LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Technically, CBS isn't lying on its web site when it says "a group of strangers will live together" on the new edition of "Big Brother." The network was just withholding part of the truth.
Instead of people who've never laid eyes on one another, several houseguests on "Big Brother 4" will see their pasts come back to haunt them. On the premiere episode Tuesday, July 8, four players will discover that their ex-boyfriends or -girlfriends are also vying for the $500,000 prize.

"We have no idea what's going to happen," says executive producer Arnold Shapiro, who's returning for his third season on the CBS series. "We just know eight people -- four ex-couples -- are going to get the surprise of their lives. About anything you can imagine might happen, might indeed happen."

Three single men and two single women will also be part of the mix. They'll enter the house first along with half of each of the former couples; the exes will join them later in the premiere. The players have already been sequestered, so none of them know about the twist.

Allison Grodner, Shapiro's producing partner, came up with the idea as a way to make sure that "story [is] already there" at the start of the game.

She says she wanted to begin this "Big Brother" with something more than the typical getting-to-know-you episode in which everyone makes small talk and tries to get to know the other players. "In this case," she says, "we've got people already walking in with stories, with a past."

None of the four couples were married or had children, although some did live together for a time. The reasons they broke up, and the lingering feelings, are different in each case.

"Some broke it off on good terms. Some actually might want to be reunited," Grodner says. "And some [breakups] aren't as happy as the others." At least one is in the never-want-to-see-you-again category.

The contestants, who range in age from 19 to 59, will be introduced Thursday (July 3) on CBS' web site and the pages of Entertainment Weekly. Julie Chen is returning as "Big Brother's" host. Shapiro and Grodner decided to keep last season's big new element, the veto, in play this time, and they promise a new wrinkle to that aspect of the game as well.

The show will air at 8 p.m. ET Tuesdays, 9 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 p.m. Fridays. The Wednesday episodes will air live and feature the eviction of a player.

While the reunion of the former couples is the big hook to start, Shapiro thinks the five singles may be a wild card.

"What happens if one of them hooks up with one of the exes?" he asks. "Is there going to be a jealousy factor with the other ex? You just never know what could happen here."

Immediate gut reaction.....I don't like it.
Instead of having drama and contraversy created by tension within the house that just builds and simmers in every situation, we'll have Woman X going postal cause Man Y is a cheating bastard who slept with the town slut.

Will I still watch? You better believe it!

If it's a surprise, then why are they telling everyone?

Doesn't Big Brother happen in pretty much "real time"? So the people haven't gone into the house yet.

Now they'll all be expecting to see one of their exes there. There goes the shock.

Reading comprehension isn't just for the SAT!

This is sort of a bad way to go because it was fun to watch how each houseguest would have to size up total strangers in a short time before deciding who to "trust" in order not to get the boot in the early rounds.

Now, with so much familiarity in the house, that gets diluted, and the dynamics go in a different direction, one that I'm not sure I'll be enjoying as much. We'll see...

I think CBS is trying to get the first on-camera live reality show murder here.

Whoops! I just skimmed the article and missed that.

If you watch the webcast, the bloodiest parts won't even get blurred out!!

It probably will help the ratings quite a bit, with the added soap opera angle. I'm not thrilled, but we'll see.

I think a funny twist would be if they cast the house with a bunch of people who were on different reality shows. Most of those people's 15 minutes of fame are long over and it would be kind of funny to have a house full of people who had been on Survivor, The Real World, etc.

CBS could have past contestants from Survivor lounge around in the house for the summer, and then have past contestants from Big Brother in some remote location for an "all-star" Survivor show swap.

I doubt many of the BBers would be able to survive in the outdoors for long, though...

Or maybe just the possibility of some under the cover grunting.

The show was fine the way it was! *pumps fist*

I totally agree. I wish they'd left the way it was.

I don't know about this. The show is one of the most entertaining of the reality shows. Why mess with something that's working well?

Maybe it'll work. We'll see.

They just want people to hook up, and this gives them more of a chance that the new found intimacy will re-ignite the flames for some of these ex-couples. Unfortunately this is not really what Big Brother is all about.

The best way to improve the show would be to fire Julie Chen. Damn she is annoying.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I think the show should be hosted by Dennis Leary.

I have no idea why but I have always been seriously addicted to this show

I dont know if I like this news.......

I think Chen is boinking the head of CBS, so she probably gets to keep the BB gig as long as she wants it, or while still boinking Moonves.

I'd still hit that sh-t.

Ehhh...it could be interesting. Either way, I'll be watching it just as I did the past three.

I'm kind of curious as to how they found the ex-couples. They just happened to find ex couples who both auditioned for the show, unbeknownst that the other was also auditioning. Seems...weird, and very convenient.

The profiles of the houseguests (with the exception of the 4 "surprise" guests) are up on the cbs page...

I can't wait to see how this works out. I do think the changes they made after the first season made the show much better. This change just seems too gimmicky

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother4/

--with the exception of the 4 "suprise" guests--

anyone think these could be past participants from the other shows?