CBS Press Release On Season Twist

The Houseguests Will Be Going Back to High School as They Are Divided into Memorable High School Cliques - Popular, Athletes, Brainiacs and Off-Beats

A Mystery 13th Houseguest Will Also Join the Game

House Guests To Compete in House That Has Been Transformed into Green, Eco-Friendly Living Machine

What group did you fit into in high school? That is the question 12 strangers will face on the season premiere of BIG BROTHER, Thursday, July 9 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

12 strangers will move into the Big Brother house and learn that they will be ‘kickin it old school' this summer, high school to be exact. The House Guests will be shocked to learn that they will be playing the game in one of four familiar high school cliques - popular, athletes, brainiacs and off beats. They will compete for food, safety from eviction and luxury prizes as part of their clique.

They will also be surprised to discover that a mystery 13th Houseguest is coming to the BIG BROTHER house, to join the game and give an advantage to one of the cliques.

"You may have graduated, but the truth is we never leave high school and this summer we are going to prove it," says Allison Grodner, Executive Producer of BIG BROTHER. "From the brains to the jocks to the off-beat, everyone will be able to identify to one of these cliques, giving the viewers a group to root for and against from the very beginning. The division will cause instant drama."

The houseguests will live and compete in a house that has been transformed into a mean, green, eco-friendly living machine. The interior walls of the house are covered with a reconstituted wood panel product made from re-claimed wood flakes. This eco-friendly material reduced the amount of new lumber used to build the BIG BROTHER house. For the first time ever, the Houseguests will be made fully aware of the amount of waste they create, and will be required to sort, recycle and place all food items in an outdoor manual compost center, as well as an indoor automatic composter. The Head of Household Suite feels like seaside in Big Sur, Calif., where actual driftwood hangs on the copper patina tinted walls while a working waterfall, using recycled water, trickles over stacked stone to serve as a headboard. Zebra wood columns (all faux wood) press into the room framing a contemporary window that overlooks the "surf."