K. version was a Channel 4 show for nine seasons before moving to Channel 5 for seven seasons. It stopped in 2018 and relaunched on ITV in 2024 where it currently lives.
The U.S. version, meanwhile, has been a part of the CBS family since 2018 where it’s only aired three seasons in five years. The most recent season was on screen in February 2022.
Each season of the show aired in real time which made for lively television. Viewers were given “America’s Vote” to cast for their favorite houseguests where celebs could win advantages in the game. Fans could do the same voting method during the live finale where “America’s Favorite HouseGuest” could win $25,000.
Seasons of “Celebrity” are shortened so much so that evictions happen multiple times a week. Like early seasons of “Big Brother,” juried celebrities aren’t sequestered after they’re voted off so they can catch up on what happened behind their backs.
Additionally, in the live finale, five houseguest remain as opposed to the traditional three.
Where is “Celebrity Big Brother” Season Four?
Season four of the spinoff has yet to be announced. Never say never though.
Franchise producer Allison Grodner wants to bring the show back. It’s just a matter of when. Grodner theorizes the show is only picked up during a particular point in television culture.
“If you look at it, and again, we can’t speak for CBS, the history of Celebrity Big Brother has it going against the Winter Olympics,” the producer told EW earlier this year.
“That’s true,” Grodner continued. “We did try the back-to-back, and we’ve heard rumblings that [airing opposite the Olympics] might be the way that Celebrity is utilized.”
She’s right to believe that’s the case. Both the second and third seasons aired in 2018 and 2022 respectively, the same years as two Winter Olympic Games. Her speculation does have merit. Grodner did add that the team believes “Celebrity” to be a completely different entity from the main franchise so it could air on an off schedule.
Another series producer, Rich Meehan, echoed what Grodner had to say.
“Yeah, we would love to do it,” he told EW. “There are usually much bigger things in play, like it’s scheduling and how much time they have on air, and there are a lot of factors that are much bigger than Big Brother that go into that. But we love doing it.”
“It’s really fun, and it would be great to do again,” Meehan added. “But sometimes we have to wait and see how many scripted shows are happening and all that stuff. There’s a lot of other things that go into it.”
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What Happened to the U.S. ‘Celebrity Big Brother’?