CBS has announced that the producers of "Big Brother 4" have made a casting change to the previously announced group of houseguests, increasing the "X Factor" from four couples to five couples. Previously announced houseguest Brandon Showalter has been replaced with a fifth ex who will be revealed along with the remaining four HouseGuests in the premiere episode on Tuesday, July 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

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Although CBS has not issued a statement on the reasons for Showalter's departure, the online Big Brother community has been abuzz since fans first noticed the removal of Showalter's personal information from the CBS.com "Big Brother 4" website on Saturday. Based on various online statements alleged to have been made by Showalter on his personal surfingbarrels.com website, it appears that the cause of his ouster was the discovery by the producers that Showalter was in a committed relationship with his girlfriend and not open to hooking up with any of the other houseguests in the all-single household. According to the since removed postings, apparently Showalter allegedly had told the producers during his preliminary interviews that he was planning on soon "parting ways" with his girlfriend. However, unknown to the producers, the situation soon changed and Showalter remains in a relationship with his girlfriend and apparently attempted to contact her during his pre-show sequester period. As such, the producers removed Showalter from the cast and are scrambling to replace him with a fifth "ex".

After Tuesday's premiere, the show will also be broadcast on Wednesdays (9-10 PM, live ET/delayed PT), beginning July 9 and Fridays (8-9 PM, ET/PT), effective July 11. The Wednesday edition will feature the live eviction of one of the houseguests beginning July 16.

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