The first season of "Big Brother" featured two hosts, Julie Chen as the main host and Ian O'Malley as a co-host. On earning the job, O'Malley stated "I didn’t really know what it was. This is the ground floor of reality television. SAG went on strike [and it was a very lengthy and very painful strike for many folks." O'Malley was later released from his contract after only one month on the series; he was bought out of his contract, which he later cited as a "relief". Chen, who hoped to be a part of "60 Minutes" in the future, initially turned down the offer to host the series as she did not want to be in the entertainment division of the network. Upon declining the offer, CBS News president Andrew Heyward told Chen that refusal to do the series could be seen as "insubordination". Chen clarified "They said they needed someone who knows how to ask questions on live TV and I asked ‘Am I forever sealing the door on 60 Minutes?’ and said ‘yes,’”. Dr. Drew Pinsky and AOL Online Advisor Regina Lewis appeared once per week on the series to discuss the events in the house. The cast for the series was revealed during the premiere. HouseGuest William was revealed to be a member of the Black Panther Party, while Jamie was crowned Miss Washington USA the year prior to her participation on the show. HouseGuests Curtis and Josh had done modeling prior to entering the house. Jean Jordan had been an exotic dancer before entering the house, while Karen and George were married and had children. Cassandra and William were both African-American. Series creator John de Mol later stated "The 10 people in our house, you can relate to them. It's the girl next door, it's the guy in the grocery store [... It's ordinary people, and I think that "Big Brother" proves ordinary people can be interesting."