though HGTV is Prime weekend
binge-watching it's no secret that the
channels popular home and renovation
shows might not be what they seem and
we're not just talking about the phony
house hunting scenarios or the obviously
manufactured drama still don't believe
us hold on to your shiplap here are the
reasons these HGTV shows are totally
fake roll please love it or list it
combines the house hunt and renovation
genres but with a twist at the end of
each episode homeowners decide to either
live in their updated home or sell it
and move into an upgrade and I even a
novice or are you going to list it we're
going to list but according to a
redditor who claims their aunt and uncle
appeared on the show producers actually
had them record both endings and the
network chose to air its favorite their
editor also claims the show portrayed
said uncle and aunt as having listed
their home but in reality they stayed
put that story may or may not be true
but there have also been real-world
legal ramifications from the show's
shenanigans oh my god in 2016
Deana Murphy and Timothy Sullivan from
North Carolina sued the show citing a
variety of complaints according to the
Miami Herald Murphy and Sullivan alleged
the show misappropriated their
renovation funds and used a subpar
contractor who did questionable work the
lawsuit stated the show is scripted with
roles and reactions assigned to the
various performers and participants
including the homeowners these
characters are actors or television
personalities playing a role for the
camera and in this case none of them
played more than a casual role in the
actual renovation process and we took
out a substantial loan for this and you
and put in some of our own money we're
guessing they didn't love it
in 2012 real estate vlog hooked on
houses landed a major scoop when it
alleged that the fan-favorite house
hunters' was almost totally fake
according to show participant Bobby
Jensen her experience was phony from top
to bottom starting with the reason the
family supposedly appeared on the series
I don't think there's any way that the
show could actually follow someone
because real house hunts take months
Jensen claims that the producers made
the families seem like they desperately
needed a bigger house but in reality
they were simply upgrading and had
decided to rent out their existing home
next Jensen revealed her family had
already purchased the home they would
supposedly be hunting for this is
allegedly a common practice for any HGTV
show that portrays prospective
homeowners shopping for homes so did
they just go around looking at listings
and pretend they were interested Jensen
revealed on the blog the ones we looked
at weren't even for sale they were just
our to friends houses who are nice
enough to madly clean for days in
preparation for the cameras and it looks
like the show spin-off series isn't any
more authentic
I think this move will test our
relationship because I've never lived
with a partner before so it will be
really interesting to see what we both
want
according to HuffPost a woman who's
Mexican villa was portrayed as one of
the reject properties for prospective
buyers on House Hunters International
also claims that the show swapped in a
younger couple to play the buyers to
appeal to a wider audience and steer
away from the typical retirees that are
often depicted another show participant
dr. Nate Lambert wrote a medium post
about his experience he describes
enjoying having his family moved to Fiji
documented but he also confirms the
phony home search he recounted how
producers overdramatized a disagreement
over kitchen views and admits the
realtor was an HGTV plant which he says
had to be done due to the way the real
estate industry works in Fiji let's get
started we're gonna destroy your house
due to its staggering popularity
property brothers is probably viewed as
one of the more authentic shows on this
list until you stop and think about its
premise twin brothers drew and Jonathan
Scott help buyers find and renovate a
fixer-upper yes drew is an actual
realtor and yes Jonathan is a real-life
contractor but much of their
professional duty is farmed out to local
professionals while they do what they
really do best nail being TV stars
we look like there's any more speaking
with PopSugar Jonathan revealed that
just like many other HGTV shows property
brothers works with homeowners who have
identified a house that they already
like so what does that leave for realtor
drew to do be a TV star and what about
those scenes where homeowners pop in on
the Renault to find Jonathan alone in
the house toiling away on some demo or
framing work Jonathan said if we find
that our budget is taking hits left
right and center I'll jump in and do
even more because I'm not charging for
my time I'm never laying 5,000 square
feet of flooring
I have flooring companies kitchen
companies and all of that jazz but I can
do and have done all of the work so this
is really a show about a realtor who
doesn't have to sell real estate and a
contractor who only works when he has to
we love it
you excited as a fixer-upper is the Waco
Texas based home renovation show
starring husband and wife team chip and
Joanna Gaines and it goes like this he's
the contractor and she's the designer
and they work with a homeowner to flip
rundown properties into dream homes
fixer-upper also has a pretty good
reputation for being on the up-and-up
when it comes to the Gaines duo actually
doing what they portray on the show but
there are a few discrepancies it's your
fault you're the one that showed him the
house first the house hunt at the
beginning of each episode is all for you
guessed it show it's the same deal as
house hunters hgtv wants folks who are
already under contract on a house
according to show participant David
Ridley who appeared on season three a
fixer-upper
he told Fox News they show you other
homes but you already have one after
they select you they send to your house
to chip and Joanna and their design team
at this point we can all move past the
fact that nobody is actually discovering
their dream home for the first time on
camera but is everything else on
fixer-upper genuine according to Country
Living
