Covid-stricken Julie Chen Moonves sits out ‘Big Brother’ live show: ‘Thank you to Jerry O’Connell for filling in for me’
“Chenbot is human after all.”
That hilarious, tongue-in-cheek message is how Julie Chen Moonves signed off her letter announcing that she would be sitting out the “Big Brother” live show on September 12 due to contracting Covid. Don’t worry, “BB26” fans — she says she’s only experiencing “mild” symptoms. While Chen rests comfortably at home, CBS’s “The Talk” star Jerry O’Connell will take over her “Big Brother” hosting duties on Thursday night.
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Here is Chen’s message in full, posted to her social media:
“Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and went to see my good friend who is an ENT. That night he called to say I have Covid. Thankfully this is only the second time for me and it’s been very mild! No fever and just a sore throat. Unfortunately, I am still testing positive as of this morning. Despite feeling good, strong and my cough being gone, I must sit out tonight’s ‘Big Brother’ live eviction show out. Thank you to Jerry O’Connell for filling in for me. I hope Jerry fits in to my dress, has a ball and tells the houseguests I miss them but will be watching from home. See? Chenbot is human after all! Love one another and enjoy tonight’s show.”
SEE Why is ‘Big Brother’ called ‘Big Brother’? Name meaning explained
During Thursday night’s episode, Jerry will oversee the eighth live eviction of the summer. Head of Household champ Chelsie Baham initially nominated Angela Murray and Kimo Apaka for eviction. But Veto winner Makensy Manbeck has hinted that she might use her power to take one of the nominees off the block. If that happens, Chelsie has floated the idea of replacing them with a much bigger threat, namely Leah Peters or Quinn Martin. Stay tuned to CBS to see how it all plays out.
So far during this 26th season, the following seven houseguests have been eliminated from the game: Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelley, Cedric Hodges, Brooklyn Rivera, Tucker Des Lauriers and Joseph Rodriguez. Visit each link to watch Gold Derby’s exit interviews.
Meanwhile, the Top 9 remaining players have officially entered the jury portion of the competition, meaning they will either become jurors or be in the Final 2. They are: Angela, Cam Sullivan-Brown, Chelsie, Kimo, Leah, Makensy, Quinn, Rubina Bernabe and T’kor Clottey.
Gold Derby will be live-blogging the September 12 episode with Jerry O’Connell stepping in for Julie Chen Moonves, so follow along by clicking on this link at 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET.
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