On April 25, Julie Chen confirmed that she would return as host for the series. Casting for the season began in April 2002. Due to controversies surrounding the second season, this round of applications involved more in depth questions about previous arrests or legal troubles. Following the incident that resulted in the expulsion of Justin Sebik the prior year, Arnold Shapiro stated "We're as certain as humanly possible, certain as we can be, that we've got 12 people who understand that the threat of violence, or violence itself, zero tolerance." Thom Bierdz, a cast member of the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" and Rob Cesternino, who would later appear on "" were among the over 5,000 applicants for "Big Brother 3". The twelve competing HouseGuests were set to be revealed on July 5, five days before the series premiered. Despite this, "Entertainment Weekly" leaked the cast the day prior. The HouseGuests entered the house on July 6. On the new cast, Shapiro stated "I don’t want to insult last year’s but this group is gonna make bathing-suit time worth watching [... we have some hot single moms a gay man who is not hairy like Bunky." He later elaborated, stating "I would say, speaking of eye candy, I would say everybody's sweet tooth in America will be more than satiated." This season featured a total of six men and six women. Gerry Lancaster was the oldest housemate this season, and was a middle school teacher. Marcellas Reynolds was openly gay, while four HouseGuests this season had children.