The Shady Side Of HGTV's Ty Pennington No One Talks About

Ty Pennington is best known for being handy, funny, and charming. With starring roles on shows like TLC's "Trading Spaces." ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and HGTV's "Rock the Block," the television host has amassed quite a fan following throughout his decades in the business. "I can't believe my 15 minutes of fame has turned into 15-20 years. I think I'm incredibly lucky," he gushed to People in 2022.

However, Pennington's devoted followers might be surprised to learn he isn't quite as squeaky clean as they thought. In fact, the tragic truth about Pennington is there's a shady side to him that no one talks about. He might be one of America's most famous home renovation experts, but the TV handyman Pennington has a history of legal trouble, and over the years, even his reputation with some of his HGTV fans has soured. Let's get into it, shall we?

In May 2007, at the height of his "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" success, Ty Pennington was arrested and charged with a DUI. As reported by ABC — the same network that employed him at the time — he was arrested in the wee hours of the morning on May 5, 2007. Pennington's blood alcohol level was well over the .08 legal California limit, coming in at a whopping .14. He was released after paying a $5,000 bail. Afterward, he gave a statement via his publicist Stan Rosenfield. "I made an error in judgment. We all make mistakes, however this is about accountability," he said in the statement (via CBS News). "Under no circumstances should anyone consume alcohol while driving. I could have jeopardized the lives of others, and I am grateful there was no accident or harm done to anyone. This was my wake-up call." He also apologized to his fans, ABC, and his team for his "lapse in judgment and the embarrassment I have caused."

In Pennington's first interview following the DUI arrest, he made no excuses for his bad behavior. When asked what he should've done differently, Pennington told "Entertainment Tonight" (via CBS News) that he should've taken a cab. Pennington also noted how lucky he was that his lapse in judgment didn't cost him his job with ABC. "I would never want to jeopardize that. I get to do something that a lot of people never get to do in their lifetime and actually get to make a difference in people's lives." In the end, Pennington pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to take a 90-day alcohol education class and go to a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers meeting, according to CBS News.

Sadly, Ty Pennington's DUI wasn't his last brush with the law. In August 2007, mere months after his drunk driving incident, both Pennington and his then-girlfriend, Andrea Bock were sued to the tune of $4 million. As reported by TMZ, The Jaxon House art gallery owner Melissa Ross filed a lawsuit against both Pennington and Bock claiming that they had pushed her out of a furniture line they created together through their joint company, Jaxon, known as Art Design Home Decor (ADHD).

Fortunately for Pennington, this legal matter appeared much less serious than his last. "Anyone with $320 can file a lawsuit — even a nuisance suit like this one. This suit has no merit," the home improvement host's rep told TMZ. According to court docs, by November of the same year, the lawsuit had been thrown out of court. All's well that ends well.

It's no secret that Ty Pennington's time as the host of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" catapulted him to success and fame. Ironically, however, he also received loads of backlash and criticism for his time on the show. Starting in 2007, there were rumblings that the show and its mission to renovate homes for struggling families at no cost to them wasn't all it was cracked up to be. At the top of the list was the financial hardship placed on the families after their homes went up in value. Some even lost their homes when they couldn't pay the taxes. 

Pennington was made to answer for the harsh realities of the contestants during an interview with The Wrap in 2018. "Yes, the property tax probably went up a little because the value of the house went up," Pennington explained. "There's a couple of stories that families lost their home," he confessed, before adding that ABC connected the families with a financial adviser and essentially placed all the blame on them. "If the family chooses to triple-mortgage their house to start a business that they've never done before just to see if they can get into it, that's their own demise. That's how you lose your home, is you're like, 'Oh, let's use it as a lottery ticket and see what we can get out of it. And then you lose it because you can't make the payment.'" As one can imagine, people were not too pleased with Pennington's flippant attitude about the families who lost their homes.