Overview
- CBS confirmed on June 30 that actor and reality-TV superfan Jerry O'Connell will join champions Taylor Hale and Derrick Levasseur as panelists on Big Brother: Unlocked.
- Big Brother: Unlocked will premiere Friday, July 10 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+, with Big Brother Season 28 opening a night earlier on July 9 with a special 90-minute episode and a 90-minute episode on Sunday, July 12.
- The Unlocked premiere will launch a new interactive fan vote that CBS says will have a major impact on the game, though the network has not yet disclosed the vote's exact mechanics or outcomes.
- Unlocked will also feature a live studio audience and expanded behind-the-scenes elements, including gameplay breakdowns, extended interviews, inside-the-house footage, surprise guest visits and the return of the BBies Award Show.
- CBS is promoting this as the franchise's biggest summer and says the season will include Big Brother's reported 1,000th original episode, a milestone for which the exact episode date has not been announced.