CBS has revealed the identities of the 16 all-single houseguests who will be competing on Big Brother 9 and announced the season will feature a creative twist that will force the show's cast to pair up with their show-selected "soul mate."

During Big Brother 9's premiere broadcast on Tuesday, February 12 at 9PM ET/PT, the group will be told they are being matched up with their "soul mate" -- a "stranger who may prove to be their true love or their worst nightmare," according to CBS.

"Sixteen singles, living in a house, suddenly discover that their perfect love match is sitting right next to them," executive producer Allison Grodner told Big Brother host and The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen during Tuesday morning's The Early Show broadcast. (As part of the application process, the show required each of the houseguests to fill out a "love-match profile," according to Chen.)

"Your life in the house depends on this other person. You're going to sleep in the same bed together, you're going to compete together, you're going to hold the Head of Household together, get nominated [for eviction] together -- and ultimately -- get evicted together."

Big Brother 9's cast appears to be geographically diverse and consists of nine men and eight women ranging in age from 21- to 45-years-old, however all but one of them are 29-years-old or younger.

"We have a group of really energetic people. These people are over-the-top. Some amazing characters," Grodner told Chen. "There will be some gay men in the house, and certainly you can expect therefore it won't all be heterosexual couples."

Left unaddressed in the network's announcement was whether, for the first time since Big Brother's 2002 third season, each Big Brother 9 houseguest will actually be a "stranger" to all of the rest their fellow houseguests. As Chen noted during a recent Late Show with David Letterman appearance intended to promote the upcoming season, beginning with Big Brother 4, each of the show's last four seasons has included at least one pair of houseguests that were related or already had some other form of pre-existing relationship -- romantic, formerly romantic or otherwise -- with each other.

"It started out [with] ten complete strangers thrown into a house... but over over the years -- since we're coming on the ninth season now -- we started by Season 4 throwing in twists where they weren't always complete strangers living together," Chen told Letterman during the January 28 appearance. "You would go into the house thinking 'OK, well, it's the ten of us and none of us know each other' and then we would say 'Surprise' and we'd throw in like five ex-boyfriends or girlfriends of people who were in the house. Imagine being locked in a house with your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend for three months!"

CBS did not immediately respond to messages seeking additional clarification about its announcement.

In addition to the season's twist, CBS also announced that Big Brother's two-story house -- which was first introduced three seasons ago and replaced the single-story building that had served as the home of the show's first five seasons -- has been redecorated for the new season. The house will now reflect a rustic modern-day lodge, complete with stone walls; a free-standing fireplace; a full-size, authentic handmade canoe hanging from the ceiling; a new diary room with real tree trunks in the background; nautical-themed bedrooms; an island oasis-themed HoH room; and even a few live animals.

Sparked by the still-ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, Big Brother 9 will be the long-running reality show's first-ever winter edition. The show will use the same three-nights-a-week broadcasting format as the show's summer editions. In addition to Tuesday night broadcasts, Big Brother 9 will air Wednesday and Sunday night editions at 8PM ET/PT beginning February 13 and 17. Live weekly eviction broadcasts will air Wednesday nights, with the first eviction airing on February 20.

Big Brother: After Dark, a live feed program that aired nightly on Showtime Too during last summer's Big Brother 8, will also return for a second season. Big Brother: After Dark will air nightly from 12AM to 3AM ET beginning February 12 and feature footage from the same live camera feeds that are made available to online subscribers of the show's 24/7 live Internet feeds.

MoniGram said:

my early favs based on appearance only.....

Jacob...




Joshuah...



Joshuah is a gay man currently living in Dallas, Texas. He has a bachelor's degree in advertising, with a business minor, from the University of Texas at Austin.

Joshuah came out when he was 18 years old. He says he was a gay man who played straight growing up, playing football and having long term relationships with women. Things changed when he slept with his sister's cheerleading coach--ruining her cheering career--and claims that his family has never forgiven him. He's a bit of an exhibitionist, currently considers himself to be a bisexual and doesn't care what people think of him.


Got to love that !

What do you all think of the house? I was wondering how the pool would fit in, and I guess it's all heated this year, with certain parts of the yard.

