What’s not to love about home improvement shows? Watching a raggedy, decrepit house transform into the most dazzling property on the block in under an hour just never gets old. However, there’s a lot going on when the cameras are off — and it doesn’t exactly have to do with the homes. There’s all kinds of drama that unfolds behind the scenes of some of today’s biggest home renovation shows that viewers didn’t know about … until now.
House Flipping as a Backup Plan
Drew and Jonathan Scott, also known as the Property Brothers, are two of the most recognizable home renovation experts today. Drew, the real estate agent, and Jonathan, the contractor, work together to help clients find and then perfect their homes.
Many have no idea that home reno wasn’t their game plan from day one. In fact, Jonathan dreamed of becoming a magician. He shelled out too much on his dream, took a hit financially and became a contractor instead.
Flip-Flopping Divorce Stories
One of HGTV’s most popular series is Flip or Flop, a home renovation show that follows Tarek and Christina — a former married couple who are now divorced but continue to work together on TV — as they buy run-down homes and turn them into the hottest house in the neighborhood.
The show has plenty of ups and downs, but the most interesting conflicts occur in the couple’s former home. Reports of their separation followed shocking stories of firearms and irreconcilable differences, with the two giving very different accounts to the press.
Upping the Family Count
Chip and Joanna Gaines managed to kill two birds with one stone when their show Fixer Upper premiered on HGTV in 2013: they not only brought in massive numbers for the network but also effectively revitalized Waco, Texas. Instead of thinking of 1993’s siege, people now think of the Gaines’ brand Magnolia.
While the two already had four kids, the announcement of a fifth child in January of 2018 set many fans off. Claims of irresponsibility due to Joanna’s age and disregard for their other children were rampant online.
Love It or Scripted?
HGTV has plenty of home improvement and real estate shows, but very few dare to combine the two into a single program. Like the Property Brothers, the stars of Love It or List It do just that. However, despite the show’s originality, many fans have concerns that it’s too scripted.
The series follows David, a real estate agent, and Hillary, a contractor, as they try to convince clients to either move out to a dream home or stay in a renovated version of their current home. However, each episode seems to follow the same basic ups and downs. Unlike other items on this list, it might actually suffer from too little drama.
Renovating a Home Improvement Show
Improving a house is one thing, but improving a home improvement show another. However, that’s exactly what TLC did with Trading Spaces. Originally called Changing Rooms on the United Kingdom’s BBC, the show underwent some serious changes when it was adapted stateside.
To avoid confusion, the TLC higher-ups changed the show’s name but kept the same basic premise. Luckily, the American version of the British program was equally successful. There’s something universally entertaining about watching home improvement projects on TV, it seems.
Hidden Fees
Home improvement shows try to simplify the renovation process to make for a more compelling narrative. Weeks or months of activity are compressed into a neat hour or 30-minute episode, and in the process, many details are glossed over.
For instance, while a client’s budget on Property Brothers may be, say, $100,000, the titular brothers also have a 25% contingency fee on top of that. Extra expenses and terms like these are common on home improvement shows.
Numerous Cancer Scares
To keep things neat and focused, disputes on home renovation shows are usually directly related to the project at hand and not to the personal lives of the show’s hosts. For shows like Flip or Flop, however, it’s difficult to keep quiet about the immense amounts of behind-the-scenes drama.
For instance, Tarek, the show’s co-host, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer just one year into Flip or Flop‘s run. Later, he revealed that he was also battling testicular cancer at the same time. It’s one storyline you can’t fake.
Fixing Up Their Image
It’s not unreasonable for a pair of home renovators to want the focus to be on their work instead of their personal lives, but when you’re as famous as Chip and Joanna Gaines, it’s safe to assume that many viewers scrutinize every aspect of life behind the scenes as well.
As such, fans took the Gaines family to task for associating with a church where sermons often expressed anti-LGBTQ views. Despite that, the couple said little about their church’s practice in response.
David and Hillary’s Signature Moves
Taking complaints that Love It or List It is too scripted a step further, some viewers have taken the time to break down each episode and break down the exact structure that they follow. They go something like this:
First, the homeowners are skeptical of Hillary’s ideas for their home, so they go look at new homes with David. They hate the first home they’re shown, but then Hillary calls with major news. She manages to work it out as David finds the dream home.
Trading Hosts
A show’s host is one of the largest draws to a given program. If the host isn’t entertaining, why would viewers want to keep up with the show? Trading Spaces seems to know this.
