Throwback Pics Of Mike Holmes Has Us Nostalgic For The Early 2000s HGTV

Cast your mind back to 2003. The landscape of HGTV looked a lot different than it does today. Before the Property Brothers, before the Napiers, and before the El Moussas, there was Mike Holmes. And when we look at throwback pics of the early-2000s HGTV star, we just can't help but get nostalgic for that particular era of the network.

R. Diamond/Getty

Holmes, a licensed contractor, made his HGTV debut with the cleverly-titled "Holmes on Homes," which premiered in Canada in 2001 before making its way to the U.S. version of the network in 2003. The photo above was actually taken in 2005, while Holmes was working on that year's Jimmy Carter Work Project under the Habitat for Humanity banner. 

"Holmes on Homes" ended up running for seven seasons, wrapping up around the same time the aughts as a whole were winding to a close. However, that's far from the last fans of HGTV saw of the man himself. Holmes went on to host a number of other programs on the network, including "Holmes Inspection" and "Holmes Family Rescue." Not only that, but HGTV itself apparently shares in our Y2K-era nostalgia, given that they premiered a full-blown legacy sequel to "Holmes on Homes" in 2025 (2024 in Canada).

Mike Holmes obviously looks quite a bit different than he did when he first burst onto the scene at HGTV in the early 2000s. After all, it's been more than 20 years, and his hair no longer has that bleach-blond quality about it, though he certainly hasn't lost his taste for earrings. But though some things may stay constant, change is inevitable.

"Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy" premiered on HGTV in the United States in October 2025. In the series, Holmes does what he's always done: helps homeowners whose previous renovations didn't go to plan. This time, however, he has his children Michael and Sherry as backup. In an interview with Cottage Life,  Holmes made it clear that he was well aware of the nostalgia for the original "Holmes on Homes," even if he didn't fully understand it. "A lot of the feedback that we get from the people [is] 'We loved Holmes on Homes. ... You gotta bring it back.' I don't know why. I mean, they loved every single show, don't get me wrong, but ... it seems people want 'Holmes on Homes' back," he said, adding, "So, we're gonna bring it back, but we're gonna do it even better."

Holmes went on to describe the sequel series as "going backwards, but going forwards," given just how much younger his kids were when he began his own HGTV journey years prior. Speaking to his dad, Holmes' son Michael added, "When you came on the air, you changed the game. But a lot's changed since then."