It’s going to be a summer of mysteries in the Big Brother house, and everyone’s favorite summer guilty pleasure is ready to go all-in on the theme.
CBS released a first look at the Big Brother 27 house on Wednesday, July 2, and, true to form, it begs more questions than answers. When the game begins, houseguests will enter the Big Brother “Hotel Mystère,” where “secrets lurk behind every door and nothing is as it seems,” according to a release from CBS.
As detailed as the house design is — and it’s honestly impressive — fans are sure to raise an eyebrow at a line from CBS about casting. This is, after all, the Big Brother preseason when casting rumors run rampant.
“In a season full of surprises, the premiere will be filled with unexpected twists and turns including a masked visitor, a secret accomplice and the shocking arrival of a ‘Mystery Houseguest’ whose identity will remain under wraps…at least for now,” the release reads.
‘BIg Brother’ Teases Summer of Mysteries Theme and Mystery Houseguest
Big Brother has done the mystery houseguest gimmick each of the last two seasons. In Big Brother 25, Survivor legend Cirie Fields surprised fans at the end of the premiere episode as the surprise 17th player. Then, in Big Brother 26, players had the option to vote in Ainsley, an AI houseguest, which they declined to do.
As for the house itself, it looks eerily reminiscent of the castle used in The Traitors, complete with hidden passageways, a secretive wine cellar and dizzying detail in every corner that houseguests will undoubtedly have to study for a competition sometime down the line.
Once houseguests step through the front door (just don’t be the first one!), they’ll encounter 75 key boxes, some filled with skeleton keys and others with clues that can help them in the game.
Four giant chess pieces overlook the living room, serving as a constant reminder of the maneuvering it takes to navigate a summer-long power struggle. Meanwhile, the adjacent kitchen is rooftop garden themed, perfect for schmoozing and subtle strategy.
The bedrooms take the mystery theme even further. One is billed as the Attic Bedroom of Oddities, with beds made from wooden crates, rubber masks on the wall and “haunted artifacts” that make the room a “spooky treasure trove.” The other is the Sleeper Car Bunk Room, a “train-themed bedroom straight out of a murder mystery novel” with bunk beds, which Big Brother has not had since season 1 in 2000.
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Upstairs, houseguests will encounter the venom lounge and poison bar, which CBS confirms does not contain real poison. It does, however, have snakes slithering across the wallpaper and ravens (the bird, not BB19’s Raven Walton) watching over the players.
Big Brother 27 premieres Thursday, July 10 at 8 p.m. on CBS. Unlike in other recent seasons, fans won’t have night one live feeds — the feeds will come on after the second episode, airing Sunday, July 13, also at 8.