Many associate Paige Davis with the popular TLC program, but she wasn’t even the original host when the show began. A woman named Alex McLeod covered the first 40 episodes (and even won an Emmy) before being replaced with Paige.
A Permanent Pairing
There’s more to home improvement television than just the ability to get the job done in a timely and effective manner. The hosts need chemistry and charisma to make the show entertaining. It’s arguably more important than their actual skills as renovators.
As it turns out, Drew and Jonathan Scott have always known that they work well together. Before making the move to TV, the two tried to make it as a pair of clowns for hire. It seems they’ve always had the itch for fame.
Flipping From Bad to Worse
Flip or Flop‘s Tarek and Christina are easily two of the most drama-prone home renovators on HGTV. From the two’s divorce drama to Tarek’s cancer struggles, the two have been through as much off-screen as they have on their program. Unfortunately for them, the list goes on.
While Tarek struggled with his dual cancer diagnoses, Christina was handling problems of her own. After trying and failing to have another child, the couple turned to in vitro fertilization. After becoming pregnant, the child was tragically lost in the womb.
Fraudulent Fixer Uppers
The magnifying glass of fame is a well-known issue for celebrities. All sorts of problems come out of the woodwork that would otherwise have gone unknown. For Chip Gaines, that meant people learning about past allegations of insider training.
According to one suit, two previous partners in Magnolia may have been pressured into selling their shares to Chip for just $2,500 after he failed to inform them about his upcoming reality show, allowing him to collect the profits that would have gone to them. Whether the allegations are true remains to be seen.
Love It, List It, or Lie About It?
It’s not uncommon for television shows to make participants sign non-disclosure agreements before they take part in a given program. HGTV’s shows are no exception. Because of this, many insights into these shows are made anonymously by former participants. Recently, one such person blew the lid off of Love It or List It.
In addition to being pretty obviously scripted, producers on the show apparently force the owners to act out a particular decision regardless of their real choice. Allegedly, plenty of “love its” have sold their homes, while plenty of “list its” have stayed.
Ty Pennington’s Secret Partner
One of the most unbelievable things a television show can do is hide when a host isn’t even on set. In fact, many home renovation personalities barely set foot in the houses they renovate compared to the contractors and laborers who do a majority of the real work.
On Trading Spaces, Ty Pennington — also known for his heartwarming ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition — actually had a secret carpenter named Eddie who did a significant amount of the heavy lifting when Ty wasn’t on set. He was rarely credited.
Scripted Scruples
Home renovation is tense. Incredibly tense, actually. The stress of physical labor, a strict budget and making sure everything’s up to code is a lot for anyone to handle, but you can be certain that TV cameras often heighten the tension to record highs.
The truth is that not every project has as much drama as the others. But who’d want to see a renovation go off without a hitch? That’s why shows like Property Brothers often have to orchestrate tension to make the show more gripping.
Back to Flipping, Then Flopping
For Tarek and Christina of Flip or Flop, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that behind-the-scenes tensions are common. The couple seems to be in the tabloids near-constantly, and as the two continue to film while divorced and pursuing their own spinoff shows on the side, there’s no end to this news cycle in sight.
One such tabloid story reported that part of their split had to do with the two going back to work too soon after the birth of their son. Having such intimate details leaked to the public probably adds even more stress to their situation.
Failing Former Fixer Uppers
Part of a real estate agent’s responsibility is to inform their clients of any potential problems they might encounter in a specific area. The problem with home renovation shows like Fixer Upper is that the hosts aren’t real estate agents, so sometimes stuff slips through the cracks.
For instance, one couple who was featured in season three of Fixer Upper had their house hit by a car years after the renovation. They felt like Chip and Jo were responsible for placing them in a dangerous location with heavy traffic without properly warning them.
Likely to Love It
With a name like Love It or List It, one would assume that there would be a 50/50 chance that any given couple would either decide to sell their home and move or abandon their plans and stay in their newly-renovated home. As is so often the case with reality shows, however, this isn’t accurate.
If you survey all the episodes of Love It or List It that have aired on HGTV, you’ll find that far more clients have decided to stay in their homes — “love it!”—than leave for a bigger, better place.
Keeping the Spaces Secret
While many aspects of these shows rely on deceptive camerawork or secret agreements to keep control of their narratives, Trading Spaces‘ central concept is surprisingly mostly what it sounds like.
The main idea of Trading Spaces is that two people switch homes to each renovate a particular room without the other’s involvement. To make it work, the renovations have to be kept secret. Surprisingly, according to those who’ve been on the show, the producers really do insist on total secrecy.
