Julie Chen Says ‘Big Brother All-Stars’ Should Meditate, Keep Their Mouths Shut If They Want To Win Season 22

Julie Chen says this summer’s Big Brother houseguests should follow a few simple rules if they want to win the All-Stars season.

In a new interview, the longtime Big Brother host, who has helmed the CBS reality show since its inception in 2000, said there are five important things to do for players who want to take home the show’s $500,000 grand prize later this year.

After crowning 21 previous winners on the summertime reality competition, Julie has seen every game move in the book. But in a new interview with TV Insider, she said the biggest thing the all-stars should remember is not to talk too much.

“Loose lips sink ships,” Julie said, pointing out that Season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur understood that strategy well and never let it slip that he worked as an undercover detective outside the house.

Julie also recommended meditation as a way to keep sane in a house that has cameras on the contestants 24/7 and no windows to the outside world.

“Don’t do what Cliff Hogg III did last season and talk aloud to the cameras because the others overheard him and his whole strategy!” Julie warned, adding that contestants should instead talk to God “in their heads.”

Julie also said players should embrace the show’s signature meal — slop. She noted that smart Have-Nots doomed to the Big Brother punishment meal for a week can gain allies by preparing decent slop meals for the other punished houseguests.

In addition, the Big Brother host said everyone should “own” their mistakes because no one likes a liar — especially the jury members. Finally, Julie advised the all-stars to always look for the best in the other houseguests because “compassion” can go a long way in the competition.

Longtime fans know that there are already two past winners in the Big Brother house — BB14’s Ian Terry and BB18’s Nicole Franzel — and they both used very different roadmaps to take their wins. Ahead of Big Brother 22, both past champs dished about how they plan to win a second time.

In his bio on CBS, Ian said his plan for winning Big Brother is to get into a decent alliance just to make sure he doesn’t get “frozen out” for being unpopular.

“Following that, hibernate,” he said. “Towards the end of the game, I will ramp up and utilize my competition ability and take advantage of the game’s structure.”

Ian admitted that during his first go-around on Big Brother, he had a hard time getting information from the other players because he was “socially unpopular.”

As for Nicole, who had a showmance with cast mate Corey Brooks during BB18, she told CBS that she planned to be more “adaptable” this time around.

“I used to think you could have a pre-meditated strategy, but honestly that’s really hard to do without knowing the cast,” she said.