Celebrity Big Brother Cast Revealed
A former Apprentice villain turned White House aide, a Real Housewife, and a UFC champion are among the cast for Celebrity Big Brother. CBS shared the full cast list for the upcoming all-star addition of their popular reality series during the Grammy Awards on Jan. 28, revealing the crazy characters who will compete for the top prize. (via TVGuide)
Omarosa Manigault leads the cast. The former reality star was most recently in the news for her dramatic exit from her White House position. Also in the mix are former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville; American Pie actress Shannon Elizabeth; Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath; TV personality Ross Mathews; former NBA star Metta World Peace; The Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam; Big Time Rush's James Maslow; Miss Columbia and Miss Universe 2015 runner-up Ariadna Gutierrez; Hairspray star Marissa Jaret Winokur; and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell.
Celebrity Big Brother will air as counter-programming to the Winter Olympics, which will be broadcast on NBC. While the show will feature many similar competitions to Big Brother, it will have a much shorter runtime, airing for only three weeks. The show will air four nights a week, including for two hours on Friday nights, and will still include live feeds for subscribers.
While this will be the first time that a star studded version of the show has aired stateside, the United Kingdom has had some luck with their attempts at bringing famous faces into the house. Their Celebrity Big Brother has been airing since 2001 and has featured celebs like Gary Busey, Stephen Baldwin, Perez Hilton, Ivana Trump, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, and former Big Brother U.S. competitor (and brother of Ariana Grande) Frankie Grande.
Big Brother U.S. executive producer Allison Grodner previously said that it was important that the show "still feels like Big Brother." However, she also added that it will "have its own spin." "It needs to feel like an event series that we do each year," she said. Host Julie Chen said that the "magic is always in the casting," and with this crop of celebrities, it seems like Celebrity Big Brother could have hit gold.
Celebrity Big Brother debuts on Wednesday, Feb. 7 on CBS. The show will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 25.