Julie Chen Moonves addresses her future as Big Brother host
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Big Brother will premiere its 25th season Aug. 2 on CBS, and it will do so with the same host who was there from day 1 — Julie Chen Moonves. Yes, the face of the show (who originally turned down the job) is set to once again remind us to expect the unexpected. But how much longer does she want to remain on the job?
But first… when she considers the question, Chen Moonves can't help but start by looking back to a time when hosting Big Brother was just one of her jobs. Back when the reality franchise began in the summer of 2000, Chen Moonves was also still working as the morning news reader on CBS' The Early Show. That meant cross-country flights each week back and forth between the two coasts.
CBS Julie Chen Moonves of 'Big Brother'
"I was doing morning news and Big Brother for multiple years," recalls Chen Moonves. "And I got it down to a science where I was on a plane twice a week, every week, so I could still do my main job hosting the morning news in New York, and then Thursday nights kicking someone out of the Big Brother house."
Laughs the host, "I was a younger person then. I don't know at age 53 if I could still do those morning news hours and a plane ride twice a week."
Not only was Chen Moonves adjusting to the schedule, but she was also adjusting to the new format of reality TV. "It took me a few seasons to get my sea legs because I was so used to being a news person in the morning," she explains. "I'd be serious, which is why I think I became the Chenbot. But then around seasons five, six, and seven... I was like, all right, embrace the Chenbot. Maybe I can show a little bit of personality."
Things also became considerably easier from a travel standpoint once Chen Moonves moved out west full time to host CBS' daytime answer to The View. "By the time The Talk came around, that was like a cake walk. Going across the parking lot, I was like, 'Why would I ever give up this gig? It just got easier!' And then when I left The Talk, this is my only gig now, so why would I ever give it up? I'm like, 'This is now easier than I could have ever dreamed!'"
CBS Julie Chen Moonves on 'Big Brother'
And Chen Moonves' time gabbing with the ladies of The Talk also helped the host show a little more personality on her prime-time gig. "Working at The Talk for eight years helped me with that because I got to be real Julie. I got to show shades of my sense of humor. But it's not about me, it's about the Houseguests. And I'm just the conductor driving the train — praying that we get off the air on time with an HOH named."
Ah, but how long does Chen Moonves want to drive that train? And what would make her choose to step off for a new conductor? "I look at my joints," laughs the host. "I look at, 'how do my hips and my knees feel this morning?'"
She then pauses and considers: "I like to take one season at a time. Going into season 25, I'm like, 'I never want it to end.' I think there would have to be a few things [to make me step away], like if I feel like the public is getting tired of me or the show is not what I want it to be. But with [executive producers] Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan leading the way, I can't imagine it ever being something that I feel is not in alignment with me or what the show should be in my mind."
For Chen Moonves, the decision to go will ultimately come down to a feeling, for both her and Big Brother as a whole. "I think you know when it's time to go, whether as a show or me as a host, and I just don't see signs of that right now. But you just never know."
In other words, expect the unexpected.
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