Big Brother's Julie Chen Moonves Reveals the Reason Why She Changed Her Last Name

“I made the change on the fly on a live show in the spur of the moment,” she told Deadline. “I didn’t tell anybody. I was like toying with it and I remember my heart racing while I thought, ‘am I gonna do it?’ It just became a moment.”

“Moonves” is the last name of Julie‘s husband, Les Moonves, who used to be the CEO of CBS.

About her husband’s reaction, she said, “I think he was just like, what happened?” she recalled. “When I married my husband, I chose not to take the name because I thought it could be seen as an unfair advantage. It was a powerful, popular name to have. And I had made my own career prior to knowing him. So I wanted to keep that. And then when his name was getting dragged through the mud, I thought this is the time to make my stand and to let the world know who I am. And it was a sign of support for my husband. I know him. And he is a good man.”

If you don’t remember, Moonves was accused of sexual assault and violence, and left his position as an exec at CBS back in 2018.