Jerry O’Connell Is Temporarily Replacing Julie Chen as ‘Big Brother’ Host: Find Out Why

For the first time in the show’s history, Julie Chen will not be the one hosting a live eviction on Big Brother. She revealed the news in a post on her X account as well as the reason behind the change on Thursday, September 12.

“Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and went to see my good friend who is an ENT. That night he called to say I have COVID. Thankfully, this is only the second time for me and it’s been very mild. No fever and just a sore throat,” she wrote.

“Unfortunately, I am still testing positive as of this morning … despite feeling good, strong and my cough being gone, I must sit tonight’s Big Brother live eviction show out,” the statement continued. “Thank you to Jerry O’Connell for filling in for me. I hope Jerry fits into my dress, has a ball and tells the houseguests I miss them but will be watching from home.”

“See? Chenbot is human after all!” the TV personality joked. “Love one another and enjoy tonight’s show.”

Jerry, 50, is set to take center stage on Big Brother tonight. The Talk posted a video on their Instagram account of Jerry preparing for the gig for the first time ever.

The caption said, “@mrjerryoc is on double duty today with a live show today AND hosting @bigbrothercbs. But first, @juliechenmoonves joins us on today’s show.”

In the video, Jerry called himself the “substitute teacher for Big Brother.”

“Julie Chen Moonves is a little under the weather. We love her. But first, Julie Chen Moonves is going to be on The Talk. We’re so excited it’s going to be her big return to our show,” he said. “We got an eviction tonight. Let’s get to it.”

The comments section of the video flooded with support for Jerry, who will be stepping into the Big Brother hosting gig for the first time ever.

One person wrote, “JERRRRRY OMG AAAH IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS UR GONNA SLAY OMGGGG EVICTION BABY EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.”

Another said, “LET’S GO! HUGE! MR. BING BONG IN THE BB HOUSE,” while a third commenter wrote, “Love @juliechenmoonves and hope she has a speedy recovery ? ❤️ @mrjerryoc you’re going to be awesome on BB tonight, eviction night.”

Julie discussed her COVID diagnosis during a call in to an episode of The Talk prior to Jerry’s Big Brother debut. “Tonight is a big night,” he told Julie. She then explained that the contestant evicted would become the first member of the jury this season.

Obviously, Jerry is no stranger to hosting on TV, as he has been an official cohost on The Talk since 2021. He and his wife, Rebecca Romijn, also cohosted The Real Love Boat together.

Back in April, it was announced that The Talk would be ending after one final season. Jerry compared the ending of the talk show to Pat Sajak leaving Wheel of Fortune after 41 seasons as host.

“I’m gonna tell you, I was actually cool with it until I watched Vanna White‘s goodbye video yesterday,” he told Entertainment Tonight in June. “I found it to be very emotional [when Pat said] ‘Vanna, we love you. I know this is the end of a chapter, but it’s the beginning of a new one. We love you, Vanna White.’ That made me kind of emotional.”