Tag Archives: Home to Win

Preview: Samantha Pynn joins Sebastian Clovis on Save My Reno

I first spoke to Sebastian Clovis back in 2014. Then, the former CFLer was promoting his first-ever home makeover program, Tackle My Reno. Sure, the title was cutesy and a nod to his days as a defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Grey Cup-winning B.C. Lions. Since then, Clovis has become a bonafide member of HGTV Canada’s stable of talent, joining Scott McGillivray, Bryan Baeumler and the Scott Brothers as go-to dudes to swing hammers and do great work. Heck, they’ve all worked together on a couple of seasons of Home to Win.

Now Clovis is back with a new season of Save My Reno … and a new co-star. Samantha Pynn, who has starred in her own series Pure Design and Summer Home, as well as Home to Win, joins Clovis when Save My Reno returns on Tuesday with back-to-back episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET on HGTV Canada.

Simply put, the pairing works. Clovis and Pynn know their stuff when it comes to renovating and decorating, and their ease helping homeowners get over the stress of figuring out both is palpable. Watching them turn the first episode’s cramped quarters into a stunning space is entertaining, fun and a teaching moment. You don’t have to break the bank to freshen up a space, and this pair shows you how.

And, just as important at the pair are skilled, they get along like gangbusters. The result is a season of Save My Reno that is a good time … and a good lesson in renovations on a budget.

Save My Reno airs Tuesdays at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

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‘Tis the season for renovation with Home to Win: For the Holidays on HGTV Canada

From a media release:

HGTV Canada’s top-ranked* Canadian-original series Home to Win returns with a festive twist – Home To Win: For the Holidays (8×60) celebrates the season by awarding a fully renovated home to one deserving fan. Premiering Sunday, October 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Season 4 reunites the networks’ top builders, designers, and real estate experts who use their expertise to redesign an aging Victorian property into a wish-list worthy home, just in time for the holidays.

HomeToWin.ca is now taking submissions to compete to win the holiday home until Sunday, November 11 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Season 4 begins with Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray kicking off their holiday shopping by searching for this year’s perfect home. Designers Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe stop by to declare “Victorian new and now!” as the interior design focus of the century-old family home. Then, host Sangita Patel gathers HGTV Canada’s best-known builders and designers for a joyful reunion as they begin the exterior restoration.

Returning to Home To Win to lend their creative touch are HGTV Canada designers Jo Alcorn, Sarah Baeumler, Sarah Keenleyside, Mia Parres, Tiffany Pratt, Samantha Pynn, and Sabrina Smelko. Meanwhile, HGTV Canada builders handle the heavy lifting, including Carson Arthur, Sebastian Clovis, Rob Evans, Joey Fletcher, Sherry and Michael Holmes, Colin Hunter, David Kenney, Paul Lafrance, and Brian McCourt. Bryan Baeumler, Mike Holmes Sr., Scott McGillivray, Sarah Richardson, Drew and Jonathan Scott, Tommy Smythe, and Kortney and Dave Wilson join in on the fun, making surprise visits throughout the season. As the countdown to the holidays begins, this all-star cast keeps spirits high with friendly reindeer games that challenge their DIY skills and teamwork.

Home To Win: For the Holidays sponsors include prizing providers Sonnet Home + Auto Insurance and Rakuten.ca; official quartz surface provider Caesarstone; official paint provider Para Paints; official cabinetry supplier Casey’s Creative Kitchens; official window provider Gentek; and official smart home lighting supplier Philips Hue. Full details about series sponsors can be found here.

Home To Win is produced by Architect Films in association with Corus Studios for HGTV Canada. For exclusive content, including full episodes available to stream, please visit HGTV.ca. HGTV Canada is available through all major TV distributors, including: Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers, Bell, Videotron, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel and the new STACKTV, streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels.

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Home to Win: Bryan and Sarah Baeumler and Sangita Patel preview Season 3

Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are no strangers to working together. The pair, in addition to being married and with a passel of kids, the home builder and interior designer are business partners too. Viewers have seen that both in House of Bryan and most recently in Bryan Inc. But the pair is still getting used to working with the massive group of HGTV Canada talent assembled for Season 3 of Home to Win.

Returning Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada, Home to Win once again reunites 26 of this country’s biggest names in builders and designers with host Sangita Patel to renovate one piece of property for one deserving Canadian. But unlike the last two seasons of Home to Win, the home is only up for grabs for a first-time homebuyer (get details on how to audition). And, in the bursting Southern Ontario real estate market, that’s huge.

