Love It or List It is a Canadian home design TV show currently airing on HGTV, W Network, and on OWN Canada, and is the original show in the Love it or List It franchise. The show is produced by Big Coat Productions and was based in Toronto and other surrounding areas in Ontario, Canada. The show premiered as a primetime program on W Network on September 8, 2008, and has since aired on OWN Canada as well as HGTV in the United States. In September 2014, the show began filming in the United States in North Carolina.[1]
In September 2017, HGTV ordered 20 additional episodes of the program. The next season is to start airing in July 2018.[2]
Every episode of Love It or List It follows the same formula. A couple (usually, but not in all cases) presents their living situation in the current house that they own. In most episodes, the couple is split on whether or not they want to stay in the house.
Interior designer Hilary Farr and real estate agent David Visentin tour the couple's home before meeting with them. The tour usually consists of David finding mostly negative things to say about the residence while Hilary is convinced that she can work magic with whatever plans she is given.
At the meetup between the couple and the hosts of the show, both Hilary and David are briefed as to what the couple's desires are. Hilary is given a list of renovations the couple wants for the current house and her budget for the entire project. David, meanwhile, is tasked with searching for a new home for the couple that both meets their needs and stays within their desired budget.
Common challenges faced by Hilary are an inadequate budget to complete the entire request list from the homeowners, often due to discovery of unforeseen issues with the house that are uncovered during the renovation such as lack of compliance with modern building codes. Common issues for David, meanwhile, depend on the homeowners' desires; for instance, the couple has children enrolled in the neighborhood school and they do not desire to change, or the potential house is too distant from family members or a workplace.
After Hilary's renovation is complete, the homeowners are given a tour of their current home to see what she was able to accomplish. After the tour, David meets with them and hands them an evaluation of the home's current market value following the renovations. He will then remind the couple what they could have in one of the new homes they looked at and that they would not get that in their current home.
After a moment to deliberate, Hilary and David pose a question to the homeowners. They must choose to either Love It, meaning that they will continue to live in their current home with the renovations, or to List It, meaning that they will buy one of the homes David showed them and sell their current home. After they reveal their decision, the homeowners explain their reasoning to Hilary and David (who, if they decided to Love It, reacts with incredulity) before bidding them farewell.
Host and crew
Hosts
Hilary Farr – Hilary Farr is a home designer from Toronto, Ontario. She has lived in Australia, England, California, and New York City. Farr honed her skills on properties in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York and Toronto. When she first moved back to Toronto, she became the first designer to "stage" properties for sale. She continues to build and design homes in the downtown core where she herself owns properties.[3]
Desta Ostapyk (Canadian episodes) – Desta is a Toronto-based designer who graduated in 2004 from the Toronto International Academy of Design and Technology in Interior Design, and has since focused on a career in the Television Industry. She first started working with Big Coat Productions during her last semester of school as an intern for HGTV's hit series My Parents House. She soon became the Design Stylist for the show.[5]
Contractors
Eric Eremita (North Carolina episodes) – General contractor and designer Eric Eremita was selected to be the one and only general contractor on HGTV's "Love It or List It" U.S. version, after HGTV network took notice of him when he competed in its "Brother vs. Brother" reality show.
Eddie Richardson (Canadian episodes) – Eddie Richardson was a contractor on Love It or List It who started his own family business. Richardson has also been a pro-beach volleyball player and professional bass fisherman.
Fergus McLaren (Canadian episodes) – Fergus McLaren started up his own construction company, R-Mac Solutions, 10 years ago.
Behind the Scenes
Architect: Simon West
Senior Production Coordinator: Linda Johnstone
Construction Coordinator: David Violante
Construction Assistants: Chris Blinn, Adam Dalgarno, Ahren Mrowietz, Dale George
Victories for Hilary are families or clients who decided to love their home and stay. Victories for David are families and clients who decided to list and move into a new or better home.
Love It or List It has spawned five spinoffs. The first,[6] known as Love It or List It Vancouver (or Love it or List it Too in the US), was launched in winter 2012 and is hosted by Jillian Harris and Todd Talbot. The second spin-off, a British version known as Love It or List It UK, debuted in 2015,[7] is hosted by Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer. The third spin off, Love It or List It Vacation Homes[8] debuted in spring 2016 and is hosted by Dan Vickery and Elisa Goldhawke. A fourth spin off, Vendre ou renover au Quebec debuted in January 2017 and is hosted by Maika Desnoyers and Daniel Corbin.[9] The fifth spin off, Love It Or List It Australia debuted in September 2017 and is hosted by Andrew Winter and Neale Whittaker.[10]
On August 31, 2010, Love It or List It was nominated for two Gemini Awards: Best Reality Program or Series and Best Direction in a Reality Program or Series. When HGTV premiered the show on the network, the company stated that Love It or List It has been the highest rating reality series since Candice Olson's Candice Tells All.[12]
In 2012, New York Times' columnist Gail Collins noted that it was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's favorite TV show.[13][14] According to Collins, Clinton finds the show "very calming"[15] after being interviewed about her departure from politics.[16][17][18]
According to the Wall Street Journal, the show and its Vancouver spinoff is one of Canada's beloved reality series.[22]
Controversy
In April 2016, homeowners Deanna Murphy and Tim Sullivan who had participated in a 2015 Love It or List It episode filed suit against production company Big Coat TV, as well as the North Carolina contractor (Aaron Fitz Construction)[23] who had been hired by the show to do the renovations on their home. The couple alleges that the renovation funds that they provided were not properly disbursed, and that the work on their home was done to a substandard quality.[24] Moreover, the lawsuit states that the television personalities on the show do not play an active role in the renovation process, and that they were not shown homes on the market by any licensed North Carolina real estate agent. Big Coat TV has commented that they "do intend to vigorously defend what [they] consider to be false allegations."[25]
The suit was settled in April 2017.[26] The plaintiffs had signed a confidentiality agreement; their lawyer would not comment on the settlement.[27] Big Coat had previously filed a countersuit for libel, slander and product disparagement; parts of that suit had been dismissed by the time of the settlement but that was under appeal by Big Coat. After the agreements had been concluded, both suits were dismissed.[28]
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