CBS Julie Chen Moonves on the 'Big Brother' set
Follow along with our live blog of the “Big Brother” 2021 premiere. Season 23 has a 90-minute live move-in episode and we will be here for every exciting moment, from the team captain competition, choosing teams, the Head of Household competition, and the premiere-ending offer that will be a game-changer for the first Head of Household.
We are super excited for this season. It is full of colorful characters, there are no returning players, there is a new competition to look forward to, and it sounds like the season will be full of tempting offers that will shake up the game.
We also have reason to believe that Dr. Will Kirby is returning as the “Big Brother” neighbor and he teased for us that he thinks season 23 could be “one of the best seasons that we have seen in years!”
All times Eastern.
7:50: It’s almost here! I haven’t been this excited about a season of “Big Brother” in… I don’t even know how long. Season 18, maybe? The cast looks great and the twists sound awesome, so hopefully, it will live up to the hype level. Julie is apparently just as excited as we all are.
It’s here! The premiere of #BB23 🤗🤗 RT if you’re as excited as I am!!
8:05: They’re playing for more money than every before! That’s a fun twist. Time to meet Brandon “Frenchie” French, Derek Frazier, Travis Long, and Xavier Prather. Derek F. seems super fun, he’s definitely an early favorite of mine. Travis feels like every other good-looking guy who has ever been on the show. Frenchie is very much in the Donny and Cliff vein on the surface, but he’s a total darkhorse. He knows the show inside and out. Xavier seems super smart, but he’ll have to be careful not to be seen as too much of a threat too early.
8:10: They head for the backyard for their first comp. The backyard is nuts, by the way. The comp involves rearranging plexiglass sheets to match a poster positioned behind it. Frenchie finishes pretty quickly and wins.
8:20: The next four houseguests are Azah Awasum, Britini D’Angelo, Alyssa Lopez, and Whitney Williams. My reactions to them are all kind of the same — they all seem pretty great. Alyssa may look like the token super hot girl, but it sounds like she’s actually a huge fan of the show and pretty sharp. Whitney is also a bit like that, but she’s got a great story, so fingers crossed she’s another Britney Haynes or Janelle Pierzina.
Also, lest you think these are pre-recorded Diary Room sessions, since this is airing live, they’re not — these are probably the little bits they each recorded for the team captains to watch to decide who they want to pick for their teams.
8:25: The girls take roughly the same amount to complete the comp as the first group of guys did. Whitney wins, but the ladies were also trying a bit harder — several of them were trying to ring in and nobody from the men was.
Also, can we talk about how impressive the house is this year? The design team must have gotten a raise.
THIS. HOUSE. 😍 #BB23
8:30: The next four houseguests are Kyland Young, Christian Birkenberger, Derek Xiao, and Brent Champagne. Kyland and Derek seem super cool, Christian has potential and Brent is a dude-bro who should get evicted early but will probably go all the way or something. Ugh.
8:35: These four guys dispatch the challenge quickly. It feels like Christian won faster than either Frenchie or Whitney, he was definitely trying to win.
8:40: The final four houseguests are Sarah Steagull, Claire Rehfuss, Hannah Chaddha, and Tiffany Mitchell. Honestly, there isn’t a single woman whom I dislike based on the first impressions. I can’t remember the last season I could say that.
And they’re off! Everyone is officially home for the summer. #BB23 #BBFrenchie
8:50: Claire manages to win the comp also very quickly, she and Christian were definitely the fastest. So the team captains are Claire, Christian, Frenchie, and Whitney.
8:55: The houseguests are informed about the team twist. They will start in teams of four, a set-up that will last for four weeks. Whichever team has the HOH on it will be safe for the week. It’s time for the four winners to pick teams. The BB slot machine will give each captain two choices and they’ll get a snippet to judge off of, then it’ll move to the next team. Frenchie picks first. He’s the Jokers team.
9:00: Frenchie gets to pick between Hannah and Azah and he picks Azah. Whitney of the Aces team gets to pick between Brent and Travis and picks Brent. Christian of the Kings team gets to choose between Alyssa and Tiffany and he picks Alyssa. Claire of the Queens team gets to choose between Kyland and Xavier and picks Kyland.
Round 2. Frenchie gets to choose between Britini and Sarah and he picks Britini. Whitney gets to choose between Derek X. and Derek F. and she picks Derek X. Christian gets to choose between Xavier and Derek F. and chooses Xavier. Claire gets to choose between Sarah and Tiffany and chooses Tiffany. Round 3. Frenchie gets Travis and Derek F. and picks Derek. Whitney gets to choose between Hannah and Sarah and picks Hannah.
9:05: So the teams are Jokers – Frenchie, Azah, Britini, and Derek F.; Aces – Whitney, Brent, Derek X., and Hannah; Kings – Christian, Alyssa, Xavier and Sarah; and Queens – Claire, Kyland, Tiffany, and Travis.
9:15: Time for the HOH comp. The winning team is safe for the week and the captain becomes HOH for the week. This comp is “House of Cards.” Each captain must build a house of cards puzzle on a platform that the other three teammates are balancing. There will also be cards falling from the air at various times that could knock the puzzle over. Also, the last-place team is the Have-Nots for the week.
Frenchie (Jokers) makes quick work of the challenge, winning HOH and safety for his team. The other teams finish Claire (Queens), then Whitney (Aces), and so Christian and the other Kings are have-nots.
9:25: Julie reveals to the houseguests that the prize this year is $750,000. That’s great. But there is another huge reward tonight. Frenchie can roll two giant dice onto a small table. If he lands them both in 45 seconds, he gets safety for two weeks but if he loses, they lose safety for the week, and instead Claire is HOH and the Queens are safe.
9:28: Frenchie refuses the offer, which — DUH. This is NOT an offer that someone can’t refuse. An offer you can’t refuse is “$50,000 for you, but your team loses safety and HOH” or something like that. I feel like the producers could have done better with this. Why would you give up safety the first week?
Frenchie is made to play out the comp anyway and it looks like he would have won, but that’s a moot point now. Thanks for joining us tonight, gang! Super excited for the season.
“Big Brother” season 23 premieres Wednesday, July 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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