14 Stars Who Left HGTV And Why
Over the years, an array of HGTV hosts have made their ways in and out of our lives, teaching us exactly what goes into a home renovation and even inspiring some of us to incorporate shiplap into all of our spaces. Yet, while some of our favorite shows on HGTV have ceased to exist, some of them surprisingly weren't canceled by network executives. Their hosts were actually the ones who made the decision to part ways with the network altogether.
HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, for example, have admitted that walking away from their successful series "Fixer Upper" was a difficult choice to make. However, it was also entirely their decision to do so. "While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with," they wrote of the announcement on their blog – and there was a big reason they decided to do it.
Read on to find out why they, along with these 12 other HGTV stars, opted to walk away from the network.
Sasha Andreev used hosting as a 'creative outlet' before turning to acting instead
HGTV fans know Sasha Andreev as the host of "Curb Appeal" and from his appearances on "Decorating Cents" with Joan Steffend. In both series, he taught audiences how to upgrade all sorts of different items, whether it be pieces you have no idea how to incorporate into your home or the overall appearance of the outside of your house.
While Andreev has loads of knowledge when it comes to the housing industry, acting is what has always been his passion. When he was first cast on HGTV, he found it to be the perfect way to step into the world of entertainment. "It gave me an opportunity to merge my creative interests and taught me a lot about being on camera," he later explained during an interview with Southwest News Media.
In 2008, Andreev hosted four episodes of "Curb Appeal" before walking away from the network altogether to pursue acting full time. That year, he starred in five scripted projects, eventually leading him to more current roles in the film "Bezos" and in Season 4 of "Stranger Things." While Andreev has continued to keep himself busy with acting projects, he still likes to dedicate his time to design whenever he isn't working. "I can relate to a house becoming a place for your creativity when your creative outlet isn't giving what you need," the former HGTV star told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Brice Cooper traded renovating rooms for professional racing
From 2003 to 2011, various HGTV hosts were showing us all how to "Design on a Dime." For 26 of those episodes, lead designer and host Brice Cooper was the one that audiences turned to in order to figure out how to create a beautiful space in their home for a grand total of $1,000.
When Cooper walked away from the show in 2007, he found himself stepping in and out of the design industry. Ever since, he's been known as the GE Lighting Guy, traveling the country and promoting the brand as well as various others as a creative director — but in the end, Cooper has always had another career aspiration on his mind. The year after he left "Design on a Dime," he stepped into the world of racing, hosting all kinds of television coverage for motor sports races. Soon after, he hopped onto a bike of his own and embarked on a professional racing career that he updates fans about on his Facebook page.
Randy Sherrell had always wanted to work behind the camera instead
"Home Town" and "Ben's Workshop" star Randy Sherrell was aspiring to be a woodworker when he turned to his pal Ben Napier for advice. As fate would have it, the two began working together around the same time that Napier was landing an ongoing gig on HGTV. Yet, appearing on television was never the end goal for Sherrell. "In the beginning, I told Ben that I didn't want to be on TV," he later shared on the official Laurel Mercantile website. "Long story short, I've become a character on the show."
After working with the Napiers for three years, Sherrell surprised fans when he made the decision to step away from the HGTV series. However, it was the never-ending support he received from the cast and crew that made him want to pursue other interests in the first place. "These people have given me an opportunity to pursue a true passion of mine," the woodworker wrote on Instagram in April 2022. "I started a photography business several years ago, now it will be my full time project."
Nicole Curtis needed a break from television
For the nine years that "Rehab Addict" was on the air, the series gave HGTV fans an up close and personal look at what it took to renovate historic houses. Host Nicole Curtis was never afraid to get down and dirty, putting herself in charge of every single detail that went into the big reveal. "Everything you see on the show, I personally bought, picked up, put into place, ironed the curtains, everything," she explained during an interview with People.
However, getting every detail just right began to take a toll on Curtis after nearly a decade. In many instances, she was working so much that she did not have the time or the energy to do basic things like change into new clothes before the cameras began rolling. "I was completely burned out," the HGTV host has since confessed. "There was so much time in those ten years where I didn't get to enjoy it at all. I was stressed out."
In 2018, Curtis decided to walk away from "Rehab Addict" to slow down and spend time with her children, something that she wasn't able to afford to do before her HGTV success. However, that isn't to say that she didn't miss documenting her work on screen. Three years later, Curtis returned to the network to work on a handful of episodes of two spin-off series called "Rehab Addict Rescue" and "Lake House Rescue."
