EXCLUSIVE: Ty Pennington On Which ‘Rock the Block’ Teams Surprised Him

Season four of “Rock the Block” is less than two months away! The fan-favorite HGTV design competition show is set to premiere on March 6, 2023, and the first teaser trailers for the season were unveiled earlier this month.

Heavy had the chance to talk with host Ty Pennington about his commercial appearance for Caesars Slots’ new mobile gaming app and ask him what surprises viewers can expect from the new season of “Rock the Block”, which was filmed in the Fall of 2022 in Larimer County, Colorado.

Ty Pennington Loves to Be Surprised by Design

When asked which of the “Rock the Block” season four teams surprised him the most during the competition, Ty Pennington said that all four teams surprised him with their very different designs.

He pointed to New Kids on the Block member Jonathan Knight as one of the teams he was least familiar with coming into the competition, saying, “in many ways, Jonathan and Kristina [Crestin, from ‘Farmhouse Fixer’] because I only have known him as a pop singer… I think that’s the beauty of discovering people and really realizing that everybody has so many different layers.”

Pennington relates to being misunderstood in his career, saying, “I think even with myself most people just thought ‘Oh he’s the carpenter guy’ but there’s so many different talents a lot of people have, and I think Jonathan and Kristina really surprised me with how good they were.”

Pennington also pointed to the team with the newest HGTV personalities as one to watch out for in the competition, telling Heavy, “We had some newcomers [Michel Smith Boyd and Anthony Elle from ‘Luxe for Less’]. Those guys, creatively, I was blown away, they just have some incredible ideas. When it comes to design, we all want to be surprised. That’s the little clever things, whether it’s a cabinet door that turns into a secret room, or it’s something that converts into another piece of furniture.” The host goes on to say that viewers can expect “many of those surprises” on season 4 of “Rock the Block”.

Pennington is appreciative of all different styles of design, however he did admit to having a preference, saying, “We all can do white spaces, and very clean, and all of the above – even though there is an art to that as well. But for me, I love to be surprised by not only color but also texture.”

Joining Knight, Crestin, Boyd, and Elle in the competition are “Renovation Island”‘s Bryan and Sarah Baeumler and “Fix My Flip””s Page Turner and Mitch Glew. Each team will have six weeks and $250,000 to renovate identical properties next to one another in the Colorado mountains.

Ty Pennington Calls ‘Rock the Block’ Season 4 ‘An Uphill Climb’

Ty Pennington said that all four teams impressed him with their designs, and his favorite part about “Rock the Block”  is that the teams get to represent their unique design styles on such a large scale and platform as HGTV. One of the most impressive things Pennington points to is that each team was able to conquer the design challenge given the pressure and time constraints.

When asked to describe the upcoming season in a brief sentence, Pennington answered, “A steep uphill climb, but once at the top, it’s an incredible view. But it’s the highest, steepest climb I’ve ever seen.”

He went on to say that the Colorado altitude may have something to do with this, telling Heavy, “A few people get a little altitude sickness. This is a big, big season. It’s just incredible. The location alone, the views, it is eye candy. … All these teams are incredible talents, and I think they truly have achieved some of the best work they’ve ever done in their lives because they’re on the biggest stage they’ve ever been on, but boy do they deliver, I was just blown away.”

“Rock the Block” season 4 premieres Monday, March 6 at 9 pm Eastern on HGTV.

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