What 10 of Your Favorite OG HGTV Stars Are Up to Today
Long before the Tarek and Christina drama—and even prior to Chip and Joanna Gaines coming and going—HGTV was a very different place. Back when it launched in 1994, no one was arguing about whether a homeowner should love their home or list it or joining forces with the Property Brothers to buy and renovate houses while hoping for a Zooey Deschanel sighting. The fare was quieter and centered around arts and crafts projects, on-the-cheap renovation ideas, and the ins and outs of builder techniques. But make no mistake: A great many of the hosts made a very big splash and built a very loyal following during their time on the channel. So big in fact, that they remain pretty big stars to this day. Here’s the lowdown on 10 folks who starred on early HGTV shows and what they’re up to today.
Genevieve Gorder
Way back in the 1990s, Genevieve came on the televised home decor scene as one of the designers on a little show called Trading Spaces, which aired on TLC. (We may or may not have gone through a period where we were obsessed with a certain handyman on the program named Ty Pennington.) She made the move to the big time—or HGTV, anyway—with her very own show, Dear Genevieve, which premiered in 2009. The premise: People write in looking for design advice. Genevieve more than complied with clever solutions over the course of 78 episodes. Her big personality made her a natural to also pronounce judgment on HGTV Design Star and host HGTV White House Christmas.
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Today, Genevieve lives and works as a designer in New York City, and her projects are regularly featured in shelter magazines. While she’s partnered with brands like Crate & Barrel, she currently has her own lines of wallpapers, rugs, and jewelry, which you can shop via Instagram (@genevievegorder). Personally, she seems to be thriving as well—she’s married to furniture maker Christian Dunbar and is a mom to a super cute daughter.
Joan Steffend
There used to be an awful lot of television shows built around the idea of transforming a space for less than $500—and Joan Steffend hosted one of the early ones on HGTV, Decorating Cents, for 10 years. Before getting that gig, Joan was an actress and an Emmy-award winning news reporter in the Twin Cities.
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Maybe you’re thinking $500 went a lot further back in 1997 than it does today, and yes, that’s true. But it was still a challenge for designers to furnish, paint, and create magic for $499.99 almost 30 years ago. All that thoughtful transformation must have rubbed off on Joan because she completely changed course, leaving media to write two books, start a non-profit, and become a sought-after speaker on topics like “Be Yourself or You’ll Miss Your Life” and “Interior Design of a Different Kind.”
Paul James
Based on today’s interior-design heavy programming, it’s easy to forget that HGTV stands for House and Garden Television. But during the network’s early days, producers leaned into the landscape with a few shows including “Gardening by the Yard,” which debuted in 1996. The show starred Paul James and his two-acre plot in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 13 seasons, he educated folks about the trials and tribulations that come with gardening in the Sooner State. He finally got the opportunity to travel to more fair-weather plots (aka California) before the show was cancelled.
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For a time, Paul offered advice via social media and a website, but he found that people were getting bummed out when he didn’t answer a question quickly enough, so he shut down both, per the Joe Garden Podcast. Instead, he helps people IRL at gardening centers in Tulsa. When he’s not getting his hands dirty, he stays busy with his family, which includes wife Carrie and children Spencer, Dalton, and Hannah.
Chris Harrison
Fans of The Bachelor may think that Chris Harrison’s career began and ended with the franchise. Not so! The Dallas, Texas, native got his start as a sports reporter before making the move to HGTV as the host of HGTV Designer’s Challenge from 2001 to 2009. After he left the channel, he hosted a ton of very popular shows—The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor In Paradise, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and more—and even wrote a book (of which I may have a signed copy, no big deal) called The Perfect Letter.
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Today, Harrison might have more free time than he would like. After defending a contestant who was accused of racism, he announced that he was taking a break from the Bachelor franchise in 2021. New hosts were brought in, and he formally announced that he was leaving for good that year. While things are quiet professionally at the moment, he’s still making Bachelor-themed jokes to his 1.1 million followers on Instagram (@chrisbharrison). On the home front, he’s the father of Joshua and Taylor, and he presumably asked Entertainment Tonight reporter Lauren Zima if she would accept a rose a few years ago. They married in 2023.