Eric Eremita was missing out on special time with his family
When Eric Eremita competed on Season 2 of HGTV's "Brother vs. Brother," everyone — including "Property Brothers" stars Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott — took notice of his knowledge of construction. That same year, he was asked by producers to join the HGTV series "Love It or List It."
For five years, Eremita was the team's go-to contractor, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. After wrapping up on Season 14, Eremita contracted the virus and ended up on a ventilator in an ICU ward. Luckily, three weeks later, he was good to leave the hospital. "No one else in the hospital that I was in that was on a ventilator walked out alive," Eremita explained to People. "I'll be honest with you, it made me very, very humbled, and reminded me to appreciate life." A few months later, Eremita decided it was time to settle down to spend more time with his family. It was then that he walked away from the HGTV series altogether. "The renovations were great. The people were great. But I thought it was time for my own thing," he said during an interview with Forbes.
Luckily for fans everywhere, Eremita hasn't been able to stay away from television for long. At the end of 2022, he announced that he was developing his own home renovation series called "Homeboys." As of now, however, it has yet to be attached to any specific network.
Bristol Marunde and Aubrey Marunde have been 'slowing down in life'
With the original "Flip or Flop" series came an entire franchise that HGTV fans simply cannot get enough of. In 2017, a new couple named Bristol and Aubrey Marunde became network stars when they started flipping houses in their new series "Flip or Flop Vegas." Oddly enough, they weren't excited about being a part of the HGTV family at first. "When they first approached us, we weren't into it," Aubrey later admitted to People. "But once we met everyone at HGTV and the whole family there, we really just fell in love with the idea."
Throughout three seasons, she and her husband Bristol hit up old homes in the Las Vegas area, renovated them, and resold them for profit – teaching audiences everywhere exactly what goes into a successful flip. Yet, as fans awaited the announcement of a fourth season in 2019, it never came, and neither did any news of a series cancellation.
While fans have commented time and time again on the HGTV stars' Instagram accounts asking for answers, Aubrey has taken time away from social media. Bristol, on the other hand, later did post about how he and his wife are now spending their time. "I've been slowing down in life to have more quality time with my boys," he wrote in 2022. "Life is too good to miss out on these moments."
Mike Husers left HGTV to focus on his health
By 2020, "Home Town" hardwood floor restoration expert Mike Husers' work began taking a toll on his body. That year, he was scheduled to undergo a hip surgery. The procedure would help Husers with the pain he had experienced after years of being crouched over working on wooden floors — and it would also require him to temporarily step away from the HGTV series.
Yet, just like "Home Town" stars Ben and Erin Napier love to help out of their hometown, they also love to do whatever they can to help out their crew. Prior to Husers' surgery, the couple set up a GoFundMe for fans to contribute to his medical costs. "Walking and working [for Mike] are becoming increasingly difficult," they wrote. "So let's show Mike we love him and make his surgery cost and the 8 week recovery away from work (which will be harder for him to walk away from than the recovery itself) a little easier."
In the end, the HGTV stars ended up raising more than $19,000 for Husers' surgery and recovery costs. However, one year later, the hardwood floor restoration expert had to take a second leave of absence from the series in order to take care of a sick family member and has yet to return. "Guys, I know y'all miss Mike," Erin tweeted in January 2022. "We do too!"
Chase Looney has continued working as a carpenter off camera
When Dave and Jenny Marrs were given the opportunity to film a pilot for HGTV's "Fixer to Fabulous," they knew they needed to bring their long-time carpenter Chase Looney along for their new adventure. "Chase was such a good sport to agree to this crazy TV thing Dave casually mentioned to him one afternoon," Jenny later wrote on Facebook. "He wasn't really given an option NOT to be with us on the show but he graciously came along for the ride and we couldn't imagine not having him with us."
Within the week of shooting the pilot in 2017, however, Looney was involved in a serious accident where he lost his left eye. Throughout his recovery, the Marrs couple continued to visit him during his hospital stay and encouraged him to eventually return to the HGTV series. "I told them, 'I don't think I have the face for TV anymore,'" the construction manager wrote on his blog, according to Closer. "Through tears and laughter, they reassured me I never had a face for TV anyway." Soon after his return to the series, fans were quick to praise Looney for returning to the series regardless of how he felt he looked while wearing an eye patch.
