CBS revealed the 14-person starting cast for “Big Brother” season 28 on Tuesday, kicking off a summer season built around a “Time Trip” theme that producers say will turn the concept of time itself into a game twist. The lineup mixes familiar reality-competition archetypes with a handful of unusual résumés: a rocket scientist from New Jersey, an MMA fighter and coach from Phoenix, a corporate game show host, a pickleball coach and a jumbotron engineer from Texas.
The most recognizable face belongs to Jason De Puy, a 35-year-old drag performer better known by his stage name, Salina EsTitties, who competed on two seasons of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Other houseguests include Mallory Aurichio, a 24-year-old rocket scientist from Washington Township, New Jersey; Kamuela “Kamu” Kirk, a 32-year-old MMA fighter from Phoenix; and LaTrice Verrett, a 57-year-old boutique salesperson from Kankakee, Illinois, who at 57 is among the season’s oldest competitors. The remaining cast spans a supply chain analyst, a surgical dental assistant, a telemedicine executive, an attorney, an elementary school counselor, a financial analyst and a bartender.
CBS has said the initial 14 names are not the full roster. Additional houseguests will be revealed live during Thursday’s 90-minute premiere, continuing a pattern from recent seasons in which the network holds back a handful of players until air. Outside reporting has since named at least two “Survivor” alumni, including Rick Devens, and BB26 standout Angela Murray as expected late additions, though CBS has not confirmed those names itself.
The season’s “Time Trip” theme extends into the redesigned house, which features a neon-lit, clock-filled entryway, a workout room wrapped in time-lapse photography and a living space CBS is calling the “Living Room of Eras.” According to the network, competitions and twists will draw on different decades, including the 1980s and the turn of the millennium, and could allow houseguests to gain powers that scramble strategy and alliances.
Season 28 premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, with the episode also available on Paramount+. A companion series, “Big Brother: Unlocked,” returns Friday with comedian and actor Jerry O’Connell joining returning hosts Taylor Hale and Derric Levasseur.
The 24/7 live feeds open Friday at 9 p.m. ET and will stream on Paramount+, Pluto TV and, for the first time, the show’s YouTube channel for a limited window after each episode. Later this season, “Big Brother” is set to air its 1,000th episode, a milestone CBS says will make it the first primetime series to reach that number.
