Julie Chen Moonves wants “Big Brother” to continue casting older contestants
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It's been an entertaining, topsy-turvy season of Big Brother. Could that have something to do with the age of the contestants?
Usually a haven for young twentysomething hotties, the Big Brother house this season has been populated by a much older cast of characters. While last summer's season 24 of the CBS reality franchise featured only one player over the age of 45 (Terrance "DJ Showtime" Higgins, who was 47), Big Brother 25 has featured four different contestants in that age group: Felicia Cannon (63), Cirie Fields (53), Bowie Jane (45), and Hisam Goueli (45). Not only that, but the cast has also featured five people in their 30s.
CBS Felicia Cannon and Cirie Fields on 'Big Brother' season 25
So is having a greater diversity in ages something host Julie Chen Moonves would like to continue to see moving forward? "Absolutely," the host tells EW. "And look how long Felicia and Cirie have lasted. I mean, they're going to be in at least the final six. And one of them will be in at least the final five if not taking it all the way. We used to have one older person, who was middle-aged plus, maybe every other season along with a bunch of young hotties."
Casting big characters over big hotties is usually a recipe for success, so the host is hopeful we'll see more of that in seasons to come. But in the meantime, there is a big live double eviction episode happening tonight, so we spoke to Chen Moonves about who's in the best spot among the final seven, who played the best among the pre-jury folks, if she would like to see more Survivor players enter the Big Brother house, and how come we no longer ever hear from the contestants' loved ones.
Sonja Flemming/CBS Julie Chen Moonves on season 25 of 'Big Brother'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, what do you make of this group we have left going into tonight's double eviction?
JULIE CHEN MOONVES: There are no true alliances this season. They are so disloyal to each other, other than Cirie and Jared. I mean, Felicia is going up to Jag and throwing Cirie under the bus. Cirie is trying to recruit Blue to be with her even though she and Felicia have a final four with Jag and Matt. Matt went to give her a heads-up that Jag is onto her. I mean, it's so crazy.
One change I was thinking about was how back in the day you all would have segments on the weekly eviction episodes where we would meet the family and loved ones of the contestants and get their perspective on what they thought about what they were doing in the house, which could be interesting if there was a showmance or really devious backstabbing behavior. Do you ever miss those, like back on season 16 when we saw Christine's husband and parents reacting to her flirting with Cody?
I do, but the truth is with the content in the house, there's so much story to be told that we don't have time for that. When we don't run the opening credits where you see the cast, then it's like, "Oh, it's a tight show. They have to use every second for taped pieces and that's it." So it's a nice problem to have, but I do miss seeing that. I wonder if we're going to even have — for the messages from home at least — the tearjerker show? I'm sure we will. Maybe in the wrap-up show.
You've had a few Big Brother players go to Survivor, but Cirie is the first Survivor player to then come on Big Brother. Would you like to see more Survivor players give it a shot in the house?
We broke Cirie! She has had enough. Survivor is a fraction of the time, and she happened to pick the season where it's going to go 99 days, longer than ever. I don't mind having Survivor people play Big Brother, but there's something so nice about a fresh group of unknowns. That's why I prefer that over even past players. Even if you bring in four past players as coaches, it's not as fresh. So I like to find new people and then I find it a compliment that other shows take them.
Which person among the folks who didn't make it to the jury do you think played the best game?
Hisam. He's smart and he's good, but he's not humble and he doesn't let anyone else talk. He was kind of like a team captain, but then he lost his team. He could have rallied, and he seemed good at competitions. He's smart, he's physical, but he didn't have the personality.
Kirsten, hard to judge her. Mecole, she just kind of floated through — smart, but she didn't have to do much to make it as far as she did. Izzy was in it. She was passionate about the game and likable and had teammates, had people working with her. Not Jared — he was too immature and played too hard, too quickly, rushing through things and telling Blue about Cirie being his mom. He just needed to grow up a little bit.
So I would say Hisam or Izzy. Reilly, maybe she could have been, but we didn't get to see enough. I don't think she could handle the pressure of the power. She could have been good at all the competitions, but handling the politics of the house and the pressure of the power of being HOH, I think she was a little bit too emotional for that role.
CBS Hisam Goueli and Reilly Smedley on 'Big Brother' season 25
What I think has been really interesting about this season is all the competition beasts because usually there's one, right? But you had Hisam at the beginning, and he was winning everything. Then you had Cameron winning everything, and now you have Jag winning everything. It's just like one comp beast replaces the other.
I know! I'm waiting for someone else other than Jag to rise to the occasion. Kind of like the season that Kaycee won. Tyler looked positioned to win and they went to the final two, but then towards the end, her win streak was undeniable. It's not like people didn't like Tyler, but it was, "Yeah, she won." So I'm waiting for, I don't know, maybe Matt to emerge as that person. Or Blue. She came in second in the POV, timing was good. She's got endurance — holding on for so long, hanging, getting smacked in that spinning game. So I'm waiting for another person to take some wins away from Jag.
Keeping in mind this person could get voted out in a matter of hours during the live double eviction tonight, who is in the best spot for the endgame?
Bowie Jane, because no one's even thinking about her! [Laughs] But at the end, she's not going to get the votes to win unless she suddenly becomes a comp beast overnight. But maybe Cirie. They have been so foolish to let her get by all these weeks. No one's necessarily gunning for her. Felicia might be throwing her under the bus a little bit, but not necessarily gunning for her.
Cirie's lucky that for tonight when Jag had the POV that he did the right thing and thought, "Well, I still have my target on Blue because she can win things and Cirie hasn't proven good in the challenges." But, in fairness, she never got picked to play in a Veto, so she was only playing in HOHs.
CBS Cirie Fields on 'Big Brother' season 25
It's remarkable seeing that they all seem to kind of know Cirie's past and know how dangerous she can be if she gets close to the end, and yet they're letting her stick around.
It's her charm. I think it's just she's very motherly and she's someone that you like as a person — that counts for something in Big Brother.
What is it like hosting Big Brother in the fall as opposed to the summer? I know you did it once before with Over the Top and you've done a spring season once before, but is your internal seasonal clock all messed up right now?
I'm like, "Wait, we're going to have Halloween in the Big Brother house?" Maybe I go as the Zingbot on the next live show. I have no idea. It's definitely messing with my wardrobe because the color I'm wearing next week feels a little summery, but it's Southern California, so it will be fine. Expect the unexpected, right?
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