Big Brother keeps getting… well, bigger. The show not only extended its regular Wednesday night episodes to 90 minutes this past season, but also introduced a new brand extension with the debut of Big Brother: Unlocked.
Essentially a Big Brother talk and interview show — as well as an updated version of the franchise’s previous internet discussion show House Calls from 2004 to 2008 — Unlocked featured former winners Taylor Hale and Derrick Levasseur welcoming celebrity guests (such as Lance Bass and Bobby Moynihan) and former Big Brother luminaries (like Chelsie Baham and Britney Haynes) to chat about the latest event inside the house. It also included interviews with the most recently evicted houseguests.
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Lance Bass, Derrick Levasseur and Taylor Hale on ‘Big Brother: Unlocked’
The spinoff aired five times on CBS throughout Big Brother season 27 (four times on Friday and once on Sunday) and made its biggest splash when nabbing Superman director (and BB super fan) James Gunn as a guest for its Sept. 19 finale.
But now that season 27 of Big Brother is firmly in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead. And when looking ahead, does Big Brother in the year 2026 once again involve Unlocked? Executive producers Rich Meehan and Allison Grodner sure hope so, although they have gotten no indication as of yet from the network.
“We haven’t heard officially,” Meehan reveals. “We hope that it continues on. It’s a fun extension of the show.”
The way the producers see it, the first season of Unlocked was something of a testing ground to see what works, and should the show return, they plan to keep tinkering with the format.
“It will evolve and get better the more we do it,” says Meehan. “Taylor and Derrick were great, and we had some really fun guests, so that’s something we’d like to continue doing and evolving, so hopefully it will come back.”
“Overall, we were really happy with it,” adds Grodner. “It seemed to be well received, and people came to watch.”
Grodner also notes that it takes time for a dedicated audience to form — even for something part of franchise like Big Brother, which has been on the air for 25 years. “We need to teach people to find it and learn where it is. But I think we were getting there by the end, and it was great to get those [celebrity fans as guests]. I mean, to have James Gunn! And what a fan he is. Geez, who knew?” (Apparently Taylor Hale, who pretty much booked the director herself.)
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James Gunn on ‘Big Brother’
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Of course, the decision on whether to bring Unlocked back as part of Big Brother season 28 in 2026 ultimately lies with CBS, and our source close to the network says no official decision will be made on that for quite some time. You would think that airing the show on Paramount+ might also be an option if the broadcast schedule was all booked up, however the network has long ignored our pleas to put such bonus content for shows like Big Brother and Survivor on their streaming platform.
So while the producers remain hopeful they will get another shot to air segments such as “The BBies” and “Getting Jaggy with it,” only time — and perhaps the Mastermind — will tell if their Big Brother companion talk show will remain truly… unlocked.
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