Julie Chen was on top of the world when her world came crashing down five years ago.
She was creator of the daytime Emmy award show The Talk, along with being the host of Big Brother. But then, it all fell apart — not because of anything she did, but because of a scandal involving her husband, Les Moonves, who at the time was head of CBS.
In that moment, Chen began to ask questions about life and God. At one of her lowest moments during this season she remembered a gift, a King James Version Bible a fellow co-worker had given her. Chen began trying to read the Bible, then moved to listening to the Bible on audio. She never had picked up a Bible before, but she knew it was something she needed.
“I didn’t even know what a study Bible was,” she says now. “I was like, what’s a study Bible?”
Julie Chen with Stephen Colbert (IMDB)
Julie looks back on those early days of her spiritual quest with great fondness. It was during the COVID pandemic, so she began attending a Bible study group via Zoom — a group hosted by the same man who gave her the Bible years before.
“It was amazing, as I was discovering my newfound relationship, along with being able to ask questions I never thought of before concerning the Bible,” she said. “It opened up a whole world to me, God’s world to me.”
At this difficult time, she was contemplating her future after losing her career status and the things she thought brought her value in life.
She remembers clearly asking Christ to walk into her life in August 2020. And although she was a new believer in Christ, she knew that something different was happening to her. Peace, something she knew she needed, was given, and the void she knew she had in her life was filled.
It was during the Zoom Bible study that she knew that she was ready to begin her relationship with Jesus.
“At one point during the Zoom church service, the pastor asked if anybody wanted to surrender their life to Christ,” she explained. “It was at that moment that I knew it was something I needed to do. I was a 50-year-old woman entering into this new relationship.”
Following the example of Jesus, she wanted to make public her decision, so she followed through in believers’ baptism.
Instagram screenshot of Julie Chen with the Bible she gave cast and crew of “Big Brother.”
When asked who she wanted to baptize her, she responded: “I want my friend, who gave me my Bible, to do it. Because he and his wife introduced me to Jesus.”
Chen doesn’t come from a religious background, so she wasn’t sure if she would find support from her family and friends who hadn’t seen this side of her. However, everyone has been supportive.
“My mom was so touched and encouraging. My husband was too. Les was raised Jewish, but he’s more culturally Jewish. He has started going with me to church, along with our son as well. Les enjoys the services and even likes the hymn songs we sing at the Presbyterian church we attend here in California. We even watch by Zoom the church we attended when we were in New York City. My whole family has been supportive.”
“I have such peace now, and nothing can rattle me. I have purpose, you know.”
And the difference, to her, remains obvious: “I have such peace now, and nothing can rattle me. I have purpose, you know. Before, I think my life looked like I had it all together. But I realized I didn’t have anything because I didn’t have God. Before finding Jesus, I took credit for everything I did. I now realize I was shallow and void of him. If God’s not in it, then I don’t want to do it.”
For now, hosting Big Brother is part of her calling, although she’s on the lookout for more Faith-based projects in the future.
“I want my life to count for God,” she said.
Big Brother “is teaching me that we all don’t look alike, sound alike and vote alike,” Chen explained. “But at the end of the day, we need to live in community with one another. It also teaches me that a lot of people never get the chance to have self-reflection like Big Brother forces you to have. Because when you come out, you’re thinking everybody likes me, right? And then once they read the online comments, they realize not everyone does like them, and they maybe need to do some self-reflection. Big Brother reminds me we need to have some self-reflection time and ask the question, ‘Am I the person God wants me to be?’”
Over the past three years, Chen has reflected more on her life and not just her husband’s life and career. She is learning what God is doing through her.
“I have so much more maturing and growing to do in Christ,” she said. “It’s just the tip of the iceberg and how much more am I going to mature in Christ, and what else do I have ahead of me? You know, I’m only 53 years old and Lord willing, my life is only about half over, but I know whatever I go through from here forward, (God’s) at my side. And when I hit hard times or rough patches, there’s a reason he allowed it. And it will be for my own good and for the good of his kingdom agenda. So, you know, it will pass. I just have to always never lose my trust in the Lord.”