The 25 greatest home improvement hosts

Speaking of “Home Improvement,” Vila would often appear as himself as something of a nemesis to Tim “The Toolman” Taylor. Vila was the first, and most famous, host of “This Old House,” which was then the only real show of its kind on TV. Funnily enough, Vila hosted the show from 1979 through 1989 and then traded on his name to shill various power tools and, of course, mess with “The Toolman.”

Thomas replaced Vila on “This Old House,” taking the show into the new millennium. He ended up with the gig from 1989 through 2003, which means he hosted the PBS staple longer than Vila did. Thomas won a Daytime Emmy for his efforts for the surely heated category of “Outstanding Service Show Host.” He’s since turned his attention to Green renovation.

“This Old House” is still going strong! Thomas begat O’Connor, who has hosted the show since 2003 and is still hosting it. He’s also the host of “Ask This Old House” and “Inside This Old House.” Before turning to hosting, O’Connor was a high finance big wig. He was actually a senior vice president at Bank of America.

Cable television has given us many home improvement shows, and one of the most popular ever is TLC’s “Trading Spaces.” The show, which featured a few different designers, also had a host of its own in Davis. She led the show for a few years before it revamped itself sans host. However, Davis has returned to the glorious role of “Trading Spaces” host; when the show rebooted in 2018, she was back handing out house keys and running the proceedings.

Pennington was one of those folks who first broke into the public conscious on “Trading Spaces" as one of the carpenters dedicated to improving rooms in certain houses. Then Pennington moved on to his own show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” You may remember him constantly asking for the bus to be moved to unveil the house that had been made over in an extreme way.

Gorder also got her break on “Trading Spaces,” working on the show as a designer, and she also did so without wearing shoes for some reason. This led to her getting her own show, “Dear Genevieve,” and to her being a judge on “HGTV Design Star.” Now Gorder has moved to Netflix where she has a renovation show called “Stay Here.”

Farmer first became known not as a home renovation host but as an actor and musician. He was a cast member of MTV’s boy band parody show “2gether.” After his acting career started to peter out, Farmer leaned on his background as a carpenter to move into the hosting realm. His first show was TLC’s “While You Were Out,” which he hosted for three seasons before it was canceled.

Nothing ever dies in television these days, though, so “While You Were Out” has been rebooted. The new host is Lewis, whom you have probably seen on TV in the past. For example, she was one of the many people to try their hands at hosting “Total Request Live” on MTV. Apparently MTV and “While You Were Out” go hand in hand.

Whang, who tragically died last month at 56 after a long battle with cancer, did a lot of acting in her career, mostly in small guest roles on TV. Still, she got to appear in shows like “Arrested Development” and “Las Vegas.” The thing she is probably best known for, though, is being the host of “House Hunters,” the beloved real estate reality show. Whang hosted and narrated the show from 1999 through 2008.

Dunker is that unseen narrator of “House Hunters.” Can an unseen host really be all that popular? We answer that with a resounding “Yes.” After all, Dunker has been narrating the action on “House Hunters” since 2009. If you watch the show, you’ve been hearing her voice for up to a decade by now.

House flipping has become an increasingly large part of the home renovation genre. The first kind of that realm is probably “Flip or Flop,” which has become an expansive franchise covering many sittings. We’re sticking with the original, though, which has been hosted by El Moussa and Christina Anstead since it debuted in 2013. It’s still going on, which is surprising and a bit impressive, considering…

...Anstead and El Moussa used to be a couple. They were married when the show began but split in 2016 and divorced in January 2018. Anstead did a bit of flipping of her own, as Anstead has only been her last name since she married Ant Anstead in December. In addition to hosting “Flip or Flop,” she is now also the host of HGTV’s “Christina on the Coast.”

We have to keep Jonathan and Drew together. After all, they are known as the Property Brothers. The twins have a cult following, making them perhaps the most popular home improvement hosts. Drew is the real estate guy. Jonathan in the contractor. Also did we mention they are identical twins?