Suzanne Whang
Even as many of us cursed the decisions of the people on House Hunters and House Hunters International, we all fell in love with the dulcet tones of host Suzanne Whang’s voice when she hosted from 1999 to 2007. But Suzanne’s career went way beyond her gig at HGTV—she continued to act, showing up in projects including Material Girls, Constantine, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She also had regular roles on General Hospital and Las Vegas, and then popped up on shows like Arrested Development, Dexter, and The Mick.
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While Suzanne experienced plenty of on-screen success, things behind the scenes were more precarious. After fighting breast cancer for years, she passed away from the disease in 2019.
Emily Henderson
You know how people sometimes forget that Kelly Clarkson was discovered on American Idol? The same can be said for designer Emily Henderson. Sure, we know her as a top designer with a million followers on Instagram and New York Times-best selling author of the book Styled. But never forget that she won Season 5 of HGTV Design Star. After her big win, the network hired her as the host of Secrets from a Stylist and HGTV: On Set, which allowed viewers to get a look at how the magic is made on some of the channel’s most popular shows.
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Today, she reaches a huge audience via Instagram (@em_henderson); she remains a sought after interior designer; and she’s also built a platform, Style By Emily Henderson, that allows her to weigh in on a number of topics that go way beyond textiles and wallpapers, including beauty, fashion, business, and even pet hair problems.
Candice Olson
Before spiking in popularity as one of the first big stars on HGTV, Candice Olson played volleyball for Canada’s national team. After college, she pivoted and launched her own design business. But this is a woman with a face and personality built for television! She showed off both of those as well as her talent for transforming spaces with her show, “Divine Design,” which debuted on HGTV in 2003. After eight seasons, she moved on with “Candice Tells All,” a show built on the promise of more in-depth sharing about how Candice turns her ideas for spaces a reality.
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Today, she’s still taking on interior design projects and she has home décor collections with companies like Surya, Kravet, and MDC. She also shares interior insights on her Instagram (@candiceolson_) account.
David Bromstad
Once upon a time, a Disney illustrator named David Bromstad tried out for the debut season of HGTV Design Star. He won a car and the chance to host his very own show. That was 2006, and he’s been on the channel pretty much ever since on shows like Color Splash and Beach Flip.
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Today, you can still find him on HGTV. As the host of My Lottery Dream Home, he helps big winners find real estate that won’t break the bank. When he’s not filming, he posts sweet messages on Instagram to his “sweet darling honey bunch of yumminess” fans. (Incidentally, his tagline includes “This is my ONLY account/ I will never ask U for money.”) Earlier this year, he had a video entitled “New Year, New Husband,” so hopefully, 2025 is the year he walks down the aisle with one of those sweet darling honey bunch of yumminess.
Carol Duvall
While the powers that be at HGTV have always been focused on helping inspire viewers to take action and make changes to their homes, they had a show in their earliest days that was more literally devoted to DIY: The Carol Duvall Show. For 12 years, Michigander Carol Duvall taught her audiences how to do a whole bunch of craft projects that ranged home décor to paper crafts, painting techniques, polymer clay, and more. Carol also interviewed a number of artists and showed them doing their thing in their studios.
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By 2005, HGTV decided to go in another direction, so she took the show over to the DIY Network, where it ran until 2009. When the show ended, Carol eventually moved to a retirement home. She passed away in 2023 at the ripe old age of 97.
Carter Oosterhouse
Genevieve isn’t the only Trading Spaces alum to make the move over to HGTV. Carpenter Carter Oosterhouse joined the TLC program during the fourth season, and then proceeded to take his toolbox to a whole bunch of shows ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show and CBS This Morning (where he remodeled a correspondent’s office) to The View and Entertainment Tonight. In 2007, he starred on his first HGTV show, Carter Can, which featured homeowners who thought their home improvement dreams were impossible. Enter Carter who proved them wrong. A year later, he and Nicole Facciuto hosted Red Hot & Green, which was all about educating viewers about green alternatives that could be counted on for stylish-yet-responsible living spaces.
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When he wasn’t hammering, Oosterhouse was strutting his stuff—showing up in ads for brands like Bud Light, Nivea, and Rooms To Go. He was also named the “Sexiest Man on TV in People Magazine’s "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. As of 2025, you’ll be happy to know that he’s still very sexy, but per Instagram (@carterooster), he’s also a devoted husband, dad, and a co-owner of a Bonobo Winery. Even better, he shows off the cutest mini donkeys and offers help get you registered to vote if you live in Michigan.