I just don't want a repeat of last season.

No roided up helmet-haired dudes with grating accents.

No gross bastards getting away with nasty ass things. :flashback:

I've kinda got a flu/cold thing working for me here so I only saw the first bit of the show lastnight.

I have no opinions yet but I just wanted to say that I felt really bad for the ex girlfriend that's teamed up with the guy who wrecked her life. I mean I know she kinda asked for it going on the show and all....but still I feel for her.

Dance said:

That's exactly what I want.

Is there anyone good looking this year?

Remember the dude with one leg? I was oddly attracted to him.

JustErin said:

OMG Eddie!!! me too!!!

and none of the new people stood out to me.

Sweeny79 said:

Eddie!!!

Why mess around? Just make porn if you want to make porn!

I find the whole cast immature & whiny. I mean holy sh%$..nat blows mat after knowing him for 4 days!! Jen & ryan are having 1 minute sex in the bathroom,,,wow...what a stud. (rolls eyes)

the whole show is like a teenage slumber party..

& the way they acted when they found out adam was Not circumsized..gimme a break!
shiela annoys the hell outta me...actually..MOST of them annoy the hell outta me.

why do i watch this crap?????

Sweeny79 said:

You liked Stretch Armstrong and the dirty looking perv?

sonic said:

I never watch this show, but it sounds lame as fuck....

I don't really like anyone on this show. Okay, I like Chelsia a little bit just because she's from Iowa like me.

I hate Amanda. She is so whiny! And I get that she has a nice ass but Jesus H Christ, put some regular shorts on, girl! I think it's inappropriate to walk around in front of people with your butt cheeks hanging out. Nasty. I think she kind of looks like Janis Joplin.

Even though I don't like Amanda, I think what Joshuah said to her was horrible. I even thought that "horseface" comment was out of line (even though it's true). But that comment about her dad was disgusting & low. It sounds like he apologized for it but still.

I didn't like Jen. I can't believe she told people her boyfriend was a racist, just to get him out of the house. Whether he was or not, national tv is not the place to deal with it. I'm glad Jen is gone. Her ass will probably end up back in there in some sort of twist.

I liked Parker and was sad to see him go. I think he was the hottest guy there.

I can't stand Sheila. I understand her partner looks like a psychotic gopher, but she was absolutely rude to him. And I don't understand this whole lesbian story she concocted with Alison. How is this going to get her ahead? Wouldn't that make you a ?

No one else has really stood out to me thus far.

Worst cast ever - there's not a single intelligent or funny person in there. First season where there has been no one I'm rooting for. Still watching, though.

I think they should bill it as "Big Brother 9: More Drama, Less Brain Cells!".

It has made House Calls eminently watchable, though, as there's plenty of fodder for Gretchen et al. to goof on.

WHOA! MAJOR "SPOILERS" HERE.

JustErin said:

Whoa that was a throwback. I remember Eddie.

Ace said:

I never agreed with putting them on slop! I think that's horrible. They should have just stuck to PBJ.

Ace said:

OMG!!!!! I normally have live feeds, this year I have been taking my time getting them.

MoniGram said:

I never get 'em. Just happened across this on perez.

Ace said:

Wow! So have you done your digging...is Amanda okay?

yup...amanda & allison are fine & back in the house..shame on the BB crew for not realizing amanda was hypoglycemic..or IF they did,,,they did Nothing about it~~~

wow...interesting stuff going on...to bad the show wasn't as dramatic as that unfortunate health moment..

well, this has been the worst rated BB ever...it was smart of the producers to go with the couples stunt (it was created to shorten or length the show depending on the strike outcome)...it's pretty apparent they will keep the couples together and end this season ASAP.

cause this season sucks!! and i ain't just talking about the straight gay porn dude either.

sosgemini said:

Who are you referring to?

Ace said:

Jesus.
[Edited 2/24/08 5:42am]

OK I just looked at the spoilers from Perez.

That is very scary!

Cinnie said:

the bike dude....at first they admited he was in solo shots and then folks started finding man on man action vids...he's pretty well endowed for a white boy.

there's video online and photos but i can't seem to find the link now. sowwy.