yes except if a homeowner wants to keep
the furniture used for staging they have
to buy it
that seems fair just so long as it's
never revealed that Joanna doesn't
actually love shiplap the hgtv dreamhome
giveaway has been going strong since
1997 but if you're picturing the lucky
winner moving into their stunning new
digs and living in the lap of luxury
think again you just won the 2005
according to The Wall Street Journal
almost none of the winners can afford to
keep the home because of the huge tax
liability which is estimated to be
around 40% of the total value of the
house in fact out of 8 previous winners
by 2004 only one actually retained
ownership of the property it was gonna
be like it's gonna cost you a million
dollars to keep your free home this
exact situation occurred for 2005 winner
Don Cruz who wasn't able to satisfy the
tax liability he estimated at $800,000
Cruz tried to make it work anyway
choosing to reject the option of taking
cash and other prizes and living in the
house for almost two years before
letting it lapse into foreclosure
he told KLTV that by the time he gave up
the house he'd sunk into one point four
three million dollars in debt to state
it simply in order to win and keep the
hgtv dreamhome you already have to be
rich otherwise you've basically won a
giant cash prize and the opportunity to
be photographed in a particularly lovely
house for a few minutes
HGTV's landscape renovation show yard
crashers has one of the best concepts of
all time the show walks into a big box
home improvement store and randomly
selects an unsuspecting customer for a
stunning backyard makeover a dream come
true
how about taking me home right now
unfortunately dreams aren't real and
apparently new yard crashers according
to one redditor who says their good
friend was selected for the show because
his sister knew the producer so they
staged these supposed random encounter
at Lowe's on top of that the redditor
also claims that some concrete work done
by the show wasn't exactly top notch and
that his friend ended up having to sink
even more money into the makeover to fix
structural issues again this could all
be hearsay but host Chris Lambton did
tell PopSugar that they screen
participants for attitude and that they
chat up at least 15 to 20 people before
finally casting a homeowner call us
crazy but we're not sure how surprised
the lucky homeowners are to talk to the
guy who has a camera crew in tow and who
just rejected a dozen other shoppers
thanks to hooked on houses becoming the
go-to destination for HGTV participants
to air their grievances we also know
that designed to sell the show that gave
homeowners a budget of $2,000 and a pro
design team in order to stage their
house for the market is also fake as a
plastic ficus thank you so much designed
to sell I've had several offers on the
house I'm so excited I knew
the city just has been awesome according
to one homeowner her house was not even
on the market and would not be for over
a year but the show cost her anyway
as a result producer staged a fake open
house at the end of the makeover process
that was entirely attended by the
homeowners friends and family on top of
that she said that when the crew came
through for what would essentially be
the after shots there was incomplete
work they had to avoid filming designed
to sell also took a page out of love it
or list its playbook allegedly having
homeowners shoot multiple endings one
saying their house sold thanks to
makeovers and one thing they haven't
sold yet but they've seen a lot of
interest Wow
in 2013 the a/v Club spoke with Atlanta
resident Chinna Tay Pruitt about his
experience on curb appeal the block
while cruet claimed he had nothing but
love for the production crew and the
contractors for busting their humps he
did expose a few ways in which the show
fudged his reality for starters the
establishing shots which are supposed to
be the exterior shots of the surrounding
neighborhood were nowhere near Pruitt's
house Pruitt also claimed the crew
carefully avoided shooting a quote sub
crack house monstrosity near his home he
also claims the hosts would park is
convertible walk around then drive off
but aside from all of the TV magic that
went into making Pruitt's episode he
suffered possibly the biggest
manipulation after a retaining wall the
contractors put in to prevent flooding
had the complete opposite effect though
the show sent contractors up multiple
times to try and fix the problem the
basement still floods routinely after
heavy rain leaving Pruitt to feel like
the fun he had with the crew maybe
wasn't worth it he said I just wish
things have been a little better planned
oh my gosh look at that water there's a
beautiful gorgeous view beachfront
bargain hunt is basically House Hunters
International if it only went to
American cities with gorgeous coastlines
and just like that fake HGTV
house-hunting show this one also
requires its participants to already own
the house they're supposedly shopping
for and thanks to Outer Banks realtor
Joanna's blog about her experience with
the show we can report on a few other
small facets of fakery as well
waterfront is a must-have something with
a deep water lagoon perhaps for for a
nice-sized boat what size boat do you
have I don't have a boat probably the
oddest thing Joanna had to say was that
producers told her not to use the word
nice and that they were so seer
is about it they even had to start
several scenes over when she
accidentally used the term Johanna also
said that although there was no script
they were made to re-enter each room two
to four times repeating the exact same
phrase in these the first time to ensure
the crew got the coverage this all calls
into question the overall integrity of a
show that purports to capture the thrill
and excitement of a Beach home purchase
after all if the stressful real estate
transaction is fake the home search is
fake and the genuine emotion of
discovering a dream home is diminished
by multiple reshoots what's left all
right
sitting at home and playing what do
these people do and how can they afford
this from you're obviously not beach
front couch okay never mind
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