Heavy/Getty Heather El Moussa, Egypt Sherrod and Mina Starsiak Hawk will appear on HGTV's new "House Hunters: All Stars"
For nearly 25 years, “House Hunters” has been a huge ratings winner for HGTV, rarely breaking from its tried-and-true format. But for the first time since “House Hunters” debuted in September 1999, the show is about to feature a major twist with appearances by some of its biggest stars, including Egypt Sherrod, Heather El Moussa and Mina Starsiak Hawk.
Each episode of “House Hunters” either follows a couple looking for a home or a single house hunter — always accompanied by a relative or friend — as their real estate brokers show them three properties. The home buyers then deliberate and decide on which one is best and share a quick update after moving in.
Though there have been spin-offs of the show, like “House Hunters International,” the overall format has barely changed over the years. But in a new version of the show, the real estate agents will be replaced by HGTV celebrities.
The network just announced the launch of “House Hunters All-Stars,” featuring 17 of the network’s prime-time stars. Scheduled to premiere on March 21, 2024, a different HGTV personality on each episode will present homes to prospective buyers in the cities where they live, beginning with “Good Bones” alum Starsiak Hawk working with home buyers in her native Indianapolis.
Here’s what you need to know:
17 HGTV Celebs Will Help Their ‘Super Fans’ Find New Homes in ‘House Hunters: All Stars’
HGTVIn Indianapolis, Mina Starsiak Hawk shows off the backyard of a home to Sienna and friend Sylva on “House Hunters: All-Stars”
Despite “House Hunters” ranking as a top 10 cable program every night of the week, per HGTV, the network has decided to breathe new life into the franchise for its 25th anniversary. In addition to featuring some of its biggest stars, the home buyers will be “super fans” of the celebrities they’re getting to tour houses with.
Twelve episodes of “House Hunters: All Stars” will premiere on March 21 with back-to-back episodes each week. In the series premiere, Starsiak Hawk will help Sienna, an artist searching for an Indianapolis “fixer-upper” find properties that fit her wish list: historic character, a backyard and the potential to have someone rent part of the space.
The second episode that night will feature “Down Home Fab” stars Chelsea and Cole DeBoer in the city where they live — Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The DeBoers will help a local couple, Tim and Angie, search for a bigger home that includes a home theater for him and a “cat patio” for her, per HGTV’s press release.
The other HGTV personalities appearing on future episodes of “House Hunters: All Stars” and the cities where they’ll go house-hunting are as follows:
- Galey Alix of “Home in a Heartbeat” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas from “Bargain Block” in Detroit
- Heather Rae El Moussa of “The Flipping El Moussas” in Long Beach, California
- Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt of “100 Day Dream Home” in Tampa, Florida
- Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis of “Unsellable Houses” in Snohomish, Washington
- Rico León of “Rico to the Rescue” in Denver
- Jasmine Roth of “Help! I Wrecked My House in Orange County, California
- Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson of “Married to Real Estate” in Atlanta
- Page Turner of “Fix My Flip” in Los Angeles
- Veronica Valencia of “Revealed” in Los Angeles
‘House Hunters’ Was Inspired by 2 TV Producers’ Own Challenges Finding a New Home in the 90s
HGTV/YouTube“House Hunters” has aired on HGTV since 1999.
HGTV first went live in 1994, the brainchild of Kenneth Lowe, a “frustrated architect” who worked for broadcasting empire E.W. Scripps, according to Architectural Digest. At the time, the only home-focused TV show was PBS’s long-running renovation show, “This Old House.”
The company had “low, low expectations,” he told the magazine, because no one thought people would want to watch shows about finding or improving houses. But viewers loved early programs like “Room by Room,” “Dream Builders,” and “Gardening By the Yard.”
Jennifer Davidson and Tara Sandler, who were the successful producers of TLC’s “A Baby Story” at the time, came up with the idea for “House Hunters” when they went searching for a home together in Los Angeles, according to HGTV.
After the couple had toured 15 houses, Sandler recalled, “We’re at this particular house in Studio City that had a really odd layout, but it had this gorgeous outdoor space with a big pool. We’re agonizing, going, ‘Well, the outdoor area is great but the indoor area is not so great, but we could fix that. But how much is that gonna cost?'”
It was in that moment, she said, that they realized they had the makings of a potential show. Despite reports of some of its more than 900 episodes over the years being staged, the series has continued to thrive, attracting 36 million viewers per quarter, per HGTV.
Over the years, there have been 16 “House Hunter” spin-offs on HGTV, not including the new “All Star” version, the network said. The first was “House Hunters International” in 2006, which is still on the air. Other versions have included “Island Hunters, “House Hunters Renovation” and “Tiny House Hunters.”
Loren Ruch, Head of Content for HGTV, said of the newest show in a statement, “The series has been a perennial hit for nearly 25 years, and we were inspired to marry the successful format with our incredible lineup of talent in this new iteration of the series. Now we can enjoy all the things we love about ‘House Hunters’ as the network’s stars get buyers into their perfect home.”