CBS Mirai Nagasu, Todrick Hall, and Miesha Tate in the premiere episode of 'Celebrity Big Brother 3.'
The third season of “Celebrity Big Brother” premiered on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.
Leading up to the premiere episode, there was a countdown to the live feeds on Paramount Plus which teased that the feeds would begin after the premiere episode ended. But at 9 p.m. Eastern time on February 2, right after the premiere ended, the Paramount Plus Twitter account tweeted an update that the feeds were delayed. The tweet didn’t confirm when the live feeds would start, it simply said to “check back Friday for an update.”
Although “Big Brother” fans are used to live feeds cutting out or being delayed, the sudden change from a countdown to a minimum two-day delay has fans wondering what’s really going on.
Here are some theories as to what’s causing the significant delay.
Someone May Have Quit the Show
One theory for the delay floated on “Rob Has a Podcast” was that someone may have decided to quit the show. Melissa Deni pointed out that celebrity houseguests aren’t as familiar with “Big Brother” and that someone in the cast may not have realized exactly what they were getting into.
The “Celebrity Big Brother” production team might want to control how the viewers find out about a cast member leaving prematurely rather than having it spoiled by live feeds. It’s also possible that they will coordinate the person who wants to quit being evicted first so the entire eviction schedule isn’t thrown off.
Someone May Have COVID-19
In a Reddit thread discussing the reason for the delay, one Reddit user wrote, “I’m really thinking it could be a covid outbreak.” Several other users were quick to agree with this theory. It’s certainly a possibility even though the houseguests had to quarantine and get tested before entering the house.
However, other fans don’t think a COVID outbreak makes sense. “I don’t think it’s Covid. If it was a Covid outbreak they would have pulled premiere episode from airing,” one user wrote. It’s still possible, however, that someone in the house has symptoms and the production team is waiting to confirm that they don’t have COVID-19. That would explain why they have kept the live feeds start date ambiguous, only saying that there will be an “update” on Friday.
The Kardashians Theory
Although he himself admitted the theory was “wild speculation,” Rob Cesternino of “Rob Has a Podcast” discussed the possibility that powerful people from the “Kardashian machine” are behind the delay.
There are two celebrity houseguests with connections to the family of reality television royalty. Lamar Odom was married to Khloe Kardashian from 2009 to 2016 and has already talked about her in the “Celebrity Big Brother” house. Another houseguest, Shanna Moakler, was once married to Travis Barker who is now engaged to Kourtney Kardashian.
The Kardashian theory posits that the Kardashians’ publicity team has threatened legal action if houseguests say potentially damaging things about the family on the live feeds. Perhaps the production team wanted more time to brief the houseguests on what they can and can’t say in the house.
The Houseguests Need More Time to Get Used to Being Filmed 24/7
Another possibility is that the celebrity houseguests simply need a little more time getting used to being filmed 24/7. In a Reddit thread, one user proposed that the production team could be “teaching them (the houseguests) how to shower and change without exposing themselves. Probably with production alerting them when they mess up/expose.”
Houseguests also aren’t supposed to sing copyrighted songs which might take the celebrity houseguests a bit of practice, especially with a former boy band member and an “American Idol” alum in the house.
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