Big Brother: Who is Julie Chen Moonves? Net worth, career, and more explored

Big Brother season 26 is set to return with host Julie Chen Moonves. CBS has announced the reality TV franchise's premiere, which will take place on July 17 and 18, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

Julie Chen Moonves is an American TV personality, anchor, presenter, and producer. She has been the face of CBS's American reality TV show Big Brother since 2000.

Chen is a producer at CBS and has hosted multiple shows on the network. She is married to CBS's former CEO, Les Moonves, and has a son, Charlie Moonves. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Julie Chen's net worth is $30 million.

Julie Chen Moonves hails from Queens, New York. She started in 1990 as an intern with CBS Morning News and has worked as a local news reporter with ABC NewsOne and WDTN-TV. She was back with CBS to host the successful franchise of Big Brother in 2000.

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Julie Chen Moonves: Net worth and career before Big Brother

Julie Chen Moonves is a big name in the American TV industry. According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has a net worth of $30 million. Her career includes hosting reality TV shows, production, and guest appearances on TV shows.

Julie's career spans more than 30 decades, beginning in the 1990s. After completing her studies in radio and English at the University of Southern California, she began her career as an intern at CBS Morning News in 1990.

She started working as a desk assistant for ABC NewsOne in 1991. Within three years of joining ABC NewsOne, she was promoted to producer. Between 1995 and 1997, she was employed as a local news reporter for WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio.

She returned to CBS in 1999 and hosted and co-hosted for CBS during this time. She also co-hosted The Early Morning Show, an American morning show produced by CBS from 2000 to 2010.

Julie Chen Moonves has hosted Big Brother, the American reality TV show, since 2000. The show is about to launch season 26, which will premiere on July 17 and 18, 2024, on CBS and Paramount+.

Julie published her first book, When I Grow Up, in 2018. She went on to launch an audiobook in 2023, on September 19, But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery.

Referring to her audiobook, in the American morning show aired by ABC, Good Morning America, she describes what led to the change in her personality after she embraced Christianity in 2018. She said:

"Julie Chen before she found God was self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy — fun to be with, but probably kind of a shallow person. Julie Chen Moonves, who now knows the Lord, is someone who wants to help others; who wants to look at everyone with a soft heart."

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Julie Chen Moonves: The all-time host of the Big Brother franchise.

Big Brother is an American reality show that hosts 'Houseguests' for 80-85 days in a house with 24-hour surveillance, microphones, and cameras to keep an eye on them. It is a game show with weekly elimination based on a public voting system. The contestants face elimination as per their performance in tasks, and the ultimate survivor takes home a cash prize of $7,50,000.

Julie Chen Moonves is synonymous with the show. She has been the host since season one and is returning for season 26, which premieres on July 17 on CBS and Paramount+.

She has frequently shared her Big Brother experiences on Instagram and X (previously known as Twitter), posting photos of Big Brother alums and announcing news about the show. She recently revealed the upcoming season of the show and offered viewers details about it.

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Big Brother season 26 will premiere for two nights on July 17 and 18 on CBS and Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET.