What The Cameras Don't Show You About Your Favorite HGTV Stars

The following article contains mentions of addiction and suicide.

From its humble beginnings as a niche basic cable offering in 1994, HGTV has climbed the popularity ladder to become the pinnacle of home entertainment. Producing hit shows like "Property Brothers," "Fixer Upper," and "House Hunters," the network has brought the worlds of home renovation, decoration, real estate, and more, to the masses with its wholesome and informative programming.

Along the way, its most relatable and accomplished presenters — people like Chip and Joanna Gaines, the Scott brothers, David Bromstad, etc. — have become household names on par with some of the best actors and hosts on TV. While many of HGTV's biggest names seem to live, eat, and breathe home improvement, they also have entire lives that take place away from the cameras. Even though audiences watching them for years may feel like they know HGTV's stars, there's plenty that happens behind the scenes that fans don't find out about until years later.

For the better part of a decade, Tarek El Moussa and his then-wife, Christina Haack, bought, renovated, and sold homes on the HGTV series, "Flip or Flop." The couple originally met at a real estate office, eventually marrying and starting their own business before finding their HGTV stardom. They landed their show in 2010 after El Moussa sent an audition tape of his and Christina's first house flip to the network. While the series ended up being a big success and changing their lives, the couple's marriage suffered along the way. The situation reached a breaking point in 2016, amid an alarming incident when an emotional, possibly suicidal Tarek reportedly hopped his back fence and made his way to a hiking trail with a handgun in tow. 

Later that year, the couple announced their split. Following the dissolution of his marriage, El Moussa struggled to cope with his situation. "When my ex left me, man, I went to some soul-searching places," he told entrepreneur podcaster Jeff Fenster in 2024. "I actually lived in a halfway house ... I didn't trust myself to be alone. That's how bad I was. So, the reason I ended up there is because I didn't know where to go, and I needed 24-hour care. It was pretty bad because I had lost everything, [it] felt like overnight." El Moussa noted that he worked incredibly hard to regain a foothold in his life and is now in a better place. In 2025, he and Haack began competing with each other on "The Flip Off."

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During the 2000s, general contractor Mike Holmes traveled throughout his native Canada and, later, throughout the United States, helping homeowners in need of renovations on the HGTV series "Holmes on Homes." He later starred in spin-off series and specials, including "Holmes in New Orleans," "Holmes Inspection," "Holmes Makes It Right," "Holmes and Holmes," and a litany of other shows on the network. All the while, Holmes built a reputation as someone who placed incredible value on fairness, quality, and safety in the building industry. It was a reputation supported by his actions behind the scenes, too.

Holmes has partnered with builders in the U.S. and Canada to develop his Holmes Approved Homes program, to "give homebuyers a home that's built right the first time." In 2025, he partnered with iGuide to "raise awareness about the critical role accurate property data plays in improving outcomes for builders, inspectors, designers, and homeowners." That's not to say, though, that his various ventures have been free of controversy. In December 2021, an $8 million lawsuit was brought against The Holmes Group and several co-defendants by Tarion — a government-sponsored consumer protection group ensuring that under-warranty home defects are repaired — related to a subdivision of "Mike Holmes Approved" homes, per CBC News. The development was reportedly described in the suit as a "perfect storm of errors and neglect by multiple parties" involved in building, inspection, and promotion.

If any of HGTV's myriad past and present reality stars can be described as the face of the popular cable network's rise, it's Chip and Joanna Gaines, the longtime hosts of "Fixer Upper" and its various spin-offs. The married couple's unique style and innate relatability helped make them two of the biggest stars on cable television. Meanwhile, "Fixer Upper" became appointment viewing for the DIY crowd. Eventually, the Gaineses transcended their reality star status and HGTV tenure, launching the Magnolia Network (which was named after their lifestyle company).

Their ascent to the realm of entertainment moguls and reported shameless flaunting of wealth notwithstanding, the Gaineses were actually flat broke at one point. "I remember when we first got married, the only money we had was what was in Chip's pocket," Joanna told People in 2020. "He always had a wad of cash, but we were broke. If I needed to go grocery shopping, it's whatever was in his pocket. That's how we paid the bills." At the time, flipping houses had yet to become a lucrative business for Chip, much to the chagrin of Joanna's parents. "Her dad spent the first two years of our marriage asking me if I was going to get a job," he recalled. Fast-forward to now, and the Gainses are pinching themselves for somehow achieving success.  "All of this sort of fell into our laps," Chip said. "We were just living our life out here in little bitty Waco. We had dreams and aspirations like most folks, but this has really been something else."

