Key Points
Key Points- Original Houseguest Levi Banks was replaced by Yash Patel just days before BB28’s premiere after allegedly breaching his contract and violating the show’s strict NDA.
- Levi claimed he voluntarily withdrew from the competition, stating it wasn’t the right fit for him personally, though production sources disputed his account of the departure.
- CBS made the last-minute casting swap due to concerns over leaked information about Levi and loss of trust, promoting Yash as the first alternate to join the season.
Big Brother season 28 is finally here, and there’s already some behind-the-scenes drama to sink our teeth into even though we’re only one episode in. Ahead of the season premiere on Thursday, July 9, fans noticed that pics from Houseguest Yash Patel’s “promotional rollout looked different from the rest of the cast.”
Well, that’s because Yash allegedly wasn’t CBS’s first choice to join BB28. According to The Sun, Levi Banks was originally set to join the rest of the Houseguests for this year’s game, but he was dropped and replaced by Yash in the eleventh hour due to an alleged breach of contract.
Now Levi is breaking his silence on the whole situation. In an Instagram video he shared with BB fans before the season premiere, he cleared up what really happened.
“I just wanted to give you all a quick update and to let you know I am doing great,” he said, in part. “I was all set and ready to move into the Big Brother house this season, and as we got closer and closer and closer to the move-in day I just kind of realized that this is not the right fit for me, personally.”
He claimed it was “probably the hardest decision of my entire life,” further explaining that he’s back home in North Carolina and still “on good terms with CBS, Big Brother, and everyone.”
Levi’s message comes after an insider close to BB28’s production told The Sun that he was reportedly booted and replaced with Yash “just days before the show’s premiere.”
“There was a breach of contract and a loss of trust. Houseguests are under strict orders to zip it. They can’t say anything to anyone, even family members,” the source claims. “CBS takes the NDA very seriously. Information leaked. Too much got out about him before the cast was announced and it’s not exactly clear what happened. But out of an abundance of precaution, CBS pulled Levi and went with their first alternate, which was Yash.”
Well…Julie Chen Moonves teased that this season is meant to bring in a bunch of shake-ups, so maybe we might see Levi pop into the house at some point this season. Either way, it’s already off to a great start!
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cosmopolitan.com ’
