7 Things To Know About Hilary Farr – The ‘Love It or List It’ Star

Hilary Farr is a home designer, businesswoman, TV host and former actress of British-Canadian heritage. She is best known for co-hosting the home design television show Love It or List It which is currently airing on HGTV, W Network, and on OWN Canada.

Hilary Farr can boast of having a wide range of fans across North America. This is thanks to her role as one of the two hosts of the highly-rated home design television show, Love It or List It, where she is known to sprinkle her magic by renovating old and usually dilapidated homes into new and breathtaking ones.

But beyond her familiar pretty face on TV as a guest or celebrity judge on a host of other shows, and the fact that she is very good at what she does as an interior designer, there are a few more intriguing things you would definitely want to know about the TV host and personality.

Bio and Profile Summary

1. She Holds Dual Nationality

Hilary Farr was born Hilary Labow in Toronto, Canada on the 31st of August, 1952. If you have paid close attention to her when she speaks, however, you would pick up that she has a British accent. This is a result of her having traveled widely across continents from a younger age, spending the bulk of her youth in London, England where she later became a citizen.

Farr received her basic and secondary school education in England. She would, however, later return to the country of her birth to attend Ryerson University where she received her interior design degree.

2. Her Mother Influenced Her Career Choice

As mentioned above, Hilary Farr has lived on two different continents and this was largely due to the fact that her mother, who was an art enthusiast, traveled around a lot to collect and view art. Little Hilary joined her mother on her travels and thus developed a penchant for art too.

In the beginning, the young girl hoped to be an art collector like her mother but her interests later shifted to the performing arts; ballet dancing and acting. As she got older, however, her interest in art was reignited although it was this time geared towards interior designing. Her mother encouraged this new interest by asking her to design their home. Farr went on to fall deeply in love with interior design that she took it on and never wavered.

3. Hilary Farr Made Strides Towards Having an Acting Career

After she graduated from University, Farr left Toronto and moved to Los Angeles, California where she hoped to make a career out of two of her greatest interests; interior designing and acting. She got a chance to merge both sometimes by designing movie sets and even landed a few minor roles in the 1970s and 80s. She appeared in productions like Layout for 5 Models, Never Mind the Quality, Sex Farm, City on Fire, and The Return among others. She, however, was unable to land any bigger roles and did not enjoy having to be on the sidelines as an actress and thus decided to face home design squarely.

4. The Interior Designer’s Ex-husband is Writer Gordon Farr

Hilary Farr shares a son with writer Gordon Farr whom she was married to until 2008 when they divorced. Since they parted ways, the designer has never remarried and it is not clear if she has gone ahead to enter into another serious relationship.

Interestingly, her divorce from Gordon happened in the same year she met her realtor co-host of Love It or List It, David Visentin, who has been the subject of a lot of dating rumors involving Farr over the years. Neither party has, however, admitted to them having dated. It should be noted that Visentin is currently married to a real estate agent named Krista Visentin, and the couple has a son together.

5. She Has Served as a Host for Love It or List It for Over a Decade

Following her divorce in 2008, Farr decided to return to her home in Canada where she was approached by Corus Entertainment to become part of Love It or List It along with realtor David Visentin. The two celebrated their tenth anniversary in September 2018 and are hoping to spend another decade working together even though there have been a few controversies along the way.

6. She Cares Deeply About Nature

Hilary Farr’s passion goes far beyond interior designing as she also adores and cares about nature and the environment, particularly the animals that live in it.

From joining and supporting the fight against elephant poaching to volunteering to assist veterinarians in treating dogs in Nairobi, Kenya, the TV host’s social media pages are filled with pictures of a wide range of animals. You would find pictures of big animals like the elephant to smaller ones like ducks, cats, and raccoons. It is then no surprise to find out that she owns a pet herself, a dog named Mimi.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Mimi was suddenly very ill on Wednesday night and was hospitalized and treated by the wonderful team at the @ncstate University Vetrinary Emergency Clinic. She is home with me now and resting. During her time at the hospital I spent a lot of time in the waiting room where this painting hangs. I sat there watching the drama of joy as owners and discharged pets were reunited along with the anxiety and sadness as pets were left to be cared for. And the deep pain of loss of owners whose pets didn’t survive. As I was experiencing my own anxiety about my sweet Mimi I was drawn to this piece of art (swipe to see it) which is on the wall of the waiting room. I fell in love with it. The power of art; how it stirs up different emotions depending on how we feel. For me, it was bitter sweet to look at this image of our human bond with our dogs as I was face to face with the inevitable demise of these faithful creatures’ much too short lives. Sentimental and a bit corny? Absolutely, but unapologetically, I love this painting’s subject of a brief moment in time captured. Such sweetnesses and innocence.

A post shared by Hilary Farr (@hilary_farr) on Jan 18, 2020 at 9:33am PST

7. Hilary Farr Has an Impressive Net Worth

According to a number of different celebrity wealth calculating websites, the television host’s net worth is estimated to be around $8 million. While she is best known as the host of Love It or List It, Farr has also appeared on several other TV shows. They include The Marilyn Denis Show where she appeared as a celebrity judge and guest, Brother Vs. Brother as a celebrity judge, and HuffPost Live as a contributor.

Farr, who has renovated homes for celebrities like Jenna Elfman and Jennifer Hudson, has also made a good living as the head of her own design company, Hilary Farr’s Designs.