Julie Chen Announces Return As ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Host After Husband Les Moonves’ Scandal

Could you imagine Big Brother without Julie Chen? Neither could we! Fans of the long-running CBS reality show have been worried that the TV personality wouldn’t return as host of the series after her husband, Les Moonves, recently stepped down from his CEO of CBS role following sexual misconduct allegations. But on Tuesday, Nov. 27, Julie confirmed she will be hosting the second season of Celebrity Big Brother.

CBS confirmed their winter line-up and Julie also took to Instagram to share a promotional photo of her from the show. “#BBCeleb the countdown begins ???,” she captioned the snap. The series premieres Monday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. EST.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqsQDAGgx7G/

Fans immediately took to the comments to express their excitement. “I can’t wait! And I’m so glad that you’re staying on BB!!?,” one fan said. “So glad you’re hosting,” another commented. “YAY!!! BB is best with Julie,” a fan confessed. 

The speculation that Julie wouldn’t return to BB heightened after she concluded latter episodes of the show’s 20th season with the line, “I’m Julie Chen Moonves. Goodnight,” amid Les’ scandal. CBS’ press release for Celebrity Big Brother titled her the same.

But while the 48-year-old said goodbye to her chair on The Talk, she’s not giving up Big Brother quite yet (although it’s still unclear if she’ll return for the summer season, which typically premieres at the end of June). “[Julie] has always been very hands-on as the host,” a source previously told People. “She knows everyone’s name on the crew, and she is very involved. She’s been doing this show for 18 years; she’s the face of Big Brother. A lot of the crew members are millennials who grew up watching her, and she has been so great to them. She’s very approachable, and she really cares about making the show as good as possible.”