Julie Chen Moonves Revealed Meredith Vieira Was First Offered 'Big Brother' Hosting Job

Julie Chen Moonves has revealed that Meredith Vieira was actually offered the Big Brother hosting gig before her.

The 53-year-old newscaster opened up in a new interview, ahead of the start of the upcoming season 25 of the hit reality series, and opened up about how she got the job instead.

Keep reading to find out more…

Chatting with Entertainment Tonight, Julie revealed that Meredith actually turned the offer down.

“I wasn’t the first choice to host. It was offered and turned down by Meredith Vieira,” she shared, and says her husband, former CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves, confirmed that rumor was true.

Les once explained that he knew “Big Brother was going to be kind of a trashy show… So, we wanted to class it up with the host,’” according to Julie, and the job was “offered it to her because she was a very well-respected name in the business.”

Julie also took Meredith‘s passing of the role as a sign, and says she knew “that I was meant to host Big Brother.”

“I was terrible in the beginning. [But] I’ve grown so much as a human being and as a host… And I love it. I can’t imagine not hosting Big Brother anymore.”

Big Brother‘s season 25 will debut August 2 on CBS.

Just recently, CBS revamped their upcoming Fall television schedule. Check it out.