Check out some of the most memorable highlights from the 'BB' season 22 premiere.
The new season of Big Brother All-Stars kicked off Wednesday night, and some fan favorites returned for another shot at the grand prize. The two-hour move-in special saw all the houseguests come together (under extensive healthy and safety precautions) for a brand new season of the hit CBS reality competition series.
For the first time in the show's history, the full cast of houseguests wasn't revealed until the premiere, and fans got a chance to see which returning contestants will be vying for the $500,000 grand prize yet again.
The contestants were introduced in four groups of four, beginning with Da'Vonne Rogers (from seasons 17 and 18), Christmas Abbott (season 19), Nicole Franzel (seasons 16 and 18) and Dani Briones (seasons 8 and 13).
The four houseguests -- all decked out in facemasks -- joined host Julie Chen Moonves, and they were introduced to the show's very first challenge, before even getting to settle in.
The four women had to run into the house and locate a specific object, then run into the backyard and complete a challenge in which they had to roll a ball inside a giant wooden maze that represented the Big Brother house itself. The goal was to get the ball into the hole in the room where the object was located. It proved to be a tougher challenge than expected.
And the stakes were higher than expected as well. The two houseguests who finished quickest would have a chance to compete for Head of Household later in the episode. Also, since the premiere was live, they only had four minutes.
After all was said and done, only Da'Vonne was able to complete the objective.
The next group introduced included Tyler Crispen (season 20), Ian Terry (season 14 winner), Kevin Campell (season 11), and Enzo Palumbo (season 12).
They were faced with the same challenge as the first group, which Ian and Kevin finished handily.
The third group of all-star houseguests included Janelle Pierzina (seasons 6, 7 and 14), Bayleigh Dayton (season 20), Nicole Anthony (season 21) and Keesha Smith (season 10.) After each tried their hand at the giant maze rolling game, only Nicole came out victorious.
The final group included Kaysar Ridha (season 6 and 7), Cody Calafiore (season 16), Memphis Garrett (season 19) and David Alexander (season 21, during which he was eliminated on day one).
This face-off was possibly the most heated, but Cody and Memphis -- who were both runners-up in their previous seasons -- dominated the challenge.
After all was said and done, the four small "pods" were finally introduced to one another in the house, whether they got to connect for a few short minutes before the season's first Head of Household competition kicked off.
The challenge featured the six contestants who finished the first game, and required them to walk across a series of platforms -- some of which were solid, and some of which were wobbly -- to a finish line. After Cody set an impressive time of 22.06 seconds, no one else was able to come close.
This meant Cody became the seasons first Head of Household, while the other five contestants had to take a mysterious envelope that they were told not to open until the time was right. As it turned out, four of the cards had "punishments" in them (in the form of "have-nots") while one card -- which Christmas grabbed -- had a $5,000 cash prize.
Ian, Nicole, Memphis and Kevin, on the other hand, were introduced to their "have-nots" sleeping quarters: a grimy, rusted-out boiler room that they have to crawl on their hands and knees to get into. They'll be sleeping there for the next seven days.
Meanwhile, Chen Moonves spoke with Cody about his role as the first HoH -- a famously dangerous position -- and he admitted he actively wanted the power because he doesn't know who he can trust yet.
"I'd rather hold the fate in my hands this week... instead of go home in week one," Cody explained.
Before the premiere came to a close, Chen Moonves assembled the 16 houseguests once again to reveal the final big surprise of the night.
"You've all lived in the Big Brother house before, but none of you have ever lived in this Big Brother house. Throughout the summer, new rooms will be revealed to you, and each of these rooms will twist up this game like never before."
She explained that the first of the new, mysterious rooms they'll be introduced to is something called the Safety Suite -- but revealed that they won't learn what the Safety Suite is until later.
And with that, Season 22 kicked off in earnest, as the contestants explored the rooms they'll be staying in for the next three months.
Chen Moonves spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier ahead of the season premiere, and she opened up about the precautions the reality series is taking while filming amid the pandemic.
"I'm doing testing. I'm doing testing again and then I'm going to do more testing," Chen Moonves said of how she's staying safe while hosting the show. "I'll be farther than ever from the houseguests as they get evicted. No hugs, not even a Chenbot handshake."
In fact, the show is also operating a little differently this season all around. There will be no live audience, Chen Moonves will not be visiting the Big Brother house at all, and all groceries delivered to guests will be disinfected in advance.
That being said, hookups and sharing beds will still be allowed. This is because the contestants had to quarantine before even stepping foot into the house.
"As we speak right now, they're quarantining by themselves in homes that we've rented for them," Chen Moonves told ET. "They're getting tested every few days. They will go in once they've been clean and clear for at least 14 days and then even once they get in the house, they're still going to be tested. They have no contact with anyone."
This even goes for the crew working behind the scenes on the show.
"If you ask me, once you're in the Big Brother house, it might be one of the safest places to be," Chen Moonves added.
Big Brother All-Stars airs Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET, with the weekly live eviction show, hosted by Chen Moonves.
Check out the video below to hear more about this hotly anticipated new season.
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