What it's really like in the Big Brother house

Patrick Gomez is editor-in-chief of Entertainment Weekly and fervent Big Brother fan.

Less than 350 people have ever competed in the Big Brother house, and now I can say I'm one of them...sort of.

Ahead of the season 26 premiere, CBS invited members of the media and content creators to the Radford Studios lot in Studio City, Calif., to spend a day playing "a full week" of the reality competition. In total nine of us — including SiriusXM Radio Andy host Kiki Monique, Entertainment Tonight's Nischelle Turner, and RuPaul's Drag Race star Salina EsTitties, and content creators Davis Burleson, Hannah Kosh, Julian Burzynski, and Markell Washington — spent almost 12 hours in the house, playing a Head of Household competition, sitting through a nomination ceremony, competing in a Veto competition, and eventually voting one of our fellow Houseguests out the door.

Unlike the actual Big Brother 26 cast, we weren't competing for a big cash prize, but it was surprising how easy it was to treat the experience as though $750,000 really was up for the taking. What was even more surprising is what it was really like inside those walls.

Let's start with the walls. They're huge. It's common knowledge that "the camera adds 10 lbs." — and that usually applies to sets as well. The sets of The Price Is Right and all the talk shows are always way tinier than they appear on television. But the Big Brother house is truly awe inspiring in its height. Built on a soundstage, ceiling height wasn't a concern and the designers take full advantage. Looking up from the kitchen to the upstairs balcony could send you to the chiropractor. Salina braved the stairs in heels, but it takes a brave drag queen to attempt such a feat.

Each year the house is themed, and for season 26 it's all about artificial intelligence. The official press release states that "BB AI" was tasked with designing each room with a different prompt — and, truthfully, the high-concept bedrooms look just as cool in person as they do in photos and on TV. I'm sure after wear and tear through the season, it may get dinged up, but we got to experience the house in pristine condition. (It also apparently smells pretty gross and has a few bugs by finale night, so I'm grateful we had a clean kitchen and no dirty laundry, either.) My one note? The size of the beds in the side bedroom, which is designed like a giant flower, with each bed as a flower petal. I am 6-feet tall and my feet were dangling off... I did attempt a bed in the front bedroom and was able to fit completely, so at least I would have had somewhere to sleep somewhat comfortably if we'd been in the house overnight.

While participating in the competitions and meeting my fellow Houseguests was fun, the coolest part of our media day experience was exploring the parts of the house we don't see as well on TV — like the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. It's historically the one room where there are no cameras, and while that's understandable, it doesn't mean it's just a boring bathroom. This toilet (the only one for all 16 houseguests aside from the additional one upstairs in the Head of Household bedroom, which wasn't open to us) has more buttons than my TV remote. It even came with a full two pages of printed out instructions taped to the wall alongside it, but I was too overwhelmed by it all to even attempt to figure out what the glowing blue button did.

Of course, our entire experience was recorded just like the real show (you can find it on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube), which meant the hundreds of cameras they have mounted on — and inside — the walls were filming us at all times. It's easy to forget you're being monitored...until a camera pointed away from you wants to capture that strategy session you're having with the HoH. While sitting in the gym with a few of the Houseguests, we began talking about who would be nominated, and right on cue we heard a mechanical whir as the camera pivoted in our direction. I'm sure after a few weeks, the actual Houseguests don't even notice it, but for us it was a quick reminder that we are on TV — or, at least, social media, in this case.

Producers were very involved all day, their voices booming over the loud speaker, giving directions throughout the day as we filmed all the marquee Big Brother moments: the reading of the competition rules, the reveal of the nominees, the heading out to the backyard for a competition. But as much as they guided us to stand on a certain mark or move furniture to get a cleaner shot once the HoH brought down the nomination block, I can assuage my mom's constant cynicism that shows like Big Brother and Survivor are in any way manipulated by producers for drama.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was how quickly I got into competition mode in more ways than one. Sure, I wanted to win HoH or the Veto (you'll have to watch to find out if either happened), but more than anything, I just wanted to be a part of the action. It didn't take a producer nudging me along to pick a target for eviction, I wanted the full Big Brother experience and that meant playing hard and gunning for a shocking blindside.

In real life I actively stay away from drama and scheming. Life's too short for all that. But there's something about that house that brings it out of you. Maybe it's those high ceilings — they make you want to fill the space.

Big Brother's two-night premiere begins Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.