Julie Chen Moonves Explains Why ‘Big Brother’ Has Had More Successful Marriages Than ‘The Bachelor’

Big Brother, will you accept this rose? The long-running CBS competition series kicks off its anniversary 25th season in just a week, on August 2. And ahead of the new edition, host Julie Chen Moonves is reflecting on why Big Brother plays such a good matchmaker — even more so than ABC's landmark dating show The Bachelor.

"The secret no one knows about Big Brother — I think it's really a marriage show," Moonves said in Entertainment Tonight's Big Brother 25th Anniversary Special, which premiered Wednesday night. "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."

Big Brother has led to eight successful couples and seven marriages, while The Bachelor has only seen one lead, Sean Lowe, marry his winner — although two men, Jason Mesnick and Arie Luyendyk Jr., have since wed their second-placers. Big Brother has also led to 11 children.

During the special, husband and wife Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly — who first met on Season 12 — said their relationship really blossomed after they were evicted, since the cameras were down.

"The jury house is really juicy," Reilly said. "You're spending 24/7, but without cameras. So we got to talk, we got to go on walks, we made picnics for each other. We hung out and became friends, and I think that that really cemented our relationship."

Villegas and Reilly got married in 2012, and welcomed their first child, Adora, in 2016. In 2020, they had their second baby, Adler.

The two also competed on The Amazing Race together, coming in third place on both The Amazing Race 20 and The Amazing Race: All-Stars. Two Big Brother couples have actually won The Amazing Race: Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss in 2022, and Cody Lee Nickson and Jessica Furtado Graf in 2018.

Meanwhile, Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder are Big Brother's longest-lasting couple, having met during Season 11 in 2009. While promoting the couple's new podcast Togethermess, Schroeder exclusively told The Messenger that he first began liking Lloyd when she offered for him to split her bed instead of having to share with a married contestant.

"Jordan, out of nowhere, not knowing her, not saying any word to her at all, she's like, 'Hey, that's not fair you have to sleep with a married woman. You can have my bed and you can sleep here,'" he recalled. "I was like, 'Wow, I wouldn't have done that.' Right away, I was like, 'Man, I like her.'"

Schroeder ultimately proposed to Lloyd in the Big Brother house, when they returned during Season 16 under the guise of hosting a challenge.

Elsewhere in the Big Brother 25th Anniversary Special, Moonves and previous contestants reveal some of the biggest secrets behind the titular house itself, including the "magic refrigerator" and near-constant ant infestations.

The Big Brother 25th Anniversary Special is now available to stream on Paramount+.