Tag Archives: HGTV

Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baemler join forces in Renovation Resort

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From a media release:

Two of HGTV Canada’s biggest stars, Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler, reunite in Renovation Resort (7×60), a one-of-a-kind vacation rental renovation competition series premiering Sunday, March 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada and STACKTV. In this brand-new series distributed by Corus Studios, Scott’s recently purchased lakeside vacation resort needs a complete overhaul, so he enlists friendly rival and expert builder Bryan to help get his rundown property into shape. To transform the resort into a modern-day vacation destination, they bring in four professional designer-contractor duos who are up for the challenge. Each week, the pairs battle against each other in a riveting renovation showdown to impress Scott, Bryan, and the expert guest judges. In the end, the team with the best cabin wins the title of Renovation Resort Champions and a reward of $100,000.

At the start of the competition, the duos are assigned to one of four identical cabins that will be entirely renovated over the course of seven weeks. In each episode, they are tasked with remodeling a new space in the cabin, bringing their skills to transform the interior and exterior of the cabins into stunning retreats ahead of the peak rental season. Armed with their signature banter and keen observations, Scott and Bryan will check in regularly to evaluate the teams’ work and guide them through each cabin challenge. Facing off in this unique competition is dynamic husband-and-wife duo Rotem and Troy from Toronto, Ont., entrepreneurs April and Arnold from Chicago, Ill., business partners Jena and Sean from Toronto, Ont., and partners in life and work, Savannah and Kyle, hailing from Phoenix, Ariz. To learn more about the professional duos, visit hgtv.ca.

Throughout the season, Scott and Bryan are joined by expert guest judges, including Debra Salmoni (designer, Scott’s Vacation House Rules), Heather Greenwood Davis (travel writer and lifestyle host), Sarah Keenleyside (designer, Backyard Builds), Christine Tizzard (cookbook author and food stylist), Natalie Preddie (travel expert and writer), and Carson Arthur (landscape designer and television personality). Alongside Scott and Bryan, the judges will evaluate the renovations by assessing the quality, creativity, and functionality to determine the winning vacation cabin. In the first episode, the competitors’ mission is to tackle the primary bedroom and main-floor bathroom in one week. As these super-skilled teams work against the clock and under pressure, they will have to deliver exceptional designs if they want to be the best.

Renovation Resort welcomes series sponsor Tim Hortons, offering the competitors a well-deserved lunch of loaded wraps and bowls, plus an assortment of treats, coffee, and cold beverages throughout the season. In several episodes, SICO paint, available at RONA, highlights the brand’s line of Endurance and Prestige paint options to create inviting spaces. The curb appeal of the property is transformed with Techo-Bloc’s modern paving stones and landscaping products, allowing the competitors to extend their designs outside.

Renovation Resort is produced by M.E.M, Scott McGillivray is CEO, Angela Jennings is President, Nanci MacLean is COO, Jeff Baker is Head of Production and Kelly Wray is Executive Producer.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Randy Spracklin and his team are rockin’ it in Rock Solid Builds

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One of the most creative and entertaining home renovation shows on the air right now is Rock Solid Builds.

Airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada, Rock Solid Builds is a flurry of construction, music, practical jokes and unique terminology all set in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and its surrounding communities. At the heart of the whirlwind is Randy Spracklin.

Spracklin is a third-generation builder and co-owner of Newfound Builders, based out of Brigus, Nfld., who reveals that despite wanting to grow his family-run business via additional staff—like his dad Scott, and team members Nikki, Paul and Josh, who appear on-camera—television wasn’t in his plans. In fact, if it wasn’t for checking his email’s junk folder and seeing one from production company Cineflix one day, Rock Solid Builds never would have happened.

“I got an email from Cineflix looking for an east coast TV show,” Spracklin remembers. “I looked at it and thought, ‘Is this real? Is this something?'” He responded to the email, did some Zoom calls, created a sizzle reel for Cineflix and things went from there.

“We’ve joked about TV over the years, but little did we think that we would be on it,” he says. “I guess the universe was saying, ‘You thought about it… here it is.”

Spracklin is Rock Solid Builds‘ jovial host, serving as the viewers’ guide to countless projects, from new builds to additions, kitchen and bathroom renovations and even the odd root cellar needing an update. A dramatic storytelling point in shows like these is when things go wrong, like a septic line being cracked or a floor suddenly needing to be re-supported. But where most hosts roll their eyes and worry for a segment or two, Spracklin takes it all in stride, usually with a joke and a crooked smile while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word Mint. What you see on camera is exactly what Newfound Builders tackle every day from sun-up to sun-down, including weather that can suddenly turn nasty, to supply chain issues that can occur when you live and work on an island.

“We’re looking for specialty items and they can be manufactured all over the world and sometimes the only way to get here is by boat or by plane,” Spracklin says. “And, what we’ve faced in the past year are even more shortages so, yeah, there are cases where we can’t move forward and finish the plumbing or close in the ceilings. You have to be creative and try to work around that.”

Some of those items are simply stunning, serving as showcases to the magnificent work unveiled at the end of each instalment of Rock Solid Builds. Those reveals are immediately followed by the obligatory feast in the homeowners’ kitchen, a legit part of Newfoundland life.

“If you can’t have a drink with the homeowners, then you didn’t do a good job,” Spracklin says. “To be able to sit around a table with them and the team—because everyone puts a lot of work into it—and have a cheers about it… cameras or no cameras, we would be doing it.”

