Photos: CBS

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Big Brother season is upon us! Season 18 (!) of the CBS reality show returns on Wednesday for another summer of messy backyard competitions, scheming, screaming fights, and showmances. While producers have yet to reveal the big twist for this season, fans can take comfort in knowing that two of their favorites will be returning: Don Wollman, a.k.a. the voice of “Big Brother” inside the house, and Clayton Halsey, the man behind those “tonight on Biiiiiig Brother!” promos. While the duo never appear on screen, they’re a vital part of the Big Brother experience — both for the houseguests and viewers. (In addition to lending their voices to Big Brother, Wollman serves as a producer and Halsey works as an editor on the show.) Yahoo TV grilled the unseen (and unsung) Big Brother heroes about their work on the summer hit.

Related: ‘Big Brother’: Meet the Cast



How did you become the voices of Big Brother?

DW: Season 1 there was no “voice.” Various producers were giving messages into the house. And when [executive producers] Allison [Grodner] and Arnold [Shapiro] took over on Season 2, they decided they would rather have the same statement made all the time, so that the language is always the same for the houseguests. Somebody just said to me, “Hey would you like to do that?” I said, “Oh, ok.”

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Don Wollman, the voice of “Big Brother” inside the house

CH: I had been editing the show since Season 3, and I did the voice for two other shows that Allison did — one called Brat Camp and one called The Family. At the beginning of Season 6 she said to me, “You know what? I think you should be the voice of Big Brother as well.” And I said, “Okay!” The rest is history.

When people find out you’re one of the Big Brother voices, do they ever ask you to record their voicemail or anything like that?

CH: Yes, that’s happened a few times. I’ve also run into superfans who want me to do the “Biiiiiig Brother” thing.

DW: I’ve had exactly the same experience, particularly people who are the feeders [a.k.a. Big Brother fans who watch the live feed]. Those are the people who really hear my voice. They ask me to say, “Please go to the Diary Room.” Yeah, sure, I can do that. They get a big kick out of it, and I’m sure they same thing happens with Clayton.

Clayton, how did the now-classic “Biiiiiiiiiig Broooother” flourish in those “previously on”/”tonight on” promos come about?

CH: In the beginning, I can’t remember the guy’s name who we took over for, but it was a much more mellow read. Allison wanted a bigger read. It’s grown over the years. It changes every season a little bit, the intonation of it… I try to sound excited without being cheesy.

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