Big Brother 26 brought something truly special to 2024 Fall TV, and as someone who absolutely loved the season, I only had one fear. Too often after a great season from the CBS reality series, follow-ups can't match the hype and are disappointing in comparison. (**COUGH** Season 24 and 25.) Fortunately, executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan have me optimistic that tide may change with news that a twist from Season 26 is "very likely" to return.
My enthusiasm for the 2025 TV schedule just shot through the moon because it's looking like Big Brother 27 will feature one of my favorite "new" twists. If you were someone who also hoped the A.I. Arena would become a permanent part of the game, then you'll love what Grodner had to say about it to EW when discussing the success of the season and the dynamic gameplay that had viewers on the edge of their seats for weeks on end. As she put it:
I think the AI arena was a big success, and we've learned a lot from it. I think it's something that as we look towards the summer, nothing's ever going to be exactly the same. We love mixing things up. But I think the essence of that, it's very likely to be carried forward.
As I expected, there's no way the exact twist would carry forward unmodified. After all, Big Brother loves its themes, and to continually bring back the A.I. Arena in seasons that have nothing to do with it would be kind of weird. That said, it sounds like we can expect the guts of what it was about to remain in place, which is the three nomination HOHs and the second safety competition happening on live-eviction nights.
What's also interesting is the reason Rich Meehan and Allison Grodner developed the A.I. Arena in the first place. The duo explained the twist was born mainly to make eviction night more entertaining and to add a competition to the mix, considering Head of Household competitions don't happen as much during episodes anymore.
The twist did more than give us something to watch on eviction night, of course, as increasing the number of weekly nominees had a tremendous impact on the game. The number of nominations, paired with the unpredictability of who would be up for eviction ahead of the vote, made it so that everyone in the Big Brother house had to play an active game early on. The Power of Veto was used a jaw-dropping eleven times, and we didn't see the usual weeks of Houseguests unanimously voting with the HOH's wishes and taking it easy until the next HOH competition.
I should say that while Big Brother 26 viewers loved the twists, its winner did not. Chelsie Baham told CinemaBlend the A.I. Arena screwed up all her plans from the start, but she still managed to become the game's first unanimous woman winner. That said, she went in expecting a standard season of Big Brother. I would be interested to see how Houseguests would play if they went in knowing that a twist like the A.I. Arena was possible.
It seems like we'll get that opportunity to find out, as a twist similar to the A.I. Arena is "very likely" when Big Brother returns to CBS next summer. Watch previous seasons right now with a Paramount+ subscription, and gear up for what could be yet another entertaining season on the way.