Spencer is best known for being a host on “Good Morning America,” which is certainly a big-time gig. However, she has a clear passion for all matters antique and vintage. She hosted “Antiques Roadshow” for a couple of years but has recently gotten a show of her own. It’s called “Flea Market Flip,” and it focuses on her looking for flea market deals.

Here’s another married couple who likes to work on houses together. The premise of their now-canceled show, “Fixer Upper,” was sort of like a combination of a few shows we already discussed. The duo would show somebody looking for a home a few options, and once a house was chosen the Gaines would go to work sprucing it up. Joanna handled the interior design, and Chip would do the contracting.

The ladies behind “Good Bones" are a mother and daughter duo, and they like to keep it local. They find dilapidated homes in Indianapolis, and then they remodel them and flip them. In addition to helping to replenish their hometown, Laine has a habit of including green elements and local art in the homes that she redesigns. That gives “Good Bones” a little extra panache.

Olson first made her name in her native Canada. Her first show, “Divine Design,” debuted in 2001 on Canada’s W Network. After becoming a staple there, it was then bought by HGTV in 2003 to be broadcast in the United States. Then her second show got a bit of a role reversal. “Candice Tells All” debuted on HGTV first and then showed up on the W Network. Either way, she’s popular on both sides of the border.

You know those contests networks do to try and find their next great hosts. They normally don’t work out in terms of fame and success. Every now and then, though, you get a Guy Fieri or, on the home renovation side of things, a David Bromstad. Bromstad won the first season of “HGTV Design Star” and then started hosting his own show, “Color Splash.” He then eventually took over as the “HGTV Design Star” host as well.

Farr has had quite the life. Early on she had an acting career, including getting a small role in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” After acting didn’t take off, though, she turned her attention to home design. She’s renovated homes around the globe, including in her native Canada, which she returned to in 2008. It was there where she became one of the hosts of “Love It or List It,” which is another Canadian show that made the move to the United States.

Visentin is the other host of “Love It or List It.” His role, which he’s had since 2008, is to show home owners other potential housing options to get them to try and leave their homes, thereby listing them. He and Farr have been at it for over 150 episodes at this point, making them one of the longest-running duos in the home TV game. They are kind of like the Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of their world.

Hey, what Kondo does is very much about home improvement and renovation. Kondo’s whole thing is about trying to help people get organized and downsize their lives. While she’s been at it for years, her Netflix show “Tidying Up” is what has turned her into a cult star. For a little while there, it seemed like everybody was talking about whether or not objects were sparking joy in them.

“Flipping Out” was a Bravo reality show, so obviously the drama was kicked up another level or two over, say, “Tidying Up.” Lewis would play up his personality, turning “Flipping Out” into a double entendre not just about house flipping but also about his demeanor. People were into it enough to give “Flipping Out” over 100 episodes, as it only just ended in 2018.

Curtis’ “Rehab Addict” began life on the DIY Network. However, it proved so popular that it was moved to HGTV’s prime-time schedule. What’s interesting is that “Rehab Addict” will spend an entire season focused on only one or two houses that Curtis is rehabbing. They are usually massive projects, but it’s also a cool twist on the genre.

Did you realize that “Holmes” sounds like “homes ?” Mike Holmes certainly does. His first show, which made him well known in Canada way back in 2001, was called “Holmes on Homes.” Since then he’s had a whopping 10 shows about houses in some way. One of them is also called “Holmes Inspection.” Like we said, the dude knows how to use a homophone to his advantage.

That’s right. No, this isn’t a joke. Yes, Vanilla Ice’s music career WAS a joke, and certainly his acting career was unintentionally hilarious. Since the music game dried up, though, Vanilla Ice has moved on, which is kind of admirable in a way. The man sometimes known as Rob Van Winkle has been hosting “The Vanilla Ice Project” since 2010, and it’s still an active show. He’s done 99 episodes, and Vanilla Ice has shown that he is a proven handyman and carpenter. We still miss the “Ninja Rap” though.