Julie Chen Moonves says that Meredith Vieira was CBS’s No. 1 pick for “Big Brother” host ahead of its 2000 air date.Photo:Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty, Paul Archuleta/Getty
Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty, Paul Archuleta/Getty
Julie Chen Moonvesis spilling decades-oldBig Brothertea.
Twenty-plus years after taking her gig as host of the CBS reality show, Chen Moonves, 53, revealed that she was not the No. 1 pick for the presenting slot.
“I wasn’t the first choice,” she revealed toEntertainment Tonight.
The top name on the list of potential hosts, according to the current presenter?Meredith Vieira.
The 69-year-old journalist, who was co-moderating a show on a different network at the time (ABC’sThe View) turned down the gig, Chen Moonves revealed.
Now the face of the show, it may be difficult forBig Brotherfans to imagine anyone but Chen Moonves in the host’s shoes, but she confirmed through husband Les Moonves that Vieira almost filled them first.
“I said, ‘You know, I heard stories back when I was cast onBig Brotherto host that you guys asked Meredith Vieira first’ — and he said it was true,” Chen Moonves told the outlet.
Joy Behar, Star Jones, Meredith Vieira and Barbara Walters of ABC’s “The View.".Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
The former CEO said he thought Vieira’s reputation would remedy the “trashy” nature of the show, which first aired in 2000.
“He said, ‘I knewBig Brotherwas going to be kind of a trashy show … So, we wanted to class it up with the host,’” Chen Moonves toldET, adding that the network offered the job to Viera because she “was a very well-respected name in the business.”
Instead of joining the cast of the long-running reality show, Vieira opted to stay in-network, hosting a daytime version of ABC’sWho Wants to Be a Millionairein 2002, and went on to co-hostThe Today Showin 2006, where she stayed for a decade.
“I was ‘in house,’” she toldET. “And when they offered me the job, they were one month away from launching the show.”
“Big Brother” host julie Chen Moonves, who has been hosting the show since 2000, in 2022.CBS
CBS
While reflecting on her career-defining role asBig Brotherhost ahead of its 25th season, Chen Moonves said she knows that she was “meant to host” the show but acknowledged that her start was a little rocky.
“I was terrible in the beginning,” she admitted toET. “I’ve grown so much as a human being and as a host … And I love it. I can’t imagine not hostingBig Brotheranymore.”
She has become so inseparable from the show, in fact, that Chen Moonves said people often ask her if she is Big Brother.
“People sometimes think, ‘Oh, you’re Big Brother, right?'” — an inquiry she said she playfully shuts down, saying, “I am the Chenbot and I am the host.”
Doug Benc/Getty
“I have no idea how many more years this is gonna go on but right now, the way I’m feeling, I hope it never ends," she said.
The host added that “looking back now” — with 24 drama-filledBig Brotherseasons under her belt — “I know I was meant to host this show.”
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Season 25 ofBig Brotherpremieres Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
source: people.com
