What if I told you that I knew who was going to be in the Celebrity Big Brother house come February 7 on CBS? I’d be a liar, that’s what.
However, there is enough information and gossip out there to make an educated guess as to who will be starring in this first celebrity edition of the hit CBS show stateside. Celebrity Big Brother U.S. gets going on February 7 and will run through February 25, concurrently with the Winter Olympics.
It’s possible that the houseguests will be revealed Sunday night on or after the GRAMMYs, also on CBS. Typically, CBS reveals the Big Brother cast about a week to 10 days before the show.
As for the strongest rumors and speculation, and the biggest name, how about Lindsay Lohan? A recent appearance on the Wendy Williams show combined with her mother’s previous dalliances with Celebrity Big Brother U.K. have the former Disney starlet a popular choice to be one of the ten house guests.
And, yes, by all accounts, it looks like there will only be 10 house guests. See below:
This dining room is making #BigBrother history! For the first time the house has a square dining room table. #CelebrityBigBrother pic.twitter.com/dKnF3u5J0q
— Big Brother (@CBSBigBrother) January 17, 2018
The show’s run will only be three weeks, so that’s seven eliminations in about 15 days, I would imagine.
Other big names I’ve seen include Gary Busey, Dennis Rodman and Tonya Harding. The latter has been a particularly hot name among speculative types given that host Julie Chen promised both actors and athletes. Harding is riding quite the wave of ironic popularity these days with the Oscar-nominated movie, “I, Tonya,” which tells the story of the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan brouhaha from the early 90s, from Harding’s perspective.
However, most are not expecting more than one or two big names in the inaugural U.S. version of Celebrity Big Brother. First, it’s been widely reported that CBB Season 1 doesn’t exactly come with a big budget. Second, it’s been reported that casting producers have had a difficult time finding celebrities willing to join the cast.
I think after a season or two of this, that will change. Celebrity Big Brother is huge in the U.K., and I think it could do very well here in the States.
Another hot name in the rumor mill is Blac Chyna. While I’m a huge fan of all-things Big Brother, I’m not exactly on the cusp of all-things celebrity gossip. I’ve heard of Blac Chyna, but I had to look her up to have any clue as to who she is. Best I can tell, she’s loosely tied to the Kardashians via Rob and that she used to be a stripper. Great.
One article I stumbled upon noted that two-time Big Brother runner-up Paul Abrahamian was seen at a Lakers game recently with Mr. Belding from “Saved By The Bell,” Dennis Haskins. Not kidding. How great would it be if Haskins and Dustin Diamond (“Screech”) were both in the house? So awkward.
A pure cross-promotional hunch from me, but I suspect we could see Sharon Osbourne in the house. Osbourne is one of Chen’s desk-mates on “The Talk,” the daily talk show on CBS. Also, I wouldn’t be shocked if James Corden were part of the cast. I’m debating in my brain how that would work exactly with his talk show. Perhaps he could go on hiatus for a couple weeks.
Other possible house guests I’ve read about include transgender personality Gigi Gorgeous, Dr. Matt Iseman, MTV personality Johnny Bananas, Dog The Bounty Hunter’s wife, Beth, and Lance Bass. I’ll have to Wikipedia three of those five. You can guess which two I’ve heard of.
So, based on everything I’ve seen so far, here’s my predicted 10 house guests:
Lindsay Lohan
Tonya Harding
Blac Chyna
Sharon Osbourne
Beth Chapman (from “Dog The Bounty Hunter”)
Dennis Haskins
Lance Bass
Gigi Gorgeous
Dr. Matt Iseman
Johnny Bananas (from MTV)
We’ll find out soon enough, and then everybody’s favorite summer addiction will be everybody’s favorite winter pastime, at least for 18 days. If you’re a Big Brother nerd like me, give me a follow here. I’ll write about the series during its Celebrity run and then again this summer once our usual shenanigans begin.