Private Life Renovations
With a name like Property Brothers, it’s easy to see why the network might be hesitant for either brother to embrace any other pairing. Still, both have had plenty of interesting developments in their personal lives that were mostly kept secret.
For instance, Jonathan was married for six whole years without most fans ever even knowing he wasn’t single. The two wed when the star was still trying to make it as a magician and ended up divorcing in 2013.
Magnolia Marketing
The charm of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ style is one of the biggest draws when it comes to each renovation on Fixer Upper. It’s uniquely their own: shiplap, greenery, wide open spaces. It’s Magnolia through and through.
That’s why some fans were upset when the couple decided to partner with Target for an offshoot brand called Hearth & Home. Viewed as the first instance of Chip and Jo selling out, the Target collaboration was an unexpected bit of Magnolia drama.
Trading Spaces … Except Those Ones
One of the most exciting parts of TLC’s Trading Spaces is the tension felt between the two contestants — will one of them mess up the other’s house? Will they both end up loving their renovated spaces? How are they going to end up pulling things off?
Here’s a secret that will take a bit off that edge: According to former contestants, producers and the contractors do allow the two participants to tell them specific areas they don’t want to be touched. That way, things can only get so stressful.
Two Brothers, No Singles
Obviously, couples aren’t the only people looking to find their forever homes. Single people need shelter, too. Even so, HGTV doesn’t seem to care. In fact, many of their most popular programs forbid singles from even applying to be on the network.
This “no singles allowed” rule is especially true of Property Brothers. Couples are welcome, pairs of friends are welcome, even two family members — anyone can be on Property Brothers except for single people. The Scott brothers feel like it adds a more unique and personal feel to the show.
Trading Contestants
At the height of Trading Spaces‘ fame, TLC received over 200 applications a day. That meant producers had to enforce some rules to cut down potential contestants without actually parsing through each package.
Some of these strict qualifications included only choosing homes that had enough room for all the crew and equipment, requiring contestants to sign over complete control to producers and simply cutting out any pair of potential contestants who didn’t live within a two-minute walk of each other’s homes.
A False Sense of Friendship
While they’re certainly not alone in doing so, the Property Brothers happen to have some of the least interaction with clients on average. According to former homeowners who were on the show, Drew and Jonathan Scott only visited them about six times throughout the eight-week renovation.
No one expects the two to actually be with the homeowners day in and day out, but it might be surprising to learn that the Scotts aren’t the ones doing most of the work — the real honor goes to the hired day laborers.
Gaines Gatekeeping
Due to the massive success of HGTV’s Fixer Upper and Chip and Jo’s Magnolia brand, thousands upon thousands of fans have flocked to Waco to see the magic in person. In response, the Gaines’ have created a complex called the Silos where fans can shop and hone their home improvement skills.
The Gaines family doesn’t own all of Waco, however. After a neighbor requested visitors to the Silos pay 10 dollars to park on his lot, the Gaines’ built a gate that obstructed access to his property, leading to a lawsuit.
Saving Spaces
When shows like Trading Spaces show a contestant reacting poorly to a newly-renovated room, viewers automatically assume that the homeowner is stuck with that room forever, or at least until they move out. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
On Trading Spaces and its kid-friendly spinoff, Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls, any unhappy contestant has the right to immediately undo their unsatisfactory renovation if they so desire. That way, they can be happy and the viewers can relish the renovation’s imagined unfortunate results.
Trading Careers
While today’s TV is dominated by shows like Flip or Flop, Fixer Upper and Property Brothers (and their various spinoffs), there’s no hiding the fact that Trading Spaces came first, paving the way for these programs to thrive today.
Although it recently experienced a revival on TLC, the cast and crew still had to find work between the cancellation and the reunion. Genevieve Gorder went to QVC and HGTV, Vern Yip also went to HGTV, Doug Wilson stayed on TLC and Boys vs. Girls host Diane Mizota turned to acting.
An Embarrassing Endeavor
We know that Jonathan Scott of the Property Brothers once dreamed of making it big as a magician, and we also know that the two tried their best to stand out as a pair of clowns-for-hire, but there’s a third career that happened between clown school and their HGTV deal.
Before becoming a real estate agent, Drew pursued acting. There’s even a nude scene out there somewhere that the Scott brother seriously regrets. While his career didn’t ultimately take off, he still ended up on TV anyway.
