‘Big Brother’ Producers Give Updates on ‘Celebrity’ Version and ‘Reindeer Games’

Bad news, Big Brother fans! Things aren’t looking good for the long-running CBS reality show’s spinoffs, Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother: Reindeer Games.

Big Brother executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan shut down fans’ hopes that either one of the spinoffs would be making a return in the near future during an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Friday.

Celebrity Big Brother, which features celebrity contestants competing in an abbreviated version of the beloved game show, last aired in 2022, when Season 3 was won by Miesha Tate. Big Brother: Reindeer Games only aired one season in 2023, bringing past Big Brother contestants together for a two-week holiday-themed competition amid the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.

Asked if Celebrity Big Brother would reclaim its place opposite the Winter Olympics this February, Grodner told EW, “It doesn’t look like it. I think it would be fantastic, but it’s just other factors beyond our control. But you can ask CBS.”

A source at the network also confirmed that Reindeer Games would not be airing in 2025, but noted that it could possibly return in the future if CBS needed to fill a brief schedule hole.

“Oh my God, we would love it to come back,” Grodner said of the one-season spinoff. “We think it deserves to be out there, whether it’s in the winter, whether it’s summer games, spring games, or, you know, Halloween Horror Games, or whatever.”

Grodner noted that while it felt like the show itself “worked really well,” the disappointing ratings for Reindeer Games “probably had a lot to do with the time of year” in which it aired.

Meehan pointed out that the show has been pitched to CBS as one that could work year-round. “We designed a format that could be skinned in any way,” he said. “It could be a Halloween stunt, it could be a Christmas stunt, it could be for Valentine’s Day, or even Easter Games could be fun.”

“I think you have to teach an audience that it’s there,” reasoned Meehan. “Because I think our fans would love the show if everyone knew exactly when it was on. Because people are such [creatures of habit]. It’s like, ‘What’s on in the summer?’ and you show up and it’s there. When you’re trying to teach people new things, it takes a minute [for] everyone [to] know that this exists.”

Ultimately, Meehan theorized that Reindeer Games‘ potential return “just comes down to schedule availability” in a packed lineup of scripted shows. “CBS has a successful scripted business and ultimately, it’s like, ‘When do they need stuff?’” he said. “But we love it, we’re always asking about it, and from talking to them, it’s not like it’s gone forever. It’s just when is the right time and when do they have the airtime for it? Everybody at CBS loves it.”

“We didn’t hear anything negative about it,” agreed Grodner. “It would be great to see other alumni play, but it’s not in our control. We will produce it wherever anyone wants it. It just comes down to availability in the schedule.”