Rock Solid Builds airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Images courtesy of Cineflix.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

HGTV Canada’s Island of Bryan returns for a hotly anticipated second season

From a media release:

After breaking HGTV Canada ratings records this past Spring to become the network’s most watched series of the past 10 years*, the #1 Specialty Canadian Original Program** Island of Bryan (8×60) returns for its second season on Sunday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The new season will continue Bryan and Sarah Baeumler’s family adventure in the Bahamas, as they race to put the finishing touches on their beach front resort, after a roller coaster year of construction. Viewers can catch up with a Season 1 marathon on HGTV Canada in the lead up to the premiere, beginning at 12 p.m. ET/PT on February 23.

Season 1 captivated viewers generating a 9% increase in audience growth from the premiere episode to the finale.*** The success has continued online, with a show reveal gallery receiving more than 3.2 million page views to date, while the Top 15 most-viewed videos on HGTV.ca belong to the series.****

With the budget maxed out and more at stake than ever, Season 2 will see Bryan and Sarah tackle the seemingly impossible task of transforming the Caerula Mar Club into their spectacular vision. It’s a race against time to complete the clubhouse, spa, and hotel block with the grand opening date set – but when tragedy strikes the Bahamas impacting the progress, Bryan and Sarah launch a fundraising effort to support the communities affected by Hurricane Dorian. Giving viewers an all-access pass to step-by-step renovations and designs, this season will see big reveals, behind-the-scenes chaos as they hire and train their large hospitality team, and capture memorable family moments when it comes to crunch time for the resort’s opening day.

Island of Bryan is produced by Si Entertainment in association with Corus Entertainment’s HGTV Canada.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: HGTV Canada’s Home to Win is back on the renovation track with the biggest prize ever

Home to Win, the incredible original series from HGTV Canada, is back for a third season this Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT with the fabulous ET Canada star Sangita Patel as host. What can viewers expect this time around? That was my biggest question.

The first episode follows Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray as they hunt for the perfect property to buy and renovate for one Canadian family to call their own. The hook? The home is available to first-time home buyers only, a huge deal for a family looking to own their first property. The hilarious duo of Baeumler McGillivray made me cry with laughter as they walk through the houses, joking, playing pool and teasing each other. McGillivray is looking into the attic in one of the bedrooms and Baeumler sneaks up on him and scares him to death. The perfect combination of intelligence and wittiness of these two is worth watching.

In each episode, an incredible team of builders and designers works together to renovate the whole house step-by-step. Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe are the ones responsible for making it look chic and exquisite. And there are more than 20 famous and extremely talented Canada designers and builders—including Tiffany Pratt, Sarah Baeumler, Sebastian Clovis, Sarah Keenleyside, Danielle Bryk and Mike Holmes—who join them to take on the challenge of turning this house into a living dream.

What makes it so special? I think that the combination of achieving a kind and heartwarming goal and diversity of talented and absolutely entertaining people makes it so enjoyable. It’s never enough, you always want more.

Sunday’s episode is chock full of ideas and concepts and we get to see how the house looks from the outside. Next week we go inside. Don’t miss it.

You can try your luck by visiting Home to Win‘s site and submitting an online application for a chance to win the home, which will be awarded during the season finale.

Home to Win airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Scott McGillivray puts his money on the line in HGTV’s Buyers Bootcamp

Scott McGillivray has made a career out of buying houses, renovating and then reselling them. Through his longrunning Income Property, McGillivray has renovated properties for homeowners so they could bring in money to help them offset their mortgages and other bills.

Now McGillivray puts his own money into properties alongside first-time house flippers in hopes their combined sweat equity pays off bigtime.

That certainly adds an amount of personal drama to the 10-episode run of Buyers Bootcamp with Scott McGillivray, debuting this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada. The affable investment property specialist is at his TV best when he’s swinging a sledgehammer at walls, having bugs rain down into his perfect hair and dispensing quips with potential homeowners. There is certainly a lot of that in Buyers Bootcamp, along with a treasure trove of information for viewers who might be interested in taking some notes from the man.

There is a whiff of reality show to Buyers Bootcamp, as McGillivray—in each episode—meets with two property owners and assesses the viability of each before choosing just one to throw his knowledge, team and money into. First up are Craig and Lindsay, a young couple hoping to turn their 1878 Victorian home purchase into a big bag of cash. Stunning tin ceilings and original wood floors are definitely selling points but evidence of water damage and a specialty market for the size of the house are worries. Next are brothers Kenson and Charles, and their multi-level duplex. A beaten-up main floor and moss growing in the bathroom have McGillivray worried, but the second floor shows more promise as does the siblings’ expansion plans in the backyard.

What really sets Buyers Bootcamp apart from other McGillivray projects are his homeowner co-stars. It’s up to them to not only pitch their properties to the veteran flipper but themselves too. This is going to be a partnership, so they have to sell their enthusiasm and vision in hopes he jumps on board.

After ruminating on the risks and payoffs to both properties, McGillivray makes his decision and the real work begins. Gutting rooms, taking down walls and peeling up floors always reveals unwanted or exciting surprises and Sunday’s debut is no different. But thanks to some generous friends and luck no major costs throw off the budget. The final reveal is simply stunning.

If you’re already a fan of McGillivray you’re going to love Buyers Bootcamp. If you’re not, but are thinking that house flipping might be in your future, tune in. The man has made a living doing this and you can learn a lot from watching him work both on and off the work site.

Buyers Bootcamp with Scott McGillivray airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Image courtesy of HGTV Canada.

 

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