The latest season of Big Brother: Celebrity Edition, or Celebrity Big Brother, isn't too far away from making its big premiere on CBS, but that’s not soon enough for the dedicated online fandom. Viewers want to know which celebrities are involved in the highly popular spinoff, and that always leads to rumors about who is involved. One very popular cast list leaked recently and made its rounds on the web recently, and there’s already reason to believe it’s not accurate.
For those who don’t frequent Twitter, the handle CBB Insider released a rumor-laden cast list that, quite frankly, seems a little too good to be true. Check out the list of potential cast members below, which is essentially a who’s who of reality television talent and other stars that fans would no doubt love to see compete in Celebrity Big Brother, even if they probably won't.
EXCLUSIVE: Meet all 14 celebrities entering the Celebrity Big Brother house. #CBBUS3 #BBCeleb Alexa PenavegaCurtis StoneErin BradyHope HicksJillian MichaelsJerry TrainorLamar OdomNeNe LeakesNe-YoTodrick HallTiffany PollardSha'carri RichardsonShangelaTyler Cameron pic.twitter.com/bJKiky2f2oJanuary 19, 2022
The list, at first glance, appears fairly believable. After all, there are no A-list celebrities or major superstars on the cast — such as a Jennifer Aniston or a Tom Holland — and all of those people seem like feasible entrants, given CBS’ past history of Celebrity Big Brother contestants. Plus, entertainers like Todrick Hall are noted Big Brother superfans, so a fan might look at this group and excitedly assume it’s the actual cast list.
For those desperately hoping that’s the case, I have some bad news. The first evidence the list could be bogus comes via TMZ. The outlet spoke to the rep for ousted Olympian Sha’Carri Richardson, Ashley Blackwood, who claimed that while CBS did contact Richardson to appear on Big Brother some months ago, the athlete declined and had no current plans to be a part of Celebrity Big Brother Season 3.
The next nail in this rumor's coffin is tied to the idea that former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks would try her hand at reality television and join the Celebrity Big Brother cast. The franchise welcomed both Omarosa and Anthony Scaramucci in the past, after all, so it's not the wildest idea. However, Politico’s political correspondent Meridith McGraw quickly dismissed Hicks' involvement with the post below:
Was wondering why Hope Hicks was trending on Twitter...seems a fake account tweeted she and Sean Spicer among others were joining Celebrity Big Brother (they are not) https://t.co/JXfWhT3DsXJanuary 19, 2022
Granted, McGraw’s statement might not be as rock-solid as hearing directly from Hope Hicks or her personal reps, but I’d put more stock in Politico than an anonymous spoiler account, even one that gets things right on occasion. If Hope Hicks is set to appear on Celebrity Big Brother, it seems that those working in the political journalism sphere aren’t aware of it.
As far as the others noted on the list, I’d wager it’s possible that one or two could appear, but I wouldn’t take a couple of good guesses as proof the entire list is legitimate. What’s more likely is that CBS looked at the people fans wanted for Celebrity Big Brother and contacted them well before this list was released. For example, there have been fans clamoring for interview standout Tiffany Pollard on America’s Celebrity Big Brother for years, so her involvement wouldn’t be surprising. As for the rest, I guess we can only wait and see!
Big Brother: Celebrity Edition premieres on CBS Wednesday, February 2nd at 8:00 p.m. ET. Hopefully, this season is a great appetizer for Season 24, which will premiere this coming summer.
