Julie Chen has been the host of Big Brother since its inception more than 20 years ago. It would be tough to imagine the iconic reality TV competition series without Chen's signature style, inspirational signoffs, and compelling eviction interviews.
Fans of Chen know that she is married to media executive Leslie Moonves and that she spent eight seasons as co-host of The Talk, which ranks among the most popular daytime talk shows. But there's plenty more about the television personality, news anchor, and producer that people might not have known.
While Big Brother has seen spinoffs all around the world, many of which have been as successful, if not more, than the American and the original British versions, Chen remains the longest-serving host of any Big Brother anywhere.
She first appeared as host in the inaugural season in the summer of 2000 and has remained in that roles to this day, most recently hosting the 23rd season in 2021. That means she has hosted for more than two decades. It's no wonder some fans believe Big Brother would be over whenever Julie Chen leaves.
Together with her husband, Les Moonves, Chen owns multiple properties. What is believed to be their primary residence is in Beverly Hills, California. It is worth about $14 million and is on 1.25 acres of land. They also have a beach house in Malibu that is reportedly worth close to $29 million and was purchased from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.
They also own a condo in Pacific Palisades along with another apartment in New York City whenever they decide to visit the East Coast.
The East Coast apartment Chen owns with her husband makes sense seeing as Chen grew up in Queens, New York and likely wanted to have a residence close to home. While her mother grew up in Rangoon, Burma and her father in China, her parents eventually immigrated to the U.S., according to Media Village.
Chen refers to them as "classic Chinese parents" who were strict and instilled a strong work ethic in all their children.
Chen revealed a deep family secret on one episode of The Talk: that her grandmother was deeply ashamed that her father only had daughters, believing that it was disgraceful he would not have a son to carry on the family name, according to CBS. Her grandmother, she recalled, even tried to get her uncle to give up one of his sons to Julie's father so he could raise him as his own.
Chen's mother vehemently rejected this idea and stood up for her daughters, saying she was raising them to be strong, independent people and that their gender should not matter. After revealing this about her upbringing, Chen received plenty of support from fans.
Another personal detail Chen revealed on The Talk was that she had double eyelid surgery as the result of being told that she would not be able to make it in the business because of her Asian features, in a clip that can be viewed on YouTube. She was only 25 at the time.
Chen said she had the surgery in order to look better "by societal standards" and says she stands by the decision because, even if looking back, she knows she should not have listened to the news director or agent who told her she should do it, she learned from the decision.
Chen has said she watched the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless since she was a young girl. Chances are when it comes to hidden details about the main characters on The Young and the Restless, she knew them all. Chen even managed to snag a guest role on an episode. Airing back in 2017, she played herself, according to Soap Opera Digest.
In the episode, she was interviewed by Hilary, who considered Chen to be her TV entertainment idol. The Young and the Restless, it's worth noting, airs on CBS, the same network as Big Brother.
When both media personalities were just starting out, Chen actually interned at CBS with Andy Cohen, according to Bravo TV. Both were in college at the time, and Cohen joked that Chen was a wallflower while he was the "star student." Indeed, both went on to great success, with Cohen being the first openly gay American late-night talk show host, one of many cool facts to know about Andy Cohen, and Chen, of course, enjoying a successful career as a news anchor and host.
Their history together was revealed on an episode of The Talk when Cohen was a guest. He brought bagels to commemorate their reunion and reminisced about their time together in New York City. Chen's job while interning was to answer phones and send faxes, reports TV Guide.
Chen provides a good lesson in taking what might be intended as an insult in stride: she was given the nickname Chenbot due to her wooden and scripted delivery when interacting with houseguests and the audience during the Big Brother live episodes.
But she says she doesn't take offense to the nickname. She says she prefers to be objective when interviewing people or talking on camera, calling it her "precise, on-air style." Coming from her past as a news anchor, Chen just wants to deliver the facts, so she tends to read the cue cards and use the same phrasing every time, even when it isn't a serious show, she told Business Insider.
Chen recently confirmed that she believes Xavier Prather, the most recent winner of the series and the first Black person to ever win the American version of the show (with the exception of Tamar Braxton on Celebrity Big Brother), to be the best winner ever to have played the game. He certainly ranks among the best Big Brother winners to date.
She believes the fact that he won by unanimous decision is one reason, a win that awarded him the record-breaking $750,000 prize. But Chen also says he had the perfect combination of intelligence, physical prowess, and a great social game.
While the names Julie Chen and Big Brother are synonymous with one another, the media personality wasn't actually supposed to be the original host. That job was initially offered to veteran Meredith Viera. At the time, she was co-hosting The View and declined the position.
Chen, who was just 30 years old and had only been working with CBS for eight months at the time, managed to snag the gig, and the rest is history.
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