Julie Chen Moonves Was ‘Forced to Take’ 'Big Brother' Hosting Role and Met with ‘Hate’ for First Season

'Big Brother' returns to CBS for its 25th season on Aug. 2

It’s hard to remember that Big Brother wasn’t always a smashing success.

As the reality show’s 25th season quickly approaches, host Julie Chen Moonves is opening up about the challenges she faced during Big Brother’s infamous first season, which first launched back in 2000.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chen Moonves revealed that she actually didn’t want to host the series initially, but was “forced” to take on the gig. At the time, she was the CBS Early Show news reader and had only been in the position for five months.

Related: Julie Chen Moonves Thinks Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady Should Have a 'Showmance' on 'Celebrity Big Brother'

“I originally turned down the job,” the host said. “I was forced to take it, so I took it. I didn't know what I was in for. I assumed it was going to be bigger than Survivor — just in a house with air conditioning.”

“I thought, 'Ooh, this is going to really change the face of television,’ only to receive the worst reviews from every angle on season 1,” she continued. “TV critics hated the concept of the show. They hated the lighting. They hated the IKEA-looking furniture. They hated the house. They hated everything."

Not only was the first season critically panned, but Chen Moonves herself was also the subject of harsh criticism — to the point where she worried she was going to be fired from CBS altogether.

“Externally, people hated me. Critics internally — people at CBS News — wanted me fired from the news division,” she shared. “I thought I was going to lose my job doing morning news because Andy Rooney spoke out publicly against me when I hosted Big Brother … I was like, 'Oh my God, Andy Rooney's going to have me fired!' ”

“I thought, number one, we're not going to finish season 1. Number two, I'm probably going to get fired completely from the network,” she added. “That's it for my career. I'm going back [to] Dayton and begging for my job back there as a local news reporter.”

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Fortunately, she couldn’t have been more wrong about the future of both Big Brother and her career. The series was renewed for season 2 and she was asked to host again, this time under new producers, Arnold Shapiro and Allison Grodner.

Ultimately, Chen Moonves credits Shapiro and Grodner for turning the series around and making it successful for so many years. Season 2 saw major changes to the show — it focused more heavily on competition and gameplay and no longer had viewers vote contestants out.

“Arnold and Allison [Grodner] turned the show upside down and made it what it is today,” she said. "If it wasn't for Arnold and Allison, I honestly don't think we would be here talking about the 25th season."

Each season of Big Brother follows a group of contestants (known as “HouseGuests”) who must live together in a house away from the outside world — while being continuously monitored by cameras and microphones — in order to compete for a cash prize. Throughout the season, contestants are “evicted” from the house through voting by other contestants.

Related: Julie Chen Moonves Says She's 'Excited' to Have More Diversity in the 'Big Brother' Season 23 Cast

In addition to the original series, Big Brother has spawned two spinoffs, Big Brother: Over the Top and Celebrity Big Brother, and several companion shows. The series is based on the 1999 Dutch reality show franchise created by John de Mol Jr.

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Season 25 of Big Brother premieres Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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