Let’s just call this the longest preseason ever? The cast for the highly anticipated Big Brother: All-Stars edition was finally revealed during the live move-in premiere on Wednesday, August 5, after weeks and weeks of speculation.
Season 22, which is the 20th anniversary of the series hosted by Julie Chen, officially includes seasons 6 and 7 favorite Kaysar Ridha; seasons 6, 7 and 14 legend Janelle Pierzina; season 8 runner-up and season 13 returnee Daniele Donato; season 10’s Keesha Smith and runner-up Memphis Garrett; season 11’s Kevin Campbell; season 12’s Enzo Palumbo; season 14 winner Ian Terry; season 16 runner-up Cody Calafiore; season 16 player and season 18 winner Nicole Franzel; seasons 17 and 18 fave Da’Vonne Rogers; season 19 player Christmas Abbott; season 20’s Bayleigh Dayton and winner Tyler Crispen; and season 21 first boot David Alexander and fan favorite Nicole Anthony.
There had been tons of rumored names floating around since Us Weekly exclusively reported on June 7 that CBS was contacting past players for an all-star season. The network quarantined more than the necessary amount of players, sources previously told Us, to make sure they had alternates should any of the players test positive for the novel coronavirus. COVID-19 also pushed back the previous mid-July start date.
In addition to the pre-production quarantine, houseguests “will be tested several times prior to entering the house” and “once inside, they will be tested weekly during the season and have no contact with any crew members,” who are also quarantining, according to a CBS press release.
Sources previously revealed to Us that health risks were a factor in some players declining the invitation. Several former players also took to social media to deny they were playing including season 3’s Danielle Reyes, season 10 winner Dan Gheesling, season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur, and season 18 and 19’s runner-up Paul Abrahamian, the latter of whom who cited “emotional and mental stress” as one of the reasons.
Hear the Us Weekly editors break down the most surprising celebrity births during the pandemic in under 2 minutes!
Big Brother: All-Stars airs on CBS Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Scroll down to see the new cast photos!