“It was a great concept, a great idea,” Sarah Baeumler says alongside Bryan and Patel during a press junket at Corus Entertainment headquarters. “When we’re talking to people that want to buy a house and what to look for, the idea and cost right now is a very difficult thing to talk about because it’s out of most people’s realm. To be able to do this and have somebody win their first-time home is spectacular.”

As with last season, Sunday’s return follows Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray as they walk through a trio of homes that are potential projects. The show’s producers hit a home run when they paired the veteran builders together for the task; as contributor Tanya writes in her preview, Baeumler and McGillivray share a similar sense of humour and get on like gangbusters.

“We show up, have fun and have a laugh,” Bryan Baeumler says. “I’ll be honest, nobody laughs at me as hard as I laugh at me. Scott’s the same. We don’t get a lot of time to hang out when we’re not [filming] because we’re both very busy with family, kids and work, so it’s nice to just hang out with the brother I never wanted and have some fun.”

We won’t give away which of the three homes Baeumler and McGillivray choose as the one to be made over (well, that, and we’re not allowed to say), but it’s a great choice. And one with plenty of challenges. Still, folks like Brian McCourt, Sarah Keenleyside, Kortney and Dave Wilson, Drew and Jonathan Scott, Sabrina Smelko, Jo Alcorn, Carson Arthur, Danielle Bryk, Kate Campbell, Sebastian Clovis, Mike Holmes, Mike Holmes Jr., Paul LaFrance, Tiffany Pratt and Samantha Pynn are up to the test. With Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe coming up with the overall design style of the home, the over two dozen-strong team gets to work.

“This is one of the most important things about this season and what we learned from [making] the last two seasons,” Sarah says. “We didn’t take the time to come up with a cohesive plan, we went off and were creating all of these things. Being able to stand together and say, ‘OK, what does everyone feel?’ You pick something that is sort of neutral ground. Somebody like me, who is into neutral colours and white, can wrap my head around it. We all came to a consensus on the overall feel and then go off on our own little tangents.”

Are you hoping to be one of the Canadians in the running to win the home? Patel has some advice when it comes to the audition process and making your video.

“Just be real,” she advises. “Be yourself in your audition tape. Don’t do anything crazy. Tell us why you need this house and why you want to get this house.”

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

Images courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

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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.

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Comments and queries for the week of March 30

What was Julia’s last sentence at the end of the last episode [of Murdoch Mysteries]? I’ve relistened to it over and over and still can’t make it out. Can someone tell me, please! —Carole

I only saw it in a “spoiler.” I believe she said, “I can tear up the ticket.” Or something to that effect. He replied that they could buy another one, indicating that he wanted to travel with her …  Mea culpa if I heard it wrong!! —Mary

Editor’s Note: That’s what I heard too, Mary. 

I can see Nina returning to Toronto at some future point, where George is engaged to another. —Jane

I liked Nina after getting to know her more. At first I thought she was a bit of a floozy. Sorry, Erin. But as time went on I felt she did love George. But like the women of MM they are strong-willed and I love that they are portrayed so strong at that time in history. We will welcome her back anytime. Good luck in your future endeavours. —Liz

I think Nina is an heiress from someplace. That’s why she is going to Paris because her family is looking for her and getting too close. Where else would she get the money to go the first time with George and now again to go to live? The family probably doesn’t like her lifestyle of being on the stage so she ran away. Just a few thoughts meandering through my mind. —Sharon

Yes, I really liked the relationship between George and Nina, but I have always had the thought that Dr. Grace would return and get back with George Crabtree. Even though she is gay I think she still loves George. —Jeannette

The way the character has been written and several things she has said have led viewers to believe there are secrets she is keeping things to do with family issues and who she may have been before she appeared on the stage in Toronto. Would be a shame if that was left hidden from us and we were never to learn more about her … bring her back from Paris, please! Find a way, writers. —Terry

I think Erin is a fantastic actress. I always felt she was really Nina. The connection with George and the conflict in their expectations for the future felt so real. Jonny is the star of the show as far as I am concerned. Wish Julia and William would realize they are not right for each other. Rather tired of Julia, rigid and always has to be right. William deserves better. —Diana


I wish they would do a season [of Home to Win] where they consider current homeowners who have encountered a disability where their current home is no longer suitable. It could be something where the winning contestant(s) would sell their current home afterwards to offset the costs of the new home purchase and renovations. Accessible housing would be an interesting challenge for all these designers and builders ’cause the seasons I’ve seen haven’t been accessible homes. —Gary

Editor’s Note: This is a great idea. Are you listening, Corus?

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

 

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