'Brother' has first transgender houseguest

The 17th season of Big Brother will feature the CBS reality show's first transgender houseguest, Audrey Middleton.

Big Brother host Julie Chen discussed Middleton Wednesday on The Talk, a weekday CBS chat show that she co-hosts. Middleton's identity as a transgender woman was not supposed to be revealed until she spoke to fellow houseguests on the season premiere (June 24, 8 p.m.), but a news leak led to The Talk discussion.

"We did not expect for you to know what you are about to see and hear until premiere night, but the story was leaked to TMZ," Chen told viewers.

After Chen said that Middleton would be Big Brother's first transgender houseguest, The Talk studio audience applauded.

CBS also issued a statement: "Audrey Middleton is a Big Brother super fan who applied online, like many other hopeful houseguests, and was open about her transition in the application process. It is customary for Big Brother houseguests to share personal news inside the house, and Audrey plans to discuss her story with the houseguests in her own words during the premiere episode."

Middleton's first Big Brother appearance will come just weeks after Caitlyn Jenner introduced herself in Vanity Fair and about a month before the Olympic decathlon champion and Kardashian reality star formerly known as Bruce Jenner launches her E! reality series, I Am Cait (July 26, 9 p.m. ET/PT). Transgender characters are featured prominently in such fictional series as Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, Amazon's Transparent and the CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.

The Talk showed a clip of Middleton talking to former Big Brother contestant Jeff Schroeder. In the video, Middleton, 25, says she is from a "little charming town in northwest Georgia" and works as a digital media consultant.

Regarding her Big Brother competitive strengths, she tells Schroeder: "I think that I'm bringing in a very versatile perspective of a character that hasn't been brought before."

When Schroeder asks if Middleton thinks she will be perceived as a hero or a villain, she responds: "I think there's a chance I could be a misunderstood hero, but I'm going to be a hero."

Chen said Middleton plans to tell the other houseguests, who are now sequestered as part of the show's standard operating procedure, that she is transgender on premiere night, which will be the first time they get together.

"I hope you watch with compassion and an open mind to learn something about a community that you may not be familiar with," Chen said, choking up as she spoke. "This is Audrey's story to tell and I'm looking forward to hearing it."