Heavy/Getty "Bargain Block" co-star Evan Thomas
Fans of HGTV‘s hit show, “Bargain Block,” are eagerly awaiting the fourth season, which is slated to premiere in the fall. During an Instagram Live session on June 19, 2024, one of the show’s stars, Evan Thomas, told fans they have a great deal to look forward to.
Thomas originally went live with fans to promote the NINE Design + Homes Festival of the Arts, taking place on June 22 at the NINE Design Detroit retail store and artist studio he owns with partner and “Bargain Block” co-star Keith Bynum.
But as he talked about the art fair, featuring 40 local artisans, fans around the world began asking for details on the upcoming “Bargain Block” season, wondering how the duo’s renovation projects in New Orleans will fit into the mix.
Evan Thomas Says ‘Bargain Block: New Orleans’ Will Feature ‘Shotgun Doubles’
In February, HGTV announced that it had ordered a 10-episode, fourth season of “Bargain Block” as well as a five-episode spin-off called “Bargain Block: New Orleans” to air in the fall of 2024.
Revealing that he’d just arrived home from New Orleans earlier that day, where they’re “finishing up” projects there, Thomas told fans that the Detroit and New Orleans episodes will be blended together for viewers in the fall.
“New Orleans will at will air basically in the middle of season four,” he revealed. “So there’ll be five episodes of the Detroit season and then five episodes of NOLA and then five episodes of Detroit.”
“The NOLA episodes should be really fun,” he later told fans tuning in live, sharing how the houses there differ from those they renovate in Detroit. “They’re a little bit different because we’re actually doing doubles.”
Thomas explained, “It’s really common there that … a lot of houses there are basically ‘shotgun doubles,’ which is their word for duplexes. And so you’ll just see double after double after double. So we’re actually renovating three doubles, and that’ll be five episodes.”
“And we do a different … theme for every side of the doubles,” he continued. “And it’s a cool thing. It’s a little bit of a change of pace. The houses are a little bit different. They still look like bargain block houses, but the double aspect changes up the episode a bit.”
When one fan asked what his favorite thing has been about New Orleans, Thomas couldn’t pinpoint just one thing.
“That’s a tough question,” he said. “There’s a lot of cool things about NOLA. The food there is
amazing. The nightlife is amazing. The culture there is pretty awesome. It’s a very cool city.
Very very cool.”
Though it’s too soon to know HGTV’s plans, Thomas did express hope that he and Bynum will get to work on more projects in New Orleans now that they’re getting to know the real estate scene there.
“The market is interesting in New Orleans,” Thomas admitted during his Instagram Live. “We are learning a lot and we definitely made a few mistakes there. But we’re, you know, learning how to make it work. Hopefully we can get to do more houses there because it’s really fun.”
The couple’s realtor partner on the show, Shea Hicks Whitfield, is also part of the New Orleans episodes.
‘Bargain Block’ Hosts Evan Thomas & Keith Bynum Are Also Trying to Replace Roofs in Detroit
In addition to putting the final touches on their fourth season and running the June 22 art fair, Thomas and Bynum have also partnered with the Relentless Care Foundation by Community Financial Credit Union & Brilliant Detroit to help at least 10 homeowners receive new roofs on their homes.
The “Roof the Block” fundraiser has become a passion project for the couple, Thomas said, because they’ve seen firsthand how important it is for families to have a strong roof over their heads.
“Our goal is to raise $100,000 so that we can give 10 new roofs to homeowners in the Fitzgerald neighborhood, which is where we are working currently,” he said during his Instagram Live. “Basically what we’ve seen throughout the years is that almost every home that has had serious damage, it all started at the roof. So our idea was that to help keep the homeowners who are in that neighborhood, keep them living there. One of the best things that we could do is to give them new roofs because it’s a really expensive item. And it’s the first place where house fails.”
As of June 20, the GoFundMe campaign had raised $47,000, nearly halfway to the fundraising goal.