Julie Chen Moonves Highlights Big Brother’s High Marriage Rate, Taking a Jab at The Bachelor’s Lower Success
During the finale of Big Brother 26, Julie Chen Moonves was eagerly excited about pushing Tucker Des Lauriers and Rubina Bernabe into marriage mode. Of course, they had been separated for some weeks, but Julie Chen Moonves was eager to see these two say, “I do.” Julie Chen Mooves noted the highly successful marriage rate of previous contestants while she name-dropped another franchise’s lower success rate.
Having previously called it a “marriage show”, the veteran host said during the Big Brother 25th Anniversary Special in July 2023. “We’ve had more successful marriages than The Bachelor, because when you are locked away from society, you bond, and you get to see every side of that person.” Shots fired! The Chenbot was giddy about sharing this fact with viewers, but is she accurate? Not looking at the showmances and couples that only dated post-show, Julie Chen Moonves might actually be onto something!
Why ‘Big Brother’ Relationships Last
Finding love on reality television can be rare. Especially those programs directly created for that purpose. Love takes time. The pressure cooker of a reality series may not be the most conducive to establishing the necessary bonds required to jump from love to marriage. Even though Big Brother is not a dating show, there is something quintessentially real about the experience that turns showmances into long-lasting romances. Some say you shouldn’t get married until you live with someone. Well, that’s exactly what happens on Big Brother. Two individuals find each other while literally living with one another. They are expediting the process. Certainly, there are romances that don’t last beyond the showmance, the ones that do have worked out the kinks in real-time. All while playing a game for a cash prize.
Over the course of the twenty-six seasons of Big Brother, all but one married couple have remained married. Big Brother 22 stars Memphis Garrett and Christmas Abbottdivorced in early 2024. The rest who have tied the knot are still going strong, many of whom have built happy families together. Originally meeting on Season 11, Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd were the first couple that could. The OG Big Brother couple returned for Big Brother 13, which just so happened to feature some other happy pairs. Dominic Briones and Daniele Donato met while appearing on Season 13 and have been happily together since then. Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly had back to back Big Brother stints on Season 12 and 13. Nicole Franzel first played Big Brother during Season 16, but her biggest victory came during Season 18 where she not only won it all, but she met the love of her life, Victor Arroyo. One season later introduced the world to the romance of Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson. And once again, a season later, it was Swaggy C and Bayleigh Dayton. Of these successful couples, three of them had engagements on the Big Brother set, and four of them went on to compete on The Amazing Race. If they can live and race together, surely love will survive!
When it comes to Bachelor Nation, there are only a few couples that are still married. Sticking solely on the married couples from the flagship franchises, the happy pairs include Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham (The Bachelor 22), Jordan Rodgers and JoJo Fletcher (The Bachelorette 12), Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici (The Bachelor 17), Chris Siegfried and Desiree Hartsock (The Bachelorette 9), Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney (The Bachelor 13), and Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter (The Bachelorette 1). Of course, there are couples still engaged or from the various spin-offs, but the overall percentage rate for a show about getting to the altar and lasting is menial.
Despite the low success rate, viewers continue to tune in to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette because they are hopeful for love. We’ve all got a bit of a hopeless romantic inside of us. The show is essentially meant for entertainment. Watching a single person date upwards of twenty-plus individuals in a shortened span is not “normal.” It’s not how dating works. But it proves those who can fight through the odds are truly meant to be.
Now with the facts out there, why is the Big Brother host so eager to celebrate love on Big Brother? Julie Chen Moonves has stood by her man, Les Moonves, following his sexual assault scandal in 2018.She’s eager to see love flourish on her show. Perhaps it’s also a bit of a ploy to get single fans to apply because they’re more likely to tie the knot following their time having their lives filmed 24/7! I may regret this later, but sign me up! All episodes of Big Brother are available to stream on Paramount+.
