Big Brother‘s cast was modified just days before the season 28 premiere.
CBS‘s hit show will feature Yash Patel, an alternate, rather than Levi Banks, who was removed from the cast. Levi completed every step of the casting process before he got the boot, according to reports from The U.S. Sun.
A production source claimed, “Levi did the full casting process, including his contestant portrait and sequestering. After everything, he was pulled from the season at basically the very last second. Yash was an alternate and replaced Levi.”
The abrupt switch came after Levi had already been photographed for promotional materials and even sequestered in Los Angeles ahead of moving into the famous Big Brother house. BB’s website featured Levi’s picture before deleting it and replacing it.
While the network has yet to comment publicly on the casting shake-up, eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed that Yash’s promotional rollout looked different from the rest of the cast, fueling speculation that he had joined the game late.
Yash is a 24-year-old financial analyst. You’ll learn more about him and the other houseguests on 7/9!
Big Brother Season 28 premieres with a 90-minute episode on Thursday, July 9, on CBS, with episodes also streaming on Paramount+.
