Ty Pennington

Last updated
Ty Pennington
Ty Pennington.jpg
Pennington in 2006
Born
Gary Tygert Burton [1]

(1964-10-19) October 19, 1964 (age 59)
Occupation(s)TV host/presenter, artist, author
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Kellee Merrell
(m. 2021)
Website http://www.typennington.com

Tygert Burton "Ty" Pennington (born Gary Tygert Burton; October 19, 1964) is an American television host, artist, carpenter, author, and former model and actor. [3] [4]

Contents

His rise to prominence began with his role as carpenter on the TLC home improvement reality show Trading Spaces (2000–2003), and continued when he hosted the ABC reality series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2003–2012), where he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. [5] Following the show's conclusion in 2012, Pennington has focused on numerous other projects, including host of ABC's short lived talk show The Revolution in 2012, TNT's On the Menu opposite Emeril Lagasse in 2014 and The Food Network's American Diner Revival opposite Amanda Freitag from 2015 to 2016. On September 13, 2017, it was announced that Pennington was joining the revival of Trading Spaces, which began airing on April 7, 2018, on TLC. [6]

Early life

Pennington was born Gary Tygert Burton, the son of Yvonne Vickery. [1] Yvonne separated from Ty's father when he and his older brother Wynn were very young, and spent several years as a single parent before she remarried. Her new husband adopted both boys, giving them his surname Pennington. Ty claims to be of partial Cherokee descent. [7]

Education

A self-described "Jack of all trades", [8] Pennington learned woodworking early in life and began teaching himself about carpentry and home improvement. After attending Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia, he first attended Kennesaw State University, where he majored in art and history. He paid his way through college by taking night classes and working during the day, first working in landscaping before moving into construction. [9] Despite his skills in carpentry, Pennington initially decided that carpentry wasn't something he wanted to do professionally, noting his main interests were in becoming an artist, specializing in Graphic Design. [10] On the advice of one of his professors, he transferred to the Art Institute of Atlanta, from where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in graphic design. [10]

Career

Modeling

During his final semester, Pennington was approached by a modeling scout, and soon began a lucrative career in that field. He landed print jobs for J.Crew, Swatch and Sprite, and appeared in television spots for Diet Coke, Levi's, Macy's, Hanes, Victoria’s Secret and Bayer, among others. His job as a model took him to places all over the world, as he went on to reside in Japan, Thailand, Italy, Canada, and Germany.

Television

Pennington parlayed his hands-on skills and design acumen into a career in the entertainment industry, becoming a set designer, including for Leaving Las Vegas in 1995. However, his professional breakthrough came through The Learning Channel's (now known as simply TLC) innovative hit show Trading Spaces . In 2003, he acted in the independent film, The Adventures of Ociee Nash (as "Wilbur Wright").

In 2003, when ABC began developing a show that would rehab the homes of deserving families in seven days or less, Pennington was chosen as the leader of the eight-person design team. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition , originally planned to be a 13-part special, became a huge hit, catapulting Pennington to stardom. This led to an endorsement deal with Sears, a sponsor of the show. Pennington was extremely dedicated to the show, spending on average 240 days of the year working, and was known to have fought off anything from pulled muscles to heatstroke to food poisoning to keep doing his job.[ citation needed ] He stated that his career on the show resulted in the channel's commissioning Ty's Great British Adventure , in which he worked with communities including Portreath, Cornwall (UK) to restore a run-down town park in a week and Portishead, North Somerset (UK) to renovate the town's derelict outdoor pool into a community-run Lido. The series was shown from September 16, 2008. [11]

When Extreme Makeover Home Edition ended in 2012 with its ninth season, Pennington had helped rebuild more than 200 homes for the show. Afterwards, Pennington relocated from Los Angeles to New York City, where he was cast to take part in the lifestyle-based talk show The Revolution, which aired on ABC in January 2012. When the show was cancelled after six months, Ty began pursuing other goals.

In January 2021, HGTV debuted Ty Breaker, a show [12] that features Pennington helping families struggling to make their homes work for their changing lives.