After Season 4 premiered, Looney opted to take a step out of the spotlight following his divorce and has been focused on building up his carpentry business, called Chisel and Sawdust, off camera instead.
Emily Henderson had an opportunity to return to the network and said no
After winning Season 5 of "Design Star," Emily Henderson won herself a hosting gig on HGTV. Her series, "Secrets From a Stylist," premiered only a few months later, showcasing her interior design talent as she helped homeowners decorate the space of their dreams. "Winning Design Star changed my life. It blew up my career," the HGTV star wrote on her blog 10 years later. "I'm ENDLESSLY grateful for HGTV and they have always been so good for me."
However, when Henderson was asked to return to the network as a judge for "Design Star" in 2021, she was hesitant to pursue the opportunity. In the end, she decided to pass on it altogether. "I was SO excited about the show, but I had too much happening at the time that I couldn't cancel," she admitted. In addition to her successful design business, she had also become a mother who didn't want to spend months away from her children.
Yet, even if Henderson hadn't been busy balancing her own business and family life, she knows that she still would have passed on an opportunity to return to the famous HGTV series — because she remembers exactly what it was like competing on the design series all those years ago. "I knew that my empathy towards them would trump my ability to be a great judge," she said, adding, "I want them all to win."
Kristan Cunningham left the spotlight to open up her own showroom
For years, Kristan Cunningham was television's design expert. On HGTV, she hosted various episodes of "Design on a Dime," teaching audiences how to create a beautiful space on a budget. Throughout her time with the network, Cunningham also appeared as a design correspondent on other networks, making appearances on "Rachael Ray" and "Today." However, she and her husband knew they would never accomplish their dream of opening up their own store if they didn't step out of the spotlight. "We realized that we could never really take the next step if we didn't remove ourselves from the TV world to establish our own point of view," Cunningham later admitted during an interview with Introspective magazine.
In 2011, the designer made the decision to leave HGTV and eventually left television altogether after turning down appearances in 2013. "I knew that we had the ability to make that leap from HGTV to high-end design clients," her husband later shared. "But I didn't know if the public would make the jump of imagination."
The public certainly did. In 2013, the design couple officially opened up their own showroom and studio in Los Angeles called Hammer and Spear. The company has since grown into a team of designers that work with high-end clients around the world to create the space in their homes that they always envisioned.
Jennifer Bertrand had a baby boy to take care of
When Jennifer Bertrand won Season 3 of "Design Star," she won the $25,000 cash prize and the opportunity to host her own HGTV show called "Paint Over! With Jennifer Bertrand." However, that wasn't all that was in store for the new HGTV star. "Not only was I lucky enough to win the show, but during one of the biggest moments of my life, I managed to get pregnant," she said during an interview with the network.
Unfortunately, her baby boy was born with multiple health problems, leading him to receive 20 different surgeries in order to correct them. To be there for him in the hospital, Bertrand opted to leave HGTV behind and spend time helping her young son to recover.
While Bertrand hasn't returned to television since, she has returned to the world of design. Today, she works directly with clients to help them step out of their comfort zones and create exciting designs in their homes. Her successful design approach is something she credits the darkest points of her life for bringing out. "It's made me a better designer," Bertrand shared with Washingtonian. "Because once you face real-life things, it's really easy to pick a paint color and encourage people to take risks."
Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines took a gamble
After five seasons of "Fixer Upper," Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines made the surprising announcement that they would be ending their HGTV show in 2017. "This has nothing to do with a fraudulent skincare line or anything else you'll inevitably read," they reassured fans at the time on their blog. "This is just us recognizing that we need to catch our breath for a moment."
As they were both making names for themselves as HGTV stars, they were also busy continuing to run their various Magnolia businesses in their hometown of Waco, Texas. Between a busy filming schedule and managing press, they were falling behind in the places they felt really mattered. "As things started getting complicated, we made a bet on what Jo and I have always bet on. We bet on ourselves. We knew there was a real chance that everything else would go away without the show," Chip later shared with Inc. magazine. "But would it be a complete kick in the pants to end up operating a great construction company in Waco? No. I'd be honored. And, as soon as we accepted that, much greater opportunities started presenting themselves."
Three years later, another exciting opportunity did. The couple announced that they would be rebooting "Fixer Upper" as "Fixer Upper: Welcome Home." This time, however, it would be on their own Magnolia Network, where they continue today to showcase an array of other design and lifestyle talent.