Two Big Brother contestants have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
As the still-unannounced All-Star houseguests undergo medical testing before entering the CBS summertime house , new reports claim that two former players have already been “evicted” from the game after testing positive for coronavirus.
In a virtual interview with a CBS Los Angeles affiliate, Big Brother host Julie Chen said she doesn’t know the “final cast list” of contestants, but that “some” potential players were sent home after the required testing for coronavirus was conducted amid the global health pandemic.
“I don’t even know all the confirmed 16 houseguests,” Chen told CBSN, per Us Weekly . “I know it’s eight women and eight men, all-stars that we all know from seasons past… I mean, I know some of the names that are most likely going in. We flew in a bunch of people, more than 16. And some people I thought were definitely going in the house, they tested positive for COVID-19 so they couldn’t go in.”
Chen did not identify anyone by name, but some outlets are describing the ousted contestants as two past “winners” in the Big Brother game, per TooFab .
Several past Big Brother champions have turned up on rumored cast lists, including Nicole Franzel, Ian Terry, Kaycee Clark, and Josh Martinez. Chen even confirmed that past champs were invited to play in the Big Brother: All-Stars game.
“Each person has something to prove,” Julie told ET Canada of the Season 22 cast. “We have past winners who have to prove they deserved to win. We have past winners who got out of the house and went on the internet and saw a lot of people say, ‘You didn’t deserve it!’”
One past winner who is definitely not participating in Big Brother: All-Stars is Martinez. Amid the COVID-19 casting buzz on Tuesday, the Big Brother 19 champion posted to Twitter to confirm he’s not on the show and to assure fans he’s in great health.
There’s been a lot of speculation about me being on this season of big brother Allstars. I can say that I will not be on this season. Many rumors have been said in the past few days about me that I couldn’t address but to be clear my health is great. #bb22
— Josh Martinez (@JOSHMBB19) August 4, 2020
In a separate interview conducted Tuesday — just one day before the first-ever live Big Brother move-in special — Chen reiterated to Portland-area CBS station KOIN (seen here via YouTube) that she is still in the dark regarding the final list of all-star players in what is turning out to be an ever-changing situation.
The Big Brother host added that she doesn’t even want to know the full list of returning veterans because she’s afraid she would spill the secret during pre-show interviews.