Since the end of Extreme Makeover, Ty Pennington has appeared on ABC’s Revolution show, TNT’s On The Menu, and The Food Network’s American Diner Revival among others. He also started a furniture business and has as well been involved in pro bono work with Abod Shelters Foundation across the world, especially in Africa.
Extreme Makeover returned on air in February 2020 powered by HGTV, sadly, Ty Pennington wasn’t the host but he graced the show as a guest.Â
In a world where most people think of themselves and their welfare only, Ty Pennington became almost an overnight celebrity through his pro bono home improvement reality TV programs. It all started with TLC’s Trading Spaces in the year 2000.
But while he owes a lot of his eventual fame and background experience to Trading Spaces, it was really with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM: HE) that he had his head start as his fame and fortune ballooned with the program between 2003 and 2012.
Once Extreme Makeover got axed, Ty went on with his life and career, although he gradually phased out of the TV world with the passing years. Since then, many are wondering why they no longer see the multi-talented fellow as before.
More importantly, people (especially those of his fans who are blessed with retentive memories) are wondering what Ty does now and if he will ever return to their favorite program Extreme Makeover as it returns in February 2020. Here’s everything you need to know.
Who Is Ty Pennington?
While Ty Pennington has become so popular today, no one can ever imagine that there was a time he was just the next-door street guy? The TV star grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, along with his parents and siblings. He was born as Gary Tygert Burton on October 19, 1964, and is the son of Yvonne Burton and her ex-husband. Not long after he was born, his parents separated, and as a result of this, his mother left with Ty and his older brother Wynn Burton.
Yvonne, who was a school psychologist, continued to raise her boys until she found love once again and remarried. Following her second marriage, Ty and Wynn were adopted by their mom’s new husband; thus, leading to their surname ‘Burton’ getting changed to ‘Pennington’ following their step-father’s legal name.
He attended the Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia, and then the Kennesaw State University, where he studied art and history. However, to follow his passion to the fullest, Ty Pennington proceeded to study Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Atlanta.
In recent times, Ty has told a story of how their mom was hardly ever at home, which forced him and his brother to fend for themselves. He said that was how they just had to learn how to cook good meals for themselves. Indeed, that was how he also grew in the world of DIY, which eventually made him who he is.
What Has Ty Pennington Been Up To Since The End of Extreme Makeover?
Immediately Extreme Makeover ended, ABC launched a new program called ‘Revolution’ to replace it. The new show was meant to expand what Extreme Makeover offered; it was meant to help challenged families in more ways than just building them a house through such areas as health, skill acquisition, physical fitness, and much more.
Ty Pennington became a member of a team, where he assisted in interior decoration. Other members of the ‘Revolution’ team were Dr. Jennifer Ashton, Tim Gunn, Harley Pasternak, and Dr. Tifanie Davis. But the show lasted for only half a year as it debuted in January 2012 and ended in July of the same year.
‘Revolution’ came to an end due to very low ratings. The low ratings, in turn, was due to too many cooks spoiling the broth as many online comments claim. The following year, Ty began a furniture business in partnership with Sears.
His fans were happy to be able to lay their hands on pieces of furniture made by their hero. After that, in 2014, Ty also moved over to TNT, where his cooking skills became an asset as he became one of the hosts of a cooking competition reality show called On The Menu, which showed only 10 episodes and wind-up.
From 2015, Ty Pennington started a new job with The Food Network, where he became a co-host (with Amanda Freitag) of American Dinner Revival. However, this lasted until early 2016 when the show was concluded.
In 2017, a Philadelphia-based real estate big shot Peter Rotelle launched a new land development company known as Studio E. Rotelle contracted Ty Pennington to work as a presenter for the company’s eponymous syndicated show.
He was also a part of the revival of Trading Spaces in 2018. More so, Ty Pennington has been involved in pro bono work with Abod Shelters Foundation across the world, especially in Africa. Abod Shelters is a charity organization helping to provide shelters to homeless people across the Planet.
Why Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Went Off-Air
Just as Ty Pennington’s significance went up and down with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the reason the show ended also holds quite a lot of clues to what became of the versatile star. Millions of fans of the show were deeply angered when it went off-air in 2012. If only those angry fans knew what went behind the scene to see an end of the show, perhaps, they would have been more understanding than they ended up being.
First, it was quite heart-warming to see families that had home challenges helped to avoid becoming homeless, but many viewers never knew what happened once the cameras left. For instance, many of those benefiting families could not foot the bills that their new big homes incurred afterward – such as taxes and utility bills. An example is a family in Lake City, Georgia that was chosen to benefit from EM: HE in 2005. When they could not maintain the home, the family had to take out a $450,000 mortgage on it, which they invested in a construction business that eventually failed.
There were also cases of the homes going into foreclosure. In such cases, the members of the community who gave their man-hours to build the home would get angry. Then, some cases even led to legal battles. A good example here is a case, where Ty Pennington and his team rebuilt the home occupied by two families (The Higgins and the Leomitises). The Higgins was a family of orphaned boys who lost both of their parents in 2004 and were taken in by the Leomitises through church association.
When they applied to EM: HE, their little home was rebuilt into a nine-bedroom edifice to accommodate the Higgins more comfortably. But, after the camera crews left, the Higgins alleged that the Leomitises started an orchestrated campaign to throw them out of the house. They, therefore, sued the Leomitises for using them to get help. They also joined ABC Network to the case for making false promises to them.
When such a pattern continued to trail cases of EM: HE beneficiaries, ABC had no option but to cancel the show and with it, their contract with Ty Pennington ended. They realized that it was not enough just to build a challenged family a house since their needs were usually more than just their home challenges.
What Led to Ty Pennington’s Death Rumors?
There was a time it was rumored that Ty was dead. But after thorough research and stalking American popular Television host, Ty Pennington, we can confirm that he’s alive, kicking strong, and well. The account we have given about him above proves that this rumor was another celebrity death hoax.
Meanwhile, other celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Nick Jonas, Justin Bieber, Nick Jonas, and many others have also had their fair share of the death rumors.
Is Ty Pennington Returning To The New Extreme Makeover?
Hurray!!! Here’s good news to all fans of Extreme Makeover; the show that makes you weep rolls after rolls of tears of joy is coming back on air in February 2020.
This time it is to be powered by HGTV. But it’s not Ty Pennington that will be hosting it this time, although he is one of the many stars expected to grace the show as guests. Sure, that’s the answer for those of you asking to know if your favorite Ty is coming back.
This time, the show will be anchored by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Ferguson is the guy who has been starring as ‘Mitchell Pritchett’ in the ABC mockumentary family sitcom Modern Family since 2009.
How Did Ty Pennington Become Famous?
Over the years, Ty Pennington has taken up several roles as an actor, television host, artist, author, carpenter, and philanthropist. But, as we earlier mentioned, he had his first brush with fame through The Learning Channel (now TLC)’s home improvement reality show Trading Spaces, where he worked as a carpenter between 2000 and 2003. Afterward, he landed a contract to host ABC’s reality series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
As a model, Pennington’s career took off during his last semester in college when he had an encounter with a modeling scout who put him through the industry. With time, Ty went on to walk down runways in big cities like Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Thailand, where he also resided for some time.
Pennington is also a successful book author, having published over three bestsellers. His bibliography includes a reference book on home improvement entitled Home Repair Secrets Plus Cheap and Easy Projects to Transform Any Room (Published in 2003). It may also interest you to know that Pennington is the brain behind the quarterly magazine ‘Ty Pennington at Home,’ which he released in 2007.
