Big Brother Season 23 Release Date, Cast, And Auditions - What We Know So Far
The Big Brother train keeps chugging along. On October 28, 2020, hours before the season 22 finale, Deadline reported that the show was renewed for its 23rd season and Julie Chen-Moonves signed a new contract to return as host of the long-running reality TV show. Of course, season 22 was much different than a typical Big Brother season. It was the second-ever Big Brother All-Stars edition after season 7, bringing back former winners, runners up, and fan favorites. It was also the second Big Brother season to feature a live premiere. And, like most TV shows and movies that have been produced since 2020, Big Brother 22 was dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed back its season premiere by six weeks to August 5 (via Deadline).
Big Brother 23 should be much more in line with earlier Big Brother seasons, but there will no doubt still be plenty of twists and tweaks to keep things interesting. Here's everything we know about Big Brother season 23.
When is the season premiere for Big Brother 23?
According to Variety, Big Brother 23 will debut during the summer of 2021. That's in line with nearly every other Big Brother season since the show premiered in 2000 — with the exception of last season's delayed premiere. Most Big Brother seasons premiere in the last week of June and run through the end of September, and it looks like the next one will be no different. According to Screen Rant, season 23 will premiere on July 7 just before Love Island season 3. The new episodes will most likely continue airing three per week, on Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. Per Variety, the Wednesday and Thursday episodes were still among the highest-rated for their time slots across all demographics.
Come July, Big Brother it will join other long-running unscripted CBS series like The Amazing Race, which will be entering its 33rd season, and Survivor, which will be entering its 41st. Survivor 41 was notably supposed to air last fall, but was also impacted by the pandemic.
Who will be in the cast of Big Brother 23?
CBS hasn't announced any of the cast members for Big Brother 23, but it seems safe to say that it will be an all-new cast and not returning all-stars, because Big Brother 22 was an all-star season and the show has only done two in its history. Otherwise, it's anyone's guess who will be this year's contestants, or "HouseGuests" as the show calls them. One thing we do know is the cast of Big Brother 23 will definitely be more diverse than past Big Brother casts have been. In November 2020, CBS announced a "diversity pledge" for all its unscripted programming. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, CBS instituted a policy that requires at least 50% of all it reality show casts to be Black, indigenous, or peoples of color, starting with Big Brother 23.
The announcement came months after several Black former Survivor contestants participated in a Zoom panel to discuss how racism and bias affected their experience while appearing on the show (via The AV Club).
While all contestants selected will still be competing individually, EW reports that the new season will include a brand new formatting wrinkle: The cast will be divided into two teams.
How can you audition for Big Brother 23?
Applications to join the cast of Big Brother 23 opened on February 15, 2021, and according to Big Brother Network, the show will be making its decisions in May. Anyone who wants to apply can do so at the Big Brother casting website. All applicants must be 21 years old by June 2021. In addition to the application itself, applicants will need to provide photos and an application video that showcases their personalities. Last year, the show's longtime casting director Robyn Kass tweeted a tip for people putting together their videos: don't hurry. "My advice is- take ur time & think about what you want to say. You have months to plan, don't rush."
Anyone who does apply should know what they're getting into. In addition to the usual strict secrecy requirements involved with being on a reality show, Big Brother HouseGuests will be living with about a dozen strangers with little to no privacy, for about 100 days straight. But then again, people have done a lot worse for a lot less than $500,000.