Why is Julie Chen Moonves Missing from Tonight's 'Big Brother 26' Eviction Episode?

"Expect the unexpected" seems to be manifesting even outside the Big Brother house! Host Julie Chen Moonves announced on social media that, for the first time, she will not be in attendance for eviction night, due to testing positive for COVID.

"Friday morning I had a sore throat," the emcee wrote on social media "and went to see my good friend who is an ENT. That night he called to say I have Covid."

Luckily, Julie goes on to say, her symptoms are mild, consisting of no fever and just a sore throat. However, she goes on to say, she is still testing positive as of this morning. As such, for the safety of the evicted houseguest, she will not be attending tonight's live eviction show.

Related: Everything to Know About Big Brother 26

The news of Julie's absence makes Big Brother history–and in a week where history had already been made with Makensy Manbeck winning the iconic "OTEV" Veto competition in only one round. Since the very beginning of the CBS reality series nearly 25 years ago, Julie was in attendance for every time a houseguest was evicted. It's became ritualistic at this point: Grab your bags, walk out the front door, sit down, and talk over what went wrong with the "Chenbot."

That, however, will not be the case tonight. Instead, the evicted houseguest will be greeted by a fellow CBS host: Jerry O'Connell. The actor has been a mainstay on CBS, namely on his current day-to-day role as co-host of The Talk since 2021. He also co-hosted the reality series The Real Love Boat alongside his wife Rebecca Romijn, and also voices Jack Ransom on fellow Paramount production Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Last night's episode of Big Brother 26 left us in the lurch, as a cliffhanger left us to see if Makensy and Chelsie Baham would go through with the plan to put up their ally Quinn Martin. But whether it's Quinn, Angela Murray, or Kimo Apaka becoming the first member of the jury, they'll sure be in for a shock to see a very different face.

You can watch a clip from today's episode of The Talk below, as Julie gives hilarious advice to Jerry on how to take on the evening (and, more specifically, her outfit).

Next, check out our interview with Joseph Rodriguez, who was evicted in Big Brother 26 Week 7.