If Chip and Joanna Gaines top the list of reality/do-it-yourself stars produced by HGTV programming, Drew and Jonathan Scott may just hit the list in the No. 2 spot. Since their 2011 debut on the W Network, the Scott siblings have been helping prospective homebuyers find their dream homes, remodeling them to fit the vision in the process, on their long-running series, "Property Brothers," which had a wildly different title originally. However, Jonathan was no stranger to the entertainment world when the show began (after which it became an HGTV mainstay). 

Before the brothers' emergence as TV contractors/builders, Jonathan was interested in performance and magic, winning "3rd Best Stage Performer" in a Pacific Coast Association of Magicians' magic competition at 16. Later, Jonathan pursued a career as an actor, appearing in small roles in 1990s TV series like "The X-Files," "Breaker High," and "Millennium." These days, though, his biggest connection to the Hollywood scene arguably comes via former "New Girl" star and Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress Zooey Deschanel. The two announced their engagement via Instagram in August 2023, with Deschanel commenting, "Forever starts now!!!" He and his brother also own their own production company, Scott Brothers Entertainment. He's also a writer, leaning on his longtime environmental advocacy to co-write and publish the book "Knowledge is Power" in 2019 with former Vice President Al Gore and his Climate Reality organization.

While Jonathan Scott eschewed a full-time acting career in favor of working on homes and appearing on reality television alongside his brother, Drew Scott, on "Property Brothers," he still has to perform much of the same image-centric upkeep that the stars of stage and screen do. The Scotts' shows bring in millions of viewers each week, competing with some of the best scripted shows on cable television — even as some HGTV fans can't stand them. As such, Warner Bros. Discovery (HGTV's parent company) has a vested interest in making sure the brothers look their best on its programming. Apparently, that includes forcing both Drew and Jonathan to dye their hair, so their natural gray strands don't show up on TV.

While promoting the tenth season of their show "Celebrity IOU" on SiriusXM's "Andy Cohen Live" in 2025, Drew told Cohen (via EntertainmentNow), "I probably have more gray than you do, I just dye it every three weeks," in reference to his beard. Where the hair on the top of his head was concerned, Drew confessed that it was also dyed, adding, "It's mainly because the network says they're not ready for me to look older yet." Meanwhile, Jonathan's future fiancée, Zooey Deschanel, similarly revealed in 2020 that she had cut and colored his hair. He later told People that she did "better than I think the salon could do it."

Another of the HGTV power couples, Ben and Erin Napier have hosted the series "Home Town" — on which the husband-and-wife team renovates houses, primarily in the area of their Laurel, Mississippi base — since 2016. That show's success led them to bring a number of other reality series to the network, including the spin-offs "Home Town: Ben's Workshop" and "Home Town Takeover." Like many of the other HGTV hosts, though, the Napiers have a whole lot of other things going on behind the scenes and away from the network's cameras (besides drawing backlash from HGTV viewers for their unique parenting style).

Their local business dealings in the Laurel area are substantial. The couple owns Laurel Mercantile Co. in their town, a shop dealing in the "design and manufacture [of] heirloom wares and durable goods made exclusively in the United States," according to its website. That includes everything from scents and fragrances, books, kitchen decor, and apparel. Among the goods sold by the mercantile are wood countertops and islands from Ben's woodworking company, Scotsman Co. The Napiers also own Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence, an event and wedding stationery boutique that was featured on Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides Magazine, and more, according to the company website. Meanwhile, the company claims to have a number of celebrity clients, including rock bands like the Goo Goo Dolls and ZZ Top.

During the 1970s and '80s, Hilary Farr compiled an impressive list of acting credits in well-known projects. Performing under her maiden name, Hilary Labow, Farr portrayed Betty Munroe in the iconic 1975 comedy-musical film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." She also counts guest appearances on series like the 1981 ABC superhero comedy "The Greatest American Hero" and the NBC soap opera "Days of Our Lives" among the productions listed in her filmography. From 2008 to 2023, though, Farr served as a co-host — alongside David Visentin — for HGTV's "Love It or List It."

