Ty Pennington by no means may have predicted his TV profession longevity when he first stepped on the set of Buying and selling Areas, slinging his software belt, again in 2000. Over twenty years later, the carpenter-craftsman-designer is juggling a number of exhibits on HGTV, together with Rock the Block, for which he serves as host together with his signature high-energy model. The present’s fourth season premieres on Monday.
“It is humorous — after I meet new folks on HGTV, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, you are the OG,'” he tells Yahoo Leisure. “And I am like: Oh my God, how did I turn into the OG? How did I turn into the oldest man doing this?”
Pennington, 58, says “not solely would I not have predicted this, but when I had, I’d have purchased in inventory in Dwelling Depot instantly. It is loopy the way it created a style” with whole TV networks dedicated to house enhancements. “It was the primary present to place precise instruments within the arms of house owners. Whether or not they can do it or not, it proved that they may come shut. It despatched all people to a house enchancment retailer, saying, ‘Let’s do it ourselves,’ and that began your complete DIY craze.”
The Georgia native says it is wild to now “meet younger people who find themselves going to SCAD,” Savannah Faculty of Artwork and Design or different design faculties, they usually inform him, “‘I needed to turn into a designer and artist as a result of I noticed you'” on TLC or later as host and lead carpenter of NBC’s Excessive Makeover: Dwelling Version for 9 seasons. “It is superior to know that you just impressed folks to not solely tackle their rest room, however to possibly even tackle a profession doing precisely the identical factor you probably did.”
Pennington’s needed to roll up his sleeves in his varied TV jobs — whether or not it was making a number of items of customized furnishings on a $45 finances on Buying and selling Areas (which was briefly rebooted in 2018, bringing him again 14 years after he first give up) or renovating the properties of households going through hardships on a decent deadline on Excessive (keep in mind: Transfer! That! Bus!) — so internet hosting Rock the Block is a lighter carry.
“In comparison with what the opponents need to undergo, being a bunch is the dream job,” Pennington says of the present which sees 4 groups of HGTV all-stars design properties on a Berthoud, Colo., cul-de-sac. Every 5,000-square-foot home is valued at $1.9 million previous to the $250,000 every designer is given for upgrades and renovations that should be accomplished in 6 weeks.
“I get to have the enjoyable and name out what the challenges are,” he says, after which watches because the groups “try to work out what they are going to do.” He is impressed by what he noticed from opponents Bryan and Sarah Baeumler (Renovation Island), Michel Smith Boyd and Anthony Elle (Luxe for Much less), Jonathan Knight and Kristina Crestin (Farmhouse Fixer); and from Repair My Flip, billion-dollar actual property dealer and house-flipping knowledgeable Web page Turner and Mitch Glew.
“There’s one thing in each single area that you just’re like: That was an important thought,” he says. “I am an artist so I am all the time seeking to be shocked design-wise. How are you going to do one thing I’ve by no means seen? This season, you get that in a giant means.”
Whereas the opponents sweat it out, as host he bought “to kind of simply be my jovial self” on the set — and, sure, he all the time has that large power, he says. “The issue with doing all of the work your self is the stress hits you. And it is laborious to be jovial on a regular basis. So at this age, I am higher off simply being jovial and enjoyable.” (He talks about making the crew chuckle, when cameras aren’t rolling, by telling humorous tales, which he dubs “Ty Time.”)
That mentioned, Pennington — who additionally stars as a choose on HGTV present Battle of the Seashore, which is in manufacturing on Season 2 — admits he is additionally “a really aggressive particular person” so there was a part of him that felt he was lacking out by not competing. Plus, “I additionally am a type of individuals who’s a management freak. I love to do work. Regardless of the venture is, I prefer to be concerned.”
“So I prefer it all,” he says. “Look, I’ve finished nearly every thing there may be to do — besides mind surgical procedure — so I am cool with no matter job they throw my means.”
Pennington admits that now that is he is married — to spouse Kellee Merrell since November 2021 — he takes a unique method in choosing his tasks, particularly ones that take him away from their house base of Savannah, Ga., the place they’re renovating a historic house collectively.
“Let’s face it, you undoubtedly have a unique method about every thing whenever you’re married,” he says. “It is as a result of it is now not simply your choice.”
However Pennington, who has his own residence design line and has written a number of books, says his TV profession has truly helped him be a greater accomplice and collaborator on the whole.
“I have been actually fortunate that I’ve labored with some nice folks over time,” he says. “Once I left Buying and selling Areas, I used to be so bored with simply being the carpenter. I needed to unfold my wings and present that I used to be additionally a designer and inventive. Then I confirmed that off in spades.”
He continues, “As somebody like me — rising up with ADHD,” which he was identified with in faculty, “we’re all the time making an attempt to show to others how proficient we’re, that we bought a present and we have now price. However I am to that time that I do not even have to try this anymore, which I wrestle with as a result of my intuition is making an attempt to show to you, ‘You bought to take a look at this! I did this portray!’ — like the child placing the art work on the fridge. I am nonetheless that human, however you get to a sure age that you just understand listening to different folks’s opinions, seeing the room from a unique perspective, solely makes the venture higher.”
That applies professionally — and with regards to his partnership together with his spouse, a social media supervisor initially from Vancouver.
“What I like is Kellee can be very artistic — and he or she’s additionally not gonna take no for a solution,” he says. “So she’ll say, ‘Your opinion is sweet, nevertheless it doesn’t suggest it is higher than mine.’ And I believe that is the best way life is. You be taught that it is not simply making your self pleased. Typically lots of these design tasks you do, even what I did on Excessive, the explanation you do them was to make someone else pleased. So I believe discovering a pleasant, pleased medium the place — you gotta be taught to bend.”
Pennington provides with a smile, “Fortunately, I am a Libra. My objective is simply to make everybody pleased. So it really works.”
