Celebrity Big Brother producers address show's prolonged absence (exclusive)

If you are missing the antics of ordinary Americans being tortured by a junior artificial intelligence on Big Brother, we have some bad news for you. And if you are missing the hilarity of former franchise all-stars dressed ridiculously as Christmas elves on Big Brother Reindeer Games, we have some bad news for you as well.

That’s because not only are we in the seemingly endless Big Brother off-season, and not only are we being deprived of Britney Haynes face-down in the artificial snow on Reindeer Games this holiday season, but it appears we are once again going to be deprived of the majesty (and absurdity) of Celebrity Big Brother in 2025 as well.

The winter celebrity version of the summer franchise first debuted in 2018 as nightly counter programming against the Winter Olympics. The season lasted 13 episodes over two-and-a-half weeks, finishing with a Marissa Jaret Winokur victory over fellow finalist Ross Matthews. The series then returned a year later, with scared-of-the-dark Tamar Braxton triumphing over NFL star Ricky Williams.

Celebrity Big Brother then went into cold storage, as it were, until it was thawed out to go head-to-had against the Olympics again in 2022. That season featured such luminaries as Todd Bridges, Lamar Odom, and an oddly hypnotic Chris Kattan. And since then… nothing.

Almost two full years ago, we investigated the mysterious absence of life’s greatest guilty pleasure on CBS’ programming schedule. At that time, our source at the network confirmed there were no imminent plans to stage another installment of the series that once pitted Shannon Elizabeth against Metta World Peace and a stuffed owl. To which we responded, “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

So when 2023 and 2024 came and went without D-listers competing in a Head of Household competition, we had to take drastic measures. That meant going straight to show’s executive producers and inquiring plainly: When is Celebrity Big Brother coming back?

“We've been saying the same thing!” EP Allison Grodner says.

In a world in which Big Brother seasons can last 100 days, and episodes of Survivor keep getting longer and longer, is there really no time on the CBS schedule to watch Kato Kaelin and Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci ride a mechanical horse in a Power of Veto contest? What gives, Grodner?

“If you look at it,” the producer responds, “and again, we can't speak for CBS, the history of Celebrity Big Brother has it going against the Winter Olympics.”

Wellllll, not necessarily. The 2019 edition had no stars and stripes to contend with, but yes, we acknowledge that two of the three seasons have gone up against the Olympics. “That's true,” Grodner replies. “We did try the back-to-back, and we've heard rumblings that [airing opposite the Olympics] might be the way that Celebrity is utilized.”

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Those might be the network’s plans, but that doesn’t mean the producers aren’t pushing for more of the installment filled with famous faces. “We can't speak for CBS, but we agree with you. We think Celebrity is its own thing and is worthy of being on every other year or annually. It's been a lot of fun, so we're hoping to see it come back.”

Fellow executive producer Rich Meehan echoes Grodner’s comments. “Yeah, we would love to do it. There are usually much bigger things in play, like it's scheduling and how much time they have on air, and there are  a lot of factors that are much bigger than Big Brother that go into that. But we love doing it. It's really fun, and it would be great to do again, But sometimes we have to wait and see how many scripted shows are happening and all that stuff. There's a lot of other things that go into it.”

Again, we say BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! While Celebrity Big Brother does not look to be gracing our screens in 2025, all is not lost! Start circling Feb. 6 to 22, 2026, on your calendar. Those are the dates for the next Winter Olympics. And, hopefully, if all works out, George Santos becoming the next HOH and putting Emmanuel Lewis and Bai Ling up for eviction.