Andy DehnartMaking fun of Julie Chen’s lifeless hosting abilities just got a lot less fun. That’s because, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Julie says four words that we never thought we’d hear: “I am the Chenbot.”
Yes, she’s embracing her robotic persona. How did this happen? Prompted by her college best friend, Julie Chen watched TVgasm’s compilation video of herself saying “but first”. She explains what happened next to the magazine:
“My best friend from college called one day and said, ‘They call you ‘the Chenbot’ on the Internet. You’re like a robot.’ And I’m like, ‘What?!’ I watched that Internet compilation of every ‘but first’ I’ve said on ‘Big Brother.’ You know, my inflections are the same every single time. The turn is the same every single time. The facial expressions are the same every time. I am the Chenbot!”
Perhaps there’s still hope, however. At least in Page Six’s summary of the interview, which apparently appears in next week’s issue of EW, Julie Chen did not promise to change her behavior. And even though she now has awareness of the robotic way she says “but first,” it hopefully won’t affect her other hosting duties, such as the way she stares lifelessly at the cast members when they say something that’s not written on one of her blue cards.