Big Brother: Everything We Know About Season 25

The Writers Guild strike is still in full force, which means CBS is going to be relying all the more heavily on unscripted shows for its programming this summer and even into the fall. With that in mind, the network has announced it's pushing the usual July premiere of Big Brother back by a month, so fans will have to wait a few more weeks to get their summer reality TV fix. As usual, Big Brother producers are keeping their cards close to the vest as far as specifics for the new season. But there are at least a few things we know heading into the landmark 25th season.

When will Big Brother 25 premiere?

The silver-anniversary season of Big Brother will premiere on Wednesday, August 2 with a live 90-minute episode. It'll be only the second time in Big Brother history that a summer season will have premiered in August — the 2020 season didn't debut until August 5th due to COVID delays. That installment ran through the end of October, so expect a similar timeline for Season 25, especially since CBS is likely delaying the season in order to shore up fall programming amid the WGA strike.

Who is in the Big Brother 25 cast?

CBS announced the 16 new Big Brother cast members on July 31st. It's a group that includes Jared Fields, who is the son of Survivor legend Cirie Fields; Felicia Cannon, who at age 63 is the oldest woman to ever compete on Big Brother; and Matt Klotz, who is the first deaf contestant to ever compete on the show. More details are available via the Big Brother Twitter feed.

Introducing the #BB25 houseguests… there are endless possibilities awaiting them 👀 pic.twitter.com/rMjGMnCly8

— Big Brother (@CBSBigBrother) July 31, 2023

What is the format of Big Brother 25?

Besides the promise of all new players, CBS is keeping tight-lipped about any possible format changes or twists. The show will continue to be hosted by Julie Chen-Moonves, and Thursday night eviction episodes will once again be live. CBS also confirmed that the show's traditional live feeds, where fans can observe the houseguests 24/7 in real time, will be available via Paramount+. This is a crucial confirmation, since the most recent season of Big Brother Canada controversially did away with the live feeds.

Will returning players be involved in any way?

CBS aired a "25th Anniversary Celebration" of Big Brother on July 26th. The special was a look back at the last 24 seasons of the show and featured interviews with host Julie Chen Moonves and past players like Janelle Pierzina, Kaysar Ridha, Danielle Reyes, Frankie Grande, five of the six members of the BB23 alliance The Cookout (sorry, Kyland), and Big Brother 24 winner Taylor Hale.

And then there's the whole thing with the time laser.

What's Up with the Time Laser on Big Brother 25?

On Friday, July 28th, CBS released a video of Big Brother fan faves Danielle Reyes, Frankie Grande, and Britney Haynes "sneaking into" the Big Brother house and getting up to some real shenanigans. With Zingbot levels of acting skill (fear not, SAG-AFTRA, this was filmed before the strike was announced), Danielle, Frankie, and Britney smuggled in a "time laser," with the intent to turn back the hands of time and right the wrongs that led to each of them losing their initial BB seasons.

🚨 WATCH OUT 🚨 These Big Brother legends broke into the #BB25 house and unleashed this season’s twist… what do you think it all means? 👀

Catch the full reveal during the season premiere, Wednesday, August 2nd at 8/7c on @cbs and @paramountplus. pic.twitter.com/XetvKvq912

— Big Brother (@CBSBigBrother) July 28, 2023

Of course, things go awry, and the laser wreaks havoc all over the house in ways that we're sure to find out about as Season 25 plays out. According to a CBS press release, Danielle, Frankie, and Britney "unleashed the BIG BROTHER season 25 twist that will be fully revealed in the special 90-minute live move-in episode" on August 2nd. On the anniversary special, Chen Moonves did make a point of saying, "If you watch the premiere carefully and closely, you'll see some old familiar faces." So clearly the notion of turning back time in the Big Brother house will play a part in this season's theme and twists.

Will there be Big Brother players on The Challenge?

CBS is pairing Big Brother with The Challenge: USA, a spinoff of the MTV reality competition, featuring the stars of various CBS reality shows. While the season's lineup of reality stars hasn't been officially announced, the heavily rumored cast includes Season 24's Alyssa Snider, Ameerah Jones, and Monte Taylor, Season 23's Alyssa Lopez and Tiffany Mitchell, Season 20's Tyler Crispen and Fessy Shafaat, Season 19's Josh Martinez, and Season 18's Paulie Calafiore. At this point, Fessy, Josh, and Paulie have been on far more seasons of The Challenge than they were on Big Brother.

Big Brother 25 premieres August 2nd at 8:00 PM on CBS and streams next-day on Paramount+. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.