'Big Brother' 2021 Cast: Meet Your New Houseguests

By Stephanie Downs - July 5, 2021 12:33 pm EDT

It's summer, which means that it's also time for the next season of Big Brother. Season 23 of Big Brother will premiere on July 7. But, there's one question that fans want to be answered — who's moving in? Well, you're in luck, as CBS has officially released the cast for Season 23 and in an update issued July 5 from the network, one of the houseguests has since been replaced following a COVID-19 positive test result.

After airing the show's second-ever All-Star season, Big Brother is taking things back to basics for Season 23. Sixteen new houseguests will be competing for the $500,000 grand prize. Of course, the upcoming season will be hosted by the one and only Julie Chen Moonves. It will premiere on Wednesday, July 7 on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. The premiere, which will run until 9:30 p.m. ET, will be followed by the Season 3 premiere of Love Island USA.

So, who's going to be trying their hand at Big Brother 23? Read on to find out who's going to be making the Big Brother house their home for (hopefully, for them at least) the next three months.

Claire Rehfuss

In a last-minute change from the network on Monday, Claire Rehfuss replaced 27-year-old, Christie Valdiserri, a professional dancer from California. After receiving a COVID-19 positive test result following her initial acceptance into the Big Brother house, Valdiserri will instead be replaced by Rehfuss, a 25-year-old AI engineer from New York City.

Valdiserri, who has alopecia, posted an emotional video message to the official Big Brother Instagram page, revealing her positive test and why she would not be taking part in the competition. "Hey guys, so I don't want to be sharing this news but I tested positive for COVID and I have no idea how I got it. I have the vaccine and I've been following all the guidelines up to this point. I have absolutely no symptoms, I feel perfectly fine so I'm really grateful for that but it's really frustrating because I won't be playing in Big Brother this summer," she said.

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She went on to say, when "faced with adversity," she is often telling herself it's for a "bigger reason," something she firmly wants to believe. "I don't know the reason yet, but I've had a roller coaster of emotions the last 48 hours and as I've been reading through all the comments online, whether they're good or bad, I just have to say that I have put myself out there and shared this vulnerability of being bald and all the comments — good or bad — are affecting everybody else that also is bald and experiences this vulnerability. So spread love and whether you're just finding out about alopecia or you know what alopecia is, you know that we're unstoppable and I'm going to bounce back one way or another."

Claire Rehfuss

Alyssa Lopez

Azah Awasum

Christian Birkenberger

Brent Champagne

Britini D'Angelo

Derek Frazier

Derek Xiao

Brendon "Frenchie" French

Hannah Chaddha

Kyland Young

Sarah Steagall

Tiffany Mitchell

Travis Long

Whitney Williams

Xavier Prather