When does Big Brother 2026 start? Big Brother Season 28 premieres July 9 on CBS, with a 90-minute opener that begins at 8 p.m. ET. The summer reality staple also streams live for Paramount+ Premium subscribers, while Paramount+ Essential subscribers get episodes the next day.
The short version is simple. Big Brother is back Thursday, July 9, 2026. However, Season 28 is not a quiet reset. CBS is pushing a “Time Trip” theme, a YouTube-era cast reveal, a new live-feed wrinkle, and a houseguest pool that already looks bigger than the 14-player list first unveiled.
When Does Big Brother 2026 Start on CBS?
Big Brother Season 28 starts Thursday, July 9, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. The premiere runs 90 minutes, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET, and also streams live on Paramount+ Premium. The episode arrives the next day for Paramount+ Essential viewers.
New regular episodes are scheduled for Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. So, if the question is when does big brother start after premiere night, the weekly rhythm is three nights a week. That schedule gives CBS room for nominations, veto fallout, live votes, and the usual midweek scramble.
There is also a companion hour. Big Brother: Unlocked begins Friday, July 10, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET. Jerry O’Connell joins former winners Taylor Hale and Derrick Levasseur on that show, which returns one night after the main premiere.
How to Watch Big Brother 2026 and the Live Feeds
Cable viewers can watch on CBS. Streaming viewers can watch live through Paramount+ Premium, or use a live TV service carrying CBS, including FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, DIRECTV, or YouTube TV. Paramount+ Essential carries next-day episodes.
Paramount+ Essential costs $8.99 per month, while Paramount+ Premium costs $13.99 per month. Prime Video was also offering a seven-day Paramount+ Premium trial, even though Paramount+ itself was not offering a direct free trial.
The live feeds begin Friday, July 10, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET, after the Big Brother: Unlocked premiere. Paramount+ and Pluto TV remain the main feed homes. For the first time, CBS will also let viewers watch limited post-episode feed windows on the official Big Brother YouTube channel, where “viewers can watch the game unfold live” after episodes.
The Time Trip Theme Makes Season 28 a Memory Game
Season 27 sent players to Hotel Mystere. Season 28 sends them through time. CBS describes the Big Brother: Time Trip house as a game space where “rooms, relics and competitions” move players through different eras.
The theme pulls from decades, including the ’80s and Y2K. That means production can revive old competition ideas, bend them into new formats, and turn nostalgia into strategy. Julie Chen Moonves previewed rooms and time-travel prototypes during the YouTube “Big Brother: Broveal,” which aired July 7, 2026, at noon ET.
The theme matters because Big Brother twists rarely stay decorative. Powers, rooms, punishments, and competition formats can all affect alliances. In a season already teasing surprise arrivals, time may become more than a design motif.
Big Brother Season 28 Cast Breakdown
CBS first revealed 14 new houseguests. They range from a rocket scientist to a bartender, an attorney, a pickleball coach, and a former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant. Here is the confirmed cast information available before premiere night.
Name: Ashley Trail
Age: 24
Hometown: Alton, Ill.
Current City: Chicago, Ill.
Occupation: Bartender
Name: Barrett Pfeiffer
Age: 27
Hometown: Benton, Ark.
Current City: Austin, Texas
Occupation: Jumbotron engineer
Name: Chuk Anyanwu
Age: 27
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Supply chain analyst
Name: Drew Campbell
Age: 22
Hometown: Temecula, Calif.
Occupation: Surgical dental assistant
Name: Haley Thogmartin
Age: 29
Hometown: Neosho, Mo.
Current City: Wildwood, Mo.
Occupation: Telemedicine executive
Name: Jason De Puy
Age: 35
Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.
Current City: West Hollywood, Calif.
Occupation: Drag queen
Name: Kamuela “Kamu” Kirk
Age: 32
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
Occupation: MMA fighter
Name: LaTrice Verrett
Age: 57
Hometown: Kankakee, Ill.
Current City: Maplewood, N.J.
Occupation: Boutique salesperson
Name: Lyric Medeiros
Age: 25
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
Occupation: Attorney
Name: Mallory Aurichio
Age: 24
Hometown: Township of Washington, N.J.
Occupation: Rocket scientist
Name: Melody Morris
Age: 24
Hometown: Thornton, Colo.
Current City: Maricopa, Ariz.
Occupation: Corporate game show host
Name: Rome Seymour
Age: 28
Hometown: Traverse City, Mich.
Current City: Delray Beach, Fla.
Occupation: Pickleball coach
Name: Taylor Brown
Age: 27
Hometown: Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Occupation: Elementary school counselor
Name: Yash Patel
Age: 24
Hometown: Monroe Township, N.J.
Occupation: Financial analyst
That is the official 14-person base. Yet the actual premiere may expand the board. CBS has teased surprise houseguests, and several outlets placed extra reality-TV names in the pre-premiere conversation before the first eviction cycle even began.
Rick Devens, Angela Murray, and the Reality-TV Crossover Watch
The biggest pre-premiere twist is Rick Devens moving from Survivor to Big Brother. The Survivor: Edge of Extinction and Survivor 50 player will compete in Season 28. Devens is 42 and from Macon, Georgia.
Devens became a Survivor name in 2019 after being voted out on day 11, winning his way back through the Edge of Extinction twist, finding idols, winning challenges, and losing fire-making to eventual winner Chris Underwood. On Survivor 50, he joined after the cast expanded to 24 people. His run included the MrBeast coin twist, immunity at two Tribal Councils, and a prize-money jump to $2 million, which Aubry Bracco eventually won. Devens finished seventh.
A second former Survivor castaway is also expected in Season 28, though CBS and producers had not confirmed that identity before the premiere. Pre-premiere coverage also placed Big Brother 26 fan favorite Angela Murray, 52, from Long Beach, California, in the house. Rumors around Survivor 46 champion Dee Valladares, with Sharon Tharp tied to that reporting, also circulated before premiere night. Those names should be treated as reported, not fully CBS-confirmed, until they appear on air.
The franchise crossover history is already strange enough. Cirie Fields played Big Brother Season 25 with her son, Jared Fields. Hayden Moss won Big Brother 12 before reaching sixth place on Survivor: Blood vs. Water. Caleb “Beast Mode Cowboy” Reynolds went from Big Brother 16 to Survivor: Kaoh Rong and Survivor: Game Changers. Zach Wurtenberger watched his brother Cory Wurtenberger play Big Brother 25, while Russell Hantz’s brother Willie Hantz was expelled from Big Brother 14 after charging and pushing Joe Arvin.
Prize Money, Host, and What Season 27 Leaves Behind
Julie Chen Moonves returns as host, a role she has held since Big Brother began in 2000. The Season 28 grand prize remains $750,000.
Season 27 ended with Ashley Hollis, a 26-year-old attorney, winning that $750,000 prize. She defeated unemployed superfan Vince Panaro by a 6-1 jury vote. That result matters for Season 28 because the new cast includes several people who look socially polished enough to avoid early chaos, but competitive enough to keep the jury math unstable.
The early shape of Season 28 is therefore clear. CBS wants nostalgia, reality-TV crossover heat, a live-feed expansion, and a cast that can sell both competition and confessionals. For anyone tracking Big Brother 2026, the starting answer is July 9. The better question is how long the first-night cast remains the real cast.
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