Julie Chen confirmed they removed some Big Brother: All-Stars contestants after testing positive of COVID-19.
Chen told CBSN Los Angeles that the Big Brother: All-Stars contenders had their own homes for two weeks, where they were constantly tested before the show’s season premiere. Those who tested positive were removed before the filming began.
The return of Big Brother: All-Stars
“We flew in a bunch of people, more than 16,” the host said, via Fox News. “And some people I thought were definitely going in the house; they tested positive for COVID-19 so they couldn’t go in.”
At the time, Chen was already expecting the unexpected. “I’ll just find out when I need to find out,” she added.
Talking about the show, she joked that being in the Big Brother house is the “original quarantine.”
“We did this 20 years ago, and it’s like, we were ahead of our time,” the 50-year-old host said. “And now we’re all living in quarantine.”
In celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary, they aimed to bring back other participants from the past seasons.
Hence, Big Brother: All-Stars will be an “interesting” one.
“They’ve played this game before, some of them know each other from the Big Brother world, and some of them don’t,” she added. “But, I’m sure they’ve all heard of each other.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDh_Nn5psPi/
The extra precautions contenders, staff need to follow
Meanwhile, Big Brother: All-Stars will take extra precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CNN noted.
In an interview with SiriusXM, Chen revealed the production staff needed to wear face masks and take the COVID-19 test weekly.
“I’m the only person that’s not going to be wearing a mask for the limited time when I’m on television, but when we’re in commercial or what have you, that mask is going on,” she said.
The crew also needed to wear color-coded lanyards, which held the only places they could go by matching each color.
“So let’s say you’re in the orange pod and your lanyard and ID has orange on it. You can only go into the spots where orange can go into,” Chen explained.
Also, when they evict a houseguest, social distancing will be imposed. There will no shake hands and hugs with anyone, even with the host.
All-Stars returning contenders
Meanwhile, CBS already announced the cast of Big Brother: All-Stars. Fan-favorites, past winners, and famous personalities all return for the show’s 20th anniversary.
The past winners Nicole Franzel and Ian Terry are now back, along with the fan-favorites Da’Vonne Rogers and Kaysar Ridha. Janelle Pierzina and Dani Briones will once again try their luck to win this time, Deadline noted.
Bayleigh Dayton, Enzo Palumbo, Cody Calafiore, Kevin Campbell, and Christmas Abbot also join in Big Brothers: All-Stars. David Alexander, Keesha Smith, Memphis Garrett, Nicole Anthony, and Tyler Crispen are also part of it.
Featured image used courtesy of ET Canada/YouTube Screenshot