Jonathan Knight Was Destined For HGTV Stardom Long Before Boyband Fame
Power tools and sawdust aren't typically the first things we think of when we hear the term "boy band," but New Kids on the Block alum Jonathan Knight is living proof that anything's possible. The former boy band star is now the star of his own HGTV series, "Farmhouse Fixer," which follows Knight as he renovates New England farmhouses that are hundreds of years old.
And while the leap from pop heartthrob to general contractor might not seem the likeliest, it turns out that music isn't the only thing that runs in the Knight family. Knight spoke to HGTV about his family's long line of handymen, including his father, who worked as a contractor. Knight often accompanied his dad to job sites as a teen, and although he used to hate it in typical teen fashion, he quickly grew to love his family's trade.
Where did Knight's dad and his siblings (who are also home repairmen) learn to be so proficient with a power tool? Their dad, of course. The NKOTB alum said his grandfather was also a carpenter who built a summer cottage in Canada for the Knight family.
Jonathan Knight said he used to make major house repairs as a teen
One year before Jonathan Knight and his younger brother, Jordan Knight, would steal the hearts of late 1980s teens everywhere, their parents, Allan Knight and Marlene Putman, filed for divorce. Jonathan told HGTV that after his father moved out, he took on the role of the man of the house as the eldest son. And in doing so, he signed up for some lofty house maintenance.
"I went up on a three-story roof to patch a leak and ended up falling two stories," Jonathan said lightheartedly for someone recounting falling off a roof. "It didn't dissuade me. It just gave me more ambition to make sure it was really fixed." (That wouldn't be the last time he pushed past an injury, either — while on tour with TLC and Nelly in May 2015, the NKOTB star performed on stage despite suffering shocking injuries to his face after an "accident on the bus," per E! News — gotta love a tough guy heartthrob).
Jonathan returned to his first real home repair job after the sparkle of New Kids on the Block's fleeting fame started to dim in the mid-90s. He told The New York Times that he flipped over a hundred houses between the late '90s and early 2000s until the housing market crash of 2008. The first episode of his HGTV series "Farmhouse Fixer" would air 13 years later in March 2021.
The choice to renovate farmhouses stems for a long love of old homes
Willingly signing up to renovate centuries-old structures is no small feat, no matter how talented a carpenter you might be. But former boy band star Jonathan Knight says his decision to center his HGTV series around 18th-century New England farmhouses was easy to make. His love of old homes stems from a mutual interest in architecture that he shared with his mother, Marlene Putman.
"My mother is an old house nerd," Knight told The New York Times. "Me and my mother would drive around neighborhoods and look at old houses. To this day, I love driving slow down roads like, 'Look at that place.'" He said that he opts for the painstaking, expensive process of refurbishing over rebuilding because of the greater value that these old buildings have. "It just has meaning," Knight told the Times while discussing an 18th-century post-and-beam barn he was renovating.
"It was standing since the 1700s. I wouldn't tear it down. Now this thing will be around for another two or three hundred years." Indeed, perhaps it takes someone who experienced the lightning in a bottle-flash of pop band-era fame to understand the importance of seeking longevity and stability. Either way, we're just looking forward to more chances to see our NKOTB crush hamming it up for the camera again.