Getty "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge"
Hi Barbie!
After four episodes of head-to-head showdowns, HGTV’s Summer mini-series “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” came to an end with last night’s August 6 finale, where a panel of Barbie fans and experts chose a winner. Read ahead for a recap of the four teams who made it into the finale and which of their spaces will be deemed worthy of the win.
Each team is representing a Barbie superfan at home, and the winning team’s superfan will get the chance to stay in the real-life Dreamhouse after the renovation is complete. The winning team will also secure a donation in their name to Save the Children.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” episode 4, “Barbie’s Big Pink Carpet Finale” (August 6, 2023). Do not read ahead if you do not want the winning team spoiled.
‘Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge’ Finale Recap
Before a winner could be chosen, the final two teams had to face off to determine who would make the cut for the final fan vote. The final showdown was between Christina Hall and James Bender (“Christina on the Coast”) and Michel Smith Boyd and Anthony Elle (“Luxe for Less”), who were assigned Barbie’s closet/dressing room and Barbie’s office, respectively.
Unlike the prior episodes, these two teams were not given a different decade of Barbie’s history to help inspire their transformation, instead being asked to represent the “Past, Present, and Future” of Barbie in their design. Just like the past episodes, however, each team was required to add one “toyetic” feature to their space, to give the Dreamhouse a real-life play place feel.
After completing their renovations, judges Jonathan Adler and Tiffany Brooks were joined by celebrity guest Christian Siriano, and they chose Christina and James’ closet as the winning space in the head-to-head showdown.
Christina and James’ closet then moved on to face the first three winning spaces (Jasmine Roth (“Help! I Wrecked My House”) and Antonia Lofaso’s (Food Network’s “Beachside Brawl”) 1960s-inspired kitchen and family room, Ty Pennington (“Rock the Block”) and Alison Victoria’s (“Windy City Rehab”) 1970s-inspired “Ken’s Den”, and Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt’s (“100 Day Dream Home”) 2000s-inspired backyard) in the final fan vote.
After tallying the votes, “Barbie” star Margot Robbie appeared on video call to announce the winner and declared that Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt’s backyard was deemed the top space in the Dreamhouse.
The Kleinschmidts Had Flashbacks to ‘Rock the Block’
HGTV interviewed the winners, whose superfan Marcos was able to take a full tour of the completed Dreamhouse, and Brian said that their win gave him “flashbacks” to when the couple won “Rock the Block” season 2 , telling HGTV, “We worked really hard for both of those wins, and it was gratifying to know all that work paid off. But there were no losers in this competition. We walked the entire house — every space was fun and innovative. I think the real winner was Marcos and his friends who got to stay in the entire house and experience it. The friendships and memories we made with our fellow HGTV brothers and sisters was bigger than any win.”
Mika added to her husband’s sentiment, saying they got to celebrate their victory in style when “Castmate chef Antonia Lofaso hosted the teams at her restaurant for a wrap party and it was just so cool to have that moment together. Plus, the food there was the best I’ve ever eaten.”
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