Celebrity Big Brother last aired two years ago, and based on the awkward and tense finale and other controversies, I wouldn't blame fans who thought it wasn't returning. That said, we had no idea if or when the spinoff to the CBS reality series would return and be a part of the 2025 TV schedule until recently. Thanks to executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan, we now know at least when we should expect it if it comes back to television.
The heads of Celebrity Big Brother, still riding the high from a fandom who absolutely loved Big Brother 26, spoke to EW about when the spinoff could find its way back to television for Season 4. The gist was neither one could give a definitive answer on when CBS might renew the series, but Allison Grodner gave an idea of when that might happen:
If you look at it, and again, we can't speak for CBS, the history of Celebrity Big Brother has it going against the Winter Olympics.
While Celebrity Big Brother did air one season outside of the Winter Olympics, two out of the three seasons were scheduled as counter-programming to the event. This would mean that there's a possibility that CBS will prepare for another season of CBB in February of 2026. So, for those eagerly awaiting some sort of Big Brother spinoff after Reindeer Games was confirmed not to be happening in 2024, we may have this to look forward to.
It's reassuring to hear, if nothing else, considering Celebrity Big Brother Season 3 had me wondering if CBS decided it wasn't worth the trouble. The live feeds were delayed after the show started, with whispers between Houseguests that there was an altercation between contestants. Then, there was just a ton of pettiness from the cast over how Todrick Hall talked about them in private, and it would be easy to assume other celebrities would see that and not want to participate in a future season.
Rich Meehan didn't address any of that, though, and just echoed the fact that it just comes down to CBS:
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.
Unfortunately, the days are gone when Big Brother just gets an exclusive show available for those with a Paramount+ subscription. As such, spinoffs rely on what CBS has primed for its television schedule, and as is often the case, BB returns when there's nothing big for CBS to run otherwise. In fairness, it's the perfect program for when nothing's on, because fans can devote themselves to it entirely should they choose to do so.
If nothing else, we now know when to expect a new season of Celebrity Big Brother should it return. That's not a definitive answer on whether it will return, but it does dismiss any notion that the network doesn't want the show back due to events of previous seasons. I do hope to see it return, and hopefully, the cast they choose will be just as thrilling as the groups for previous seasons.
Celebrity Big Brother's previous seasons are available on Paramount+. Check out those seasons if you never have because they are worth checking out, especially for those who are missing the reality show as new shows begin to wind down for the year.
