Julie Chen Moonves<\/a><\/span><\/strong> never thought Big Brother<\/i><\/span><\/a> would become the pop culture phenomenon it is today.<\/p>\n \u201cSeason 1 was panned by the critics. There was talk that they would end the show mid-season live,\u201d Julie, 56, exclusively told Us Weekly<\/i> and a group of reporters before season 28 premieres Thursday, July 9. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Do they just open the door and go home?\u2019 Like, \u2018How does this work?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Before hosting the CBS reality show, Julie was an established journalist and anchor working at WCBS-TV in New York City and anchoring CBS Morning News<\/i> and The Early Show.<\/i> \u201c<\/i>They had borrowed me from news. I was doing morning news, and I\u2019m like, \u2018My career is over,\u2019\u201d Julie recalled. \u201cPeople from 60 Minutes<\/i> were like, \u2018They should fire her right away from news and just put a stamp on her and ship her out to the West Coast and be part of CBS Entertainment. She\u2019s blurring the lines between news and entertainment.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately, Julie trusted the process. Now, she\u2019s preparing to hit a milestone once season 28 airs this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cHere we are, season 28 and making history with the 1,000th episode,\u201d she shared. \u201cWe went from almost canceled to me almost fired to the 1,000th episode. \u2026 This is why I think Big Brother<\/i>\u2018s so successful, because life is unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n For the uninitiated, Big Brother<\/i> follows a group of contestants living together in a house. The strangers are recorded 24\/7 and compete in various challenges to win the grand prize of $750,000.<\/p>\n The show has turned ordinary Americans into beloved reality TV legends, with Dan Gheesling<\/strong>, Danielle Reyes<\/strong>, Janelle Pierzina<\/strong><\/a>, Cody Calafiore<\/strong><\/a> and many more going on to star on other shows.<\/p>\n \u201cI never wanted to host reality,\u201d Julie recalled about her unexpected involvement with Big Brother<\/i>. \u201cI wanted to be on 60 Minutes<\/i>, single and travel the world. And God was like, \u2018You\u2019re gonna get married. You\u2019re gonna have a child and you\u2019re gonna host this show called Big Brother<\/i> and people aren\u2019t gonna remember that you were on the news.\u2019 I don\u2019t think they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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