Julie Chen Moonves has announced that she will miss the September 12 episode of Big Brother due to illness.

The host, who has hosted the CBS competition show since it premiered in July 2000 and has never missed an eviction episode, shared an update with fans hours before the live episode. Typically, Chen Moonves appears on every Thursday episode of “Big Brother” to interview the last evicted houseguest, but tonight she will be absent and a guest host will step in.

She explained her absence in a statement shared on Instagram on Thursday. “Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and went to see my good friend who is an ENT doctor,” she wrote. “That evening he called and said I had Covid. Luckily this is only my second time and it was very mild! No fever and just a sore throat.”

Chen Moonves continued, “Unfortunately, I still tested positive as of this morning… although I feel good and strong and my cough is gone, I will have to sit out the Big Brother live eviction show tonight.”

She announced that actor and talk show host Jerry O’Connell, who shared her statement on his page, would step in and host the episode and the eviction.

“Thanks to Jerry O’Connell for stepping in for me,” she said.

Chen Moonves then joked, “I hope Jerry fits into my dress, has fun and tells the houseguests I miss them but will be watching from home.”

Before she finished her statement, she added a funny comment. “See? Chenbot is a human!” she wrote, referring to the funny nickname given to her by some “Big Brother” fans.

She ended her message with a similar farewell message that she makes at the end of every eviction episode. “Love each other and enjoy the show tonight,” she said, adding a robot and blue heart emoji.

Under Chen Moonves’ post, friends and “Big Brother” fans wished her a speedy recovery and welcomed her temporary replacement.

Andy Cohen wrote: “Get well soon! And good luck, Jerry.”

One fan commented: “Mr. Bing Bong is going to rock it! Get well soon Julie. @mrjerryoc.”

Brooklyn Rivera, a contestant on season 26 of Big Brother who was eliminated in week 5, commented, “Prayers for a speedy recovery!! We will miss you and I know the houseguest will be so sad not to see your face tonight.”

The official Instagram account of “Big Brother” posted Chen Moonves’ message on its Instagram story, writing, “Get well soon, Mama Julie.”

The account also shared a video from O’Connell’s page.

“Jerry O’Connell here,” he said in the clip. “I’m one of the hosts of ‘The Talk,’ but tonight I’ll be the substitute teacher for ‘Big Brother.'”

He held up a script for the episode. On the cover was written “Stay Right There,” apparently a reference to Chen Moonves, who says “Stay with us” in every episode.

“Julie Chen Moonves is not doing well,” he said in the clip. “We love her.”

He also announced that Chen Moonves will return to “The Talk,” which she co-hosted before leaving in 2018, on September 12.

“We executed an eviction tonight. Let’s get going!” he said.

Chen Moonves called in to “The Talk” and jokingly gave O’Connell some advice: “When you go into my dressing room, go into the bathroom. There’s a corset in the second drawer on the left. I’m telling you, Jerry, there’s no way you’re going to fit into my dress tonight without a corset.”

O’Connell has big shoes to fill, as he must not only oversee the eviction, but also carefully interview the evicted HouseGuest without giving away any details from the season. The HouseGuest evicted tonight will have the honor of becoming the first judge of Season 26.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.