Host David Bromstad guides lucky lottery winners through the process of landing their ultimate
living situation on HGTV's My Lottery Dream Home. But from the winners' crazy wishlists
to David's lucky win, this is the untold truth of the hit TV show.
Launching any new TV series comes with its challenges, but for HGTV's My Lottery Dream
Home, those obstacles were even more daunting, and for a very good reason: People who have
just won big bucks in the lottery might not want the kind of attention brought on by reality
TV. This initially made casting the show somewhat tricky. Producer Mike Krupat told Mediaweek,
"You're millionaires."
"Yay! I love it"
According to Krupat, the series' first season was easily its most difficult when it came
to finding people willing to appear on the show. He said,
After My Lottery Dream Home was on the air and winners could see what the show was all
about, casting became significantly easier. Krupat added,
The show has consistently been a ratings winner for the network.
"I'll show you how to live like a millionaire."
The 2018 season premiere, in fact, set a new ratings record when 3.3 million total viewers
tuned in. HGTV pointed out that this was not only the series' highest-rated season premiere
to date, it was also the highest-rated episode of My Lottery Dream Home, ever.
"Glad you only showed us three."
"I can show you more."
"Please don't."
But ratings only tell part of the story. The series has also been a strong source of entertainment
on other platforms beyond traditional TV. According to HGTV, in early 2020 the series
was quote "the second most-streamed show" on the network's streaming service, HGTV GO.
The show also performed well on social media, with a January 3rd episode generating more
than 270,000 views on HGTV's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
When Season 7's Brian and his wife Tuk won $200,000 from a scratch-off ticket, they immediately
thought of the show as a means to purchase a new home. Brian told the HeraldNet,
"Epic."
When he reached out to producers, Brian received a quick response. And a few months later,
the couple was filming the show. While $200,000 isn't that much to work with, Bromstad was
able to help lead the couple to a classic Victorian on Washington's picturesque Whidbey
Island. Brian said he found the long days of filming to be grueling, and revealed he
got a crash course in some of the more unreal aspects of reality TV.
"Come on in guys."
"Wow. I like it."
According to the newspaper, Brian admitted,
What viewers of the show see on screen is only part of what takes place during filming.
In an interview with TV Insider, David Bromstad described the process a lottery winner goes
through during the course of an episode, from his perspective. Bromstad explained that when
he first meets the winners, he knows the bare bones of their back story, but tries not to
learn much more than that, ahead of time.
"I went downstairs, 'I went, we won a million dollars.' And she goes, 'Don't do this to me now.'"
After the winners tell him what they're looking for and how much money they've won, Bromstad
spends some time with them off-camera. It's then, that he says,
In terms of how much advice he gives, Bromstad says that varies from person to person. He added,
The big lure for fans of the show is the spectacle of watching average folks who've just won
a windfall take off on a real-estate shopping spree in search of an opulent, over-the-top
new home. But that doesn't always prove to be the case. Bromstad told the New York Post,
"I just want a place to gather for the holidays. Upgrade the family house."
"That is so sweet."
Just as there's no one particular type of home that everyone's looking for, nor is there
one specific type of lottery winner. Bromstad explained,
Host David Bromstad considers himself a sounding board and adviser to the people he guides
through the show. He told the New York Post,
But while Bromstad does his best to offer wise counsel, sometimes he finds himself working
with someone who's looking for something a bit on the bonkers side. Asked to pin down
the oddest thing he's encountered on a winner's wish list, Bromstad told AOL,
"Don't have to wait for Christina or Donna to get out of the bathroom."
"No wonder why you want an excess amount of bathrooms."
The most surprising thing Bromstad has learned from fulfilling winners' requests is how many
of them look for homes near families. He revealed,
"And action!"
David Bromstad's path to hosting My Lottery Dream Home was far from typical. As the network's
longtime viewers will recall, Bromstad first came to HGTV as a contestant on the first
season of Design Star in 2006, competing against other hopefuls for the opportunity to host
an HGTV show. Bromstad was the show's first-ever winner, which led him to be hired to host
HGTV's Color Splash.
"My parents raised me to, you know, work very hard for my money, and be very grateful, and
praise the Lord because of it, and be very humble."
That gig led to more hosting jobs with the network. And when the opportunity arose to
host My Lottery Dream Home, Bromstad had become a seasoned HGTV veteran with years of experience
in front of the camera. He said in a network interview,
"It's super fun. Unicorns and rainbows, people."
After working with all those winners on the show, you'd think that surely Bromstad must
be tempted to pick up the occasional ticket himself in hopes of hitting the jackpot.
But he told The Wrap,
In fact, Bromstad says he's quote, "generally not a very lucky person." He told the outlet,
Of course, that's not to say Bromstad hasn't been tempted, which was the case when the
Powerball jackpot rose to nearly $1.6 billion, in 2016. He told AOL,
Asked what he would have done had he won the $1.6 billion, he quipped,
My Lottery Dream Home is especially memorable thanks to its multi million-dollar pilot episode.
The lottery winners who appeared on the series debut, Rick and Lori Knudsen, won more money
than anyone who would ever appear on the show: a whopping $180 million.
"Ever held 180 million?"
"No, I haven't...ohhh."
Host Bromstad ultimately steered the Knudsens to a hilltop stunner listed for a relatively
modest $5.8 million. Features reportedly included a quote "17-seat movie theater and garage
fit for a car collector." Meanwhile, the Knudsens ponied up even more of their millions for
an adjacent property: a 155-acre bison ranch. The outlet estimated that the couple spent
about $11.5 million of their $180-million windfall on the properties, and the following
year, they bought homes for each of their five children. Bromstad joked to the Los Angeles Times,
"The mountain we stared out, we own!"
The lottery winners on the show really do run the gamut, from six-figure scratch-off
wins, to multi-million dollar jackpots. With so much disparity in the amount of money won
by the clients, host Bromstad is put to the test as he tries to locate ideal homes for
a wide range of winners. And this can go from price-is-no-object opulence to bargain deals.
The average winner who appears on My Lottery Dream Home makes off with about a million
dollars, according to Bromstad who told TV Insider,
According to Bromstad, these winners usually don't spend all their winnings on a home,
typically because they'll use some money to pay off debts and gain financial stability.
Most of them, he revealed, are also first-time homeowners. He said,
"This is going to be an absolute hoot."
Among the many winners to appear on the show was Anthony Colligan of Louisiana, who won
$2 million through his state Powerball lottery. As Colligan told the Acadiana Advocate, filming
his episode entailed spending Mardi Gras weekend with Bromstad while looking for a new home,
near his family. He said,
During their time together, Colligan and Bromstad took in a Mardi Gras parade and even went
on a swamp tour, while the newly-minted millionaire also taught Bromstad the proper way to peel
and eat boiled crawfish. Colligan said,
"He did a great job. He made one happy family right here."
David Bromstad has advised lottery winners over the course of several seasons, and he
revealed the most important piece of advice he shares with those who've just come into
a lot of money, telling the Los Angeles Times,
He pointed to the example of someone who had appeared on the show after winning a $4 million
jackpot, spending $350,000 on a home even though they could have spent much more. Bromstad said,
"Oooh, I just love you."
According to Bromstad, his role on the show transcends real estate and home design.
He says,
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about your favorite
celebs shows are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you
don't miss a single one.