Getty TV Personality Julie Chen attends the 2015 CBS Upfront at The Tent
Great news for “Big Brother” fans. Mitch Graham, the senior vice president for alternative programming at CBS, has said that “Big Brother” will be on the air much earlier in 2021 than it was last year. Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming 23rd season of the show.
Graham Said They’re Getting Ready for the ‘One-Two Punch’ of ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Love Island’
In 2020, “Big Brother” had to push back its 22nd season, which ended up being an all-star season, because of the COVID-19 pandemic halting television production until networks and companies could figure out ways to produce shows safely.
Because of that, “Big Brother” didn’t premiere until August instead of the normal June premiere date. Graham told Deadline that this year looks to get back on track and they’re pairing it with “Love Island,” a reality show about finding love that the network was also eventually able to safely produce last summer.
“I’m excited to see how having ‘Big Brother’ more in pattern this summer combined with ‘Love Island,’ that’s a good, solid, one-two punch for the schedule. It gives us a lot of hours, a lot of content and hopefully, we can use each of those shows to feed off one another,” said Graham.
Graham Also Revealed ‘The Amazing Race’ is the Tricky One
“Survivor” is currently in production in Fiji and Graham confirmed they are shooting seasons 41 and 42 back-to-back — though they both might be shortened filming schedules.
But he said the show giving them the most trouble is “The Amazing Race” because of its globe-trotting nature.
“There’s a little bit of a longer way on [‘The Amazing Race’] until the world officially opens back up,” said Graham. “We’ve explored some other options such as going to Covid-light countries, but I don’t think it’s the same, you want the experience of traveling the globe. Once we feel we can do that safely, we’re going to get them back out there, we would love to have that show back as fast as we can.”
Luckily for “The Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan, CBS recently renewed “Tough as Nails” for seasons three and four, so he can continue hosting that reality competition series while he waits for “The Amazing Race” to go back into production.
CBS viewers will also get another reality competition show added to the schedule in the form of “Come Dance With Me,” a show that features “exceptionally talented young dancers from across the country will invite one inspirational, and untrained, family member or other adult who has supported their dance dreams, to become their dance partner for a chance to strut their stuff for a grand prize,” according to the CBS press release.
It continues, “Each week, these aspiring kids will share their love of dance with their mother, father, grandparent or other hero on an uplifting and emotional journey to learn and perform challenging routines, with the assistance of professional choreographers, in a competition with other duos.”
Deadline also reports that actress and dancer Jenna Dewan is set for one of the judges of the new series, which begins filming in May.
Big Brother U.S. returns in summer 2021 for its 23rd season. Big Brother Canada returned for its ninth season on March 3.
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