Pennington joined the HGTV renovation competition series, Rock The Block, as host for its 2nd season, [13] which premiered on March 8, 2021, and continues in that role for season 3, set to launch in early 2022. [14] [ needs update ]

Pennington is also the host of HGTV show Battle on the Beach, a competition real estate show with 3 teams that renovate a beach home room by room, alongside Alison Victoria, and Taniya Nayak. [15]

Other work

Prior to his partnership with Sears, Pennington was the owner and designer of his company, Furniture Unlimited, based in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He also lends his name to Sears, with their design team guiding the design of every item in the Ty Pennington Style line of bedding, tabletop items, bath accessories, furniture, patio furniture, and other miscellaneous home decor.[ citation needed ]

Pennington published Ty's Tricks: Home Repair Secrets Plus Cheap and Easy Projects to Transform Any Room (2003), a do-it-yourself guide on home improvement. On May 15, 2007, he released the first issue of his quarterly magazine Ty Pennington at Home, which ran until 2009.

On July 25, 2008, he announced a 3-year partnership with Marketplace Events, the largest organizer of consumer remodeling, home decor and gardening shows in North America. [16]

He appeared on an episode of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! playing a fictionalized version of himself named Ty Ty The Tool Guy.

In September 2008, Pennington became the spokesperson for Abbott Nutrition and their baby formula packaging innovation called Similac SimplePac. [17] He was also involved with the Similac Custom Nursery Design Contest and Ty's Nursery Guide that were part of the new product marketing.[ citation needed ]

In September 2011, Pennington appeared in an episode of Disney's Take Two with Phineas and Ferb .

In February 2014, Pennington became the spokesperson for Guaranteed Rate and has been featured in a series of commercials and ads for the Chicago-based mortgage lender. [18]

ADHD

As a child, Pennington was plagued with behavioral problems until he was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 17. [19] [20] He also discussed his ADHD with Glenn Beck [21] and in the movie The Disruptors. [22] Pennington has partnered with Shire Plc to raise awareness of ADHD in adults and promote the use of Vyvanse for the treatment of adult ADHD. He has been criticized for promoting the use of ADHD medications such as Adderall without disclosing his sponsorship. [23]

Personal life

Pennington was arrested for DUI in Los Angeles on May 5, 2007 with a blood alcohol content of .14 percent. He faced 6 months in jail. [24] [25] He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 3 years probation. [26] [27] In July 2021, Pennington announced his engagement to his girlfriend of one year, Kellee Merrell. They got married on November 27, 2021 in Savannah, Georgia. [28]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Trading Spaces</i> American television reality program

Trading Spaces is an hour-long American television reality program that originally aired from 2000 to 2008 on the cable channels TLC and Discovery Home. The format of the show was based on the BBC TV series Changing Rooms. The first iteration ran for eight seasons. A revival began airing on April 7, 2018, with several team members of the original run returning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TLC (TV network)</span> American pay television channel

TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the owners of Discovery Channel earlier in the decade, the network began to pivot towards reality television programming—predominantly focusing on programming involving lifestyles and personal stories—to the point that the previous initialism of "The Learning Channel" was phased out.

While You Were Out is an American reality series that aired episodes on the cable channel TLC. The format of the show is similar to TLC's Trading Spaces. While You Were Out adds a suspenseful gimmick by keeping the entire redecoration a secret from the homeowner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Gorder</span> American television host and interior designer

Genevieve Gorder is an American television host and interior designer. She hosted Bravo's Best Room Wins. Previously, she hosted Stay Here on Netflix, Genevieve's Renovation, "White House Christmas," and Dear Genevieve on HGTV and judged HGTV's Design Star.

<i>Extreme Makeover: Home Edition</i> American reality television series

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an American reality television series that aired from February 15, 2004, to January 13, 2012, on ABC and in 2020 on HGTV. The series is a spin-off of Extreme Makeover that features a family that has faced some sort of hardship, having their home completely remodeled to better suit their exact needs.

Paul DiMeo is an American television personality, philanthropist, building designer, and carpenter who was a regular cast member of the reality television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vern Yip</span>

Vern Yip is an American interior designer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He periodically appeared on TLC's Trading Spaces through its fourth season, and was known for frequently including silk, candles and flowers in the rooms he designed. He is one of the panel of judges on HGTV's Design Star. Yip hosted four seasons of HGTV's show Deserving Design. Yip hosted an HGTV special called Urban Oasis, in which he designed a Chicago loft in the Trump International Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carter Oosterhouse</span> American television personality and former model

Carter Nicholas Oosterhouse is an American television personality and former model, who was born in Traverse City, Michigan. Oosterhouse first gained national fame as a carpenter on the TLC series Trading Spaces and has hosted other home improvement and how-to television shows. In 2008, he was host of three HGTV network shows: Carter Can, Red Hot & Green, and Million Dollar Rooms.

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References

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