The Shady Side Of HGTV's Egypt Sherrod Everyone Ignores

Egypt Sherrod has made a name for herself as an expert real estate broker and designer, as well as one-half of the television duo that was the former HGTV "Married to Real Estate" couple. "This show has been an amazing journey for our family to share," Sherrod told Madame Noire in December 2024 about her rise to stardom on the popular reality home renovation series. "When Mike and I think back to how this all started, it was just us filming content on his cell phone of our lives and business. Fast-forward to four years later, and we are in Season 4, preparing to air in 82 countries. It's truly a testament that hard work, strong family bonds, and dedication are still valued."

Alas, it appears Sherrod's reputation as a family woman with a strong work ethic isn't exactly as squeaky clean as viewers might believe. Over the years, Sherrod has found herself in the midst of a couple of high-profile scandals, including a public feud with The New York Times and an allegedly fabricated story about witnessing a near-human trafficking incident. Yep, you read that right.

Long before Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson's messy fallout with HGTV, Sherrod was beefing with The New York Times after it featured her and "Married to Real Estate" in a piece titled "The Strange Allure of Watching Other People Tear Up Their Homes" in April 2025. According to Sherrod, the Manhattan-based newspaper first approached her and her husband, Mike Jackson, to be featured, all in an effort to promote the current season of their show. Unfortunately, Sherrod felt the end result was anything but a promotion for the home renovation series. "For a publication like The New York Times to use my image to headline an article filled with distortions and mediocrity? That's not just irresponsible — it's unacceptable," Sherrod fired out in the caption of a Facebook post on April 14, 2025, about the way she felt the writer had suggested the show was staged. 

To make matters worse, Sherrod also noted that the writer made no mention of her co-star and husband, Jackson. "That's not just a slight. That's erasure," she declared. Perhaps yet another red flag in the former HGTV stars' marriage? TBD, we suppose. 

The New York Times, however, stood by its reporter and the article. "Our piece on D.I.Y. home influencers was well-reported, thorough and fair, covering a wide range of figures and how they've turned renovation videos into a lucrative career," a spokesperson for The New York Times said in response to Sherrod's criticism in a statement to the Daily Mail. 

Unfortunately, things weren't much better for Egypt Sherrod when she was accused of making up an entire story about witnessing a human trafficking attempt at a gas station. On December 11, 2022, Sherrod took to her Instagram account, claiming she had just witnessed a man hide a tissue on a gas pump in Kennesaw, Georgia. "I watched him do this," Sherrod claimed in a since-deleted Instagram video to her followers (via Black Enterprise). "Do you see the tissue?" she asked while filming what appeared to be a tissue covering the handle of a gas pump. "So if you ever find yourself at a gas station and a tissue is on the handle or you come back to your vehicle and see a tissue on the handle, DO NOT TOUCH IT AT ALL," she cautioned while also noting that she had notified the police. 

Later, however, in another since-deleted post, Sherrod blasted an unnamed blogger for poking holes in her human trafficking account and claiming it was nothing more than a hoax. "I need your help to repost this so that the TRUTH travels faster than a LIE!" Sherrod penned in a call to action (via Black Enterprise). "I am so tired of women, specifically Black women, being disbelieved."

It should be noted, however, that Politifact.com, a popular fact-checking website, was unable to find any evidence supporting Sherrod's claim. Meanwhile, LeadStories.com, another fact-checking site, concluded the same. "Lead Stories contacted two law enforcement agencies in Cobb County, Georgia, where the incident allegedly took place, and neither had any record of that, nor of it being reported," staff writer Ed Payne wrote.