Sonia Kruger thought ‘somebody new’ should have hosted this year’s Big Brother Australia

She’s long been the face of Big Brother, but Sonia Kruger has admitted she didn’t think she should front the 2020 reboot.

Sonia Kruger has admitted she didn’t think she’d be first in line to host the newly formatted Big Brother this year.

The Channel 7 host, who defected from the Nine Network in January, told TV Tonight she thought “somebody new” should have been brought in to host the rebooted reality series.

“I knew that Seven were looking at bringing the show back and I actually thought if they change the format they should bring somebody new in to host it,” she said.

“I totally got that and it was never really part of my plan or desire.

“But it was after I signed and technically started at Seven in January, that (Seven CEO) James Warburton called me and said, ‘We want you to host Big Brother’.”

RELATED: James Weir recaps Big Brother Australia episode 19

Channel 7 host Sonia Kruger at the Big Brother house. Picture: Dylan Robinson

While Kruger, 54, was thrilled to be considered, she said she was dubious about Big Brother being prerecorded.

“They explained to me the concept and that was it, I was in,” she added.

“I was sceptical along with everybody else about the fact that it wasn’t going to be live and it was going to be prerecorded. How would the purists accept that?

“In fact it has given them the ability to finesse every episode so that it has an outcome with an eviction.

“20 years ago we would watch someone sitting around having a chat. We didn’t have as many options as we have now in terms of viewing. There was no Netflix, no Stan, Disney or subscription on demand.

“It had to change and it was such a risky thing to do. That saying, no guts, no glory.”

JAMES WEIR RECAPS: Read all of James Weir’s Big Brother recaps here

It’s GRAND FINAL week 🏆 🏅👏Will your favourite make it to the finish line or end up out the door?!! @bigbrother_au 👁 7.30pm tonight @Channel7 #bbau #finalfive pic.twitter.com/OR91puClQZ

— Sonia Kruger (@SoniaKruger) July 20, 2020

Kruger told news.com.au’s Not Here To Make Friends podcast in June the anxiety she felt after defecting from Channel 9 to Channel 7, before signing on to host a new look Big Brother.

“It’s terrible because you can spiral down (and think), ‘What have I done?’” she said.

“When we debuted I was really nervous. (I was thinking) How’s it going to go? Will people like it? And when we got the numbers the next day, it was the number one entertainment program.

“It had been downloaded more than any other show ever – more than the Super Bowl, more than Married At First Sight.”

While Kruger was sad to leave Nine – where she co-hosted Today Extra alongside her close friend David Campbell for eight years – she said she was ready for a change when the opportunity arose.

“It was a no-brainer. I could stay and do the same thing or I could actually take this opportunity which doesn’t come along very often,” she revealed.