While the show has a unique premise and has become one of the longest-running series on the network, Farr had to navigate some serious health challenges during her time on the show. Farr revealed to People in 2021 that she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2014. She told the outlet that she had a precancerous lump removed two years earlier, and the new diagnosis necessitated a second surgery. Afterward, she was reportedly — and mistakenly — informed by an oncologist that she didn't need radiation as part of her treatment, potentially causing her to miss out on months of treatment that she needed. "I felt absolute fury that someone could be so flippantly wrong," she told the outlet. "I could have been dead." The problems continued the following year when a third suspicious mass was discovered and removed. Since then, though, Farr has been in remission.

When Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack announced in 2016 that their marriage would be ending, it was undoubtedly a shock for longtime fans and HGTV viewers at large. However, that wouldn't be the last time that the former "Flip or Flop" and current "The Flip Off" co-host would go through the traumatic dissolution of a romantic partnership for all the world to see. In late 2018, Haack married British TV host Ant Anstead, with whom she eventually welcomed a son to go with her two children with El Moussa. However, the pair later divorced in the fall of 2020, with Anstead writing on Instagram, "I have remained silent while holding on to hope. I never gave up on us. I pray Christina's decision brings her happiness."

With marriage No. 2 in the proverbial tank, she eventually began dating Austin-based realtor Josh Hall, after which the two were wed in a secret ceremony in 2021. Alas, her marriage to Hall came to an unceremonious end in July 2024 after less than three years. Their parting was a contentious one, too, with the two exchanging barbs on social media and in the press. However, Haack continues to live a seemingly harmonious blended family life with her current beau Chris Larocca, El Moussa, his wife Heather Rae El Moussa, and all of the group's children.

David Bromstad has come a long way since 2006, when he became the first-ever winner of "HGTV Design Star" (later called "HGTVStar"), hosting "Color Splash" and his long-running show "My Lottery Dream Home," and appearing in several other HGTV series. Before he entered the limelight, though, Bromstad was an artist and designer who used his talents to curate real-life experiences for one of the entertainment world's behemoths. 

Bromstad dreamt of being a Disney animator as a child, but decided to shift gears in college when computer animation was rising to prominence. "I didn't love computers or have an affinity for going into animation that way. Plus, I couldn't imagine drawing the same thing over and over again, day in, day out," he told Orlando's Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. He still ended up working for Disney, though, conceptualizing and building storybook window displays at Walt Disney World. "Sculptures at Disney are nothing short of immaculate—they can't have any flaws or marks. It was a tough job, but it made me appreciate that if you don't have finishing skills in any artistic life, your work isn't going to look expensive or truly finished," he told H&H of the experience.

David Bromstad has gone through a lot as his HGTV star has risen over the years, and not all of it has been positive. Some of the major events of Bromstad's life have been downright tragic, like the destruction of his Orlando dream home. The prospect of having his own forever place had been a light in the proverbial storm for Bromstad, who told Entertainment Tonight in late 2025, "I had a really bad breakup; a very long relationship, bad breakup, super toxic. I never really did the work behind it. And I never had a place that I called home. So, I was so excited that this is going to be my house." However, his dream became a nightmare when the Florida storms caused massive flood damage to the house mid-renovation. As a result, he essentially had to demolish the house to eradicate mold.

The emotional toll of seeing his very personal building project wiped away was significant. According to Bromstad, he dove into substance abuse to cope, and eventually found himself seeking treatment to manage the situation. "The house and I at the same time were literally destroyed," he told ET. "We were alone. We were broken down inside and outside. We looked, felt, and breathed the exact same way. And that's when I realized I needed help. So I went to rehab." Meanwhile, the renovation of his home became the subject of the 2025 episode "David's Happy Ending."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Jasmine Roth left a corporate job in Southern California to help manage the completion of both her own home and an investment project. She never returned to the job, though, as she developed a passion for building and, in 2012, she founded her own boutique development company, Built Custom Homes. A few years later, she was approached by HGTV, after which she hosted the series "Hidden Potential." Since 2020, she has served as the host of "Help! I Wrecked My House."

While she has seen immense success professionally and personally (with her husband and two daughters), Roth's life away from the camera isn't without its challenges. Due to a genetic condition that makes it difficult for her heart to pump blood, she has to take a medication for the rest of her life. She has also contended with a hormonal imbalance, fertility issues, and more, ahead of her second pregnancy. "As the test results started coming in, it became clear that even though I seemed to be healthy, and in many ways I was, my body was struggling," she recalled in a 2024 Motherly piece. Roth isn't the only one in her family who has experienced medical trials, either. In 2023, her oldest daughter, Hazel, had to undergo a tonsil and adenoid reduction surgery to treat pediatric sleep apnea.