The Big Brother 23 season has finally arrived.
This article will serve as the first recap for the Big Brother 2021 installment, where the BB23 cast gets introduced and host Julie Chen Moonves welcomes the new houseguests on the stage.
There are 16 people on the BB23 cast this summer, including two that were moved up from alternate spots when people had to be replaced.
On the Big Brother TV schedule, there is only one episode during the debut week, with no episode scheduled for Thursday, July 8.
This particular recap comes from Wednesday, July 7, which serves as a 90-minute installment to open up the brand new season of the show.
Big Brother 23 live recap of season premiere
We will be providing live coverage of the first episode, so make sure to come by at 8e/7c to check out what is going on with the new cast.
By the end of the night, we will have a new Head of Household, four separate teams, and possibly a few additional surprises. Julie did say she had a BB23 secret to reveal.
There are also rumors that the biggest cash prize in Big Brother history is about to be put on the line. That should be interesting to hear about.
Julie Chen Moonves welcomed the viewers and the narrator went over how many cameras and microphones are inside the house this year. It was also hinted that a huge cash prize was on the line.
Cast introductions and Team Leaders decided
Travis Long (a surfer), Derek Frazier (the son of boxer Joe Frazier), Brandon “Frenchie” French (a farmer and former military man), and Xavier Prather (an attorney) were the first four guys introduced.
Frenchie won a challenge between the first four guys to become the first Team Leader of the summer.
Azah Awasum (sales director with 300 cousins), Britini D’Angelo (kindergarten teacher with autism), Alyssa Lopez (launched a swimwear brand), and Whitney Williams (makeup company owner) were the first four ladies introduced.
Whitney won a challenge between the first four ladies and she also became a Team Leader.
Brent Champagne (flight attendant), Christian Birkenberger (general contractor assistant who wants a showmance), Derek Xiao (start-up founder), and Kyland Young (account executive) were the next group of guys to be introduced.
Christian won the third group challenge to become the third Team Leader.
Claire Rehfuss (AI engineer), Hannah Chaddha (graduate student), Sarah Steagall (forensic scientist), and Tiffany Mitchell (phlebotomist) were the last four ladies to enter the house.
Claire won the fourth challenge, making her the final Team Leader.
Picking the Big Brother 23 teams
The Team Leaders took turns playing a slot machine that revealed two people and details about each person. They then had to choose one of them.
Frenchie (Team Jokers) picked Azah over Hannah, Whitney (Team Aces) picked Brent over Travis, Christian (The Kings) picked Alyssa over Tiffany, and Claire (The Queens) picked Kyland over Xavier for the first round.
Frenchie picked Britini over Sarah Beth, Whitney picked Derek X. over Derek F, Christian picked Xavier over Derek F, and Claire picked Tiffany over Sarah Beth in round two.
During the final round, Frenchie picked Derek F, Whitney picked Hannah, Christian got Sarah Beth, and Clarie got Travis.
First BB23 HOH Competition
The four teams competed in a big challenge, with the Team Leader of the winning team becoming the first Head of Household of the summer.
The Jokers won the challenge, meaning Brandon “Frenchie” French, Azah Awasum, Britini D’Angelo, and Derek Frazier are safe from eviction for a week. It also made Frenchie the first Head of Household.
The Kings finished in last place, making Christian Birkenberger, Alyssa Lopez, Xavier Prather, and Sarah Beth Steagall the first Have-Nots of the summer.
Big Brother cash prize
Julie announced that the Big Brother 23 winner will take home $750,000 this summer. The cast was pretty excited about that news.
New offer from Julie Chen Moonves
As the HOH, Frenchie was given a “double or nothing” offer from Julie. He was presented with a challenge. If he played and won it, his team would be safe for the first two weeks. If he played and lost it, he would lose the HOH title and his team would no longer be safe. He had a difficult decision to make.
Frenchie declined to play. He remains the first HOH, his team is safe, and now he is tasked with nominating two people for eviction.
Before the episode ended, Julie teased the new challenge that is called the Wildcard Competition. It will take place later this week and be taped for airing in a future episode.
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.