Celebrity Big Brother's cast of 11 houseguests has been revealed, and the lineup includes former The Apprentice contestant and White House staffer Omarosa Manigault.
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Also moving into the Big Brother house will be Big Time Rush singer James Maslow, The Cosby Show star Keshia Knight Pulliam, Hairspray Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur, Miss Universe 2015 Ariadna Gutierrez, former mixed martial artist Chuck Liddell, and RuPaul's Drag Race star Ross Mathews.
The identities were announced in a very brief Celebrity Big Brother promo that aired ahead of the 60th annual Grammy Awards broadcast on CBS.
The houseguests are comprised of five former Dancing with the Stars participants as well as four former The Celebrity Apprentice contestants. That leaves only two members of the cast who haven't appeared on one of those two popular reality competition shows.
These 11 individuals will lock themselves in a house for two-and-a-half weeks, with 87 HD cameras and more than 100 microphones recording their every move 24 hours a day. The winner of the series will walk away with the $250,000 grand prize.
As previously announced, Celebrity Big Brother will debut Wednesday, February 7 at 8PM ET/PT with a one-hour premiere and conclude on Sunday, February 25 at 8PM ET/PT with a two-hour finale.
Omarosa Manigault is a three-time The Apprentice or The Celebrity Apprentice participant.
One of President Donald Trump's most prominent African-American supporters, Omarosa joined the Trump administration as the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison.
Omarosa, however, left her post on January 20, and it's been widely reported that she was fired by White House chief of staff John Kelly and "very upset" over the situation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to competing on The Celebrity Apprentice 4, Mark also served as a guest judge on American Idol and hosted Don't Forget the Lyrics!, Killer Karaoke, Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll, and Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.
Shannon and Marissa both competed on Dancing with the Stars' sixth season, while Metta World Peace briefly put on his dancing shoes for the ABC reality competition's thirteenth season.
Both Brandi and Keshia competed on The Celebrity Apprentice 7.
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOWJames finished Dancing with the Stars' 18th season in fourth place, and Chuck tested out his dance skills on Dancing with the Stars 9.
Ariadna, who was mistakenly crowned Miss Universe in 2015 by Steve Harvey, and Ross, a former Tonight Show intern, are the two non-Dancing or Celebrity Apprentice fresh faces. However, Ross' prior reality ties also include competing on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club in 2007.
The new season will serve as counterprogramming to the Winter Olympics.
Celebrity Big Brother will feature multiple episodes per week during a concentrated run, and include the series' signature Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions and live evictions. Julie Chen will return to host.
Julie announced CBS's first celebrity edition during Big Brother's 19th season in September 2017, and executive producer Allison Grodner subsequently revealed to The Reporter, "We've had an overwhelming response from people who want to be on the show."
"It's not going to be all Oscar winners. But maybe we'll have someone who won an Oscar decades ago," Julie said last year about how Celebrity Big Brother casting must be "realistic."
"Whoever casts Dancing with the Stars does an amazing job. They don't always get household names, but some people kind of reinvent themselves and suddenly I see that person all over the tabloids. Sometimes these types of shows, like in the U.K. [version], some of the washed-up names that went into it got a new lease on life."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
