When the popular HGTV reality TV series “My Lottery Dream Home” hit the screens in 2016, one of the challenges it faced was getting lottery winners seeking to buy a new home to appear on the show. “We reached out to close to 1,000 lottery winners, and we got 10 to appear on our first season,” said Michael Krupat, the Senior Vice President of Development for 7Beyond.
However, over the years, the show has become so popular that it has attracted several applicants. “Once other winners saw the show and how it was about wish fulfillment and making people’s dreams become a reality, people were more willing to take part. “Lottery winners don’t really need the exposure, and they don’t need the money to participate. The truth is they have great stories to tell, which appeals to them,” Krupat added.
This article takes a deep dive into what “My Lottery Dream Home” is all about and the latest information we have on the show.
Where Can You Watch “My Lottery Dream Home?”
Catch all the seasons/episodes of “My Lottery Dream Home” on Discovery+ or FuboTV. You are also able to stream the show by purchasing or renting it on Vudu or Amazon Instant Video.
What Is “My Lottery Dream Home” About?
When people win scratch-off games or the Powerball jackpot — say a million-dollars — one of the top things on their wish list is to invest in real estate. Sometimes it’s for the purpose of business. Other times it’s a family home or forever home, where they can live for a long time, or a vacation home — where they just stay and enjoy their lotto winnings.
Whatever the goal, “My Lottery Dream Home” is a reality TV series created to help recent lottery winners own ultimate dream homes. HGTV celebrity host David Bromstad joins these newly minted millionaires on their house hunt.
“My Lottery Dream Home” debuted on March 7, 2015. It is produced by Beyond Productions.
The show is not restricted to any location. For instance, we’ve seen Bromstad and his lottery winners shoot from places like Las Vegas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Minestrone, Orlando, and many more places.
Is the Show “My Lottery Dream Home” Real?
The number one major characteristic of a reality TV show is that it is unscripted and real — unfamiliar people in real-life situations caught on camera, mostly unaware.
However, as we all know, a lot often happens behind the scenes. Some of these shows are partly or hugely scripted, edited, and directed to make the end result look believable, interesting, and marketable. “My Lottery Dream Home” is no exception. While the lottery-winning house hunters are real verifiable people, the house-hunting adventure doesn’t make for a true reality TV show.
For one reason, to participate on the show, lottery winners have to reach out to the producers to signify their interest. This in itself removes the unaware element of a proper reality TV show. For all it’s worth, the participants may just be out for the camera and the media razzmatazz.
One lottery winner from Washington state, Brian Kutz, told HeraldNet that it’s always been the dream of his and his wife to be on the show. “My wife and I had always watched that show before we won the scratch ticket,” he said. “I used to joke we’d have David find us a house if we ever won.”
“I wasn’t there to be Joe Hollywood,” Brian Kutz added. “We really were just trying to get Coupeville on the map.” For this couple, the motivation obviously was to get their beloved dream island on national TV.
Similarly, a lot of work and time is invested into filming. Some shots need to be taken over and over again from various angles, and the participants have to be told what the producers need — that’s pretty much acting already. Brian Kutz did mention how he had to pretend on camera to be amazed every time he walked into the same room.
Furthermore, one user on BuzzFeed narrated how her uncle made an appearance on the show, portrayed to be searching for his dream beach house when in reality he got the house two years earlier — it was all make-believe. The user revealed, “They also did a ‘three months later’ follow-up segment that was, in fact, filmed the day after the house-hunting shoot.”
These stories show that it’s not absolute reality as we are often made to believe — there is some doctoring involved.
About the Host of “My Lottery Dream Home”
“My Lottery Dream Home” is hosted by American designer and TV personality David Bromstad. It’s interesting to note that Bromstad has been the show’s host since its inception in 2015.
The HGTV star was once a designer for Disney World. Perhaps that explains why he has Disney tattooed all over himself. Bromstad’s HGTV career took off in 2006 when he won the then HGTV new series “Design Star.” He would later return as a judge on the same show as well as a host of other HGTV shows like “Color Splash,” “Beach Flip,” and “Bang for Your Buck.”
In 2015, Bromstad made Out Magazine’s 100 List of the most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people. Earlier in 2011, he received the HRC Visibility Award for being and living proudly as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Bromstad’s Dream Home
In 2021, Bromstad was featured in an HGTV network special, “My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Dream Home.” The one-time special starred Bromstad, accompanied by his friend Greg Stott, as they toured Orlando, Florida, in search of a perfect storybook home for the HGTV star.
Bromstad had made the decision to get his own millionaire dream home some four years earlier, but somehow, it just didn’t happen. “I had decided that I was going to live [in Orlando], but I was going to do it correctly,” he told HGTV.com. “I wasn’t going to rush into anything. I wasn’t going to do anything emotional — I think it was very logical.”
Years passed, and Bromstad still hadn’t found a house he liked. “I had looked and looked and looked and looked, and I knew what I wanted, but it would change literally every week,” he says. “I’d be like, ‘Oh! Maybe I’ll do a fixer-upper. Oh! Maybe it’ll be move-in ready.’ But, when a house hits you, it hits you, and I found a house and it hit me — hit me hard.”
In the end, the stylish host settled for a beautiful five-bedroom Tudor listed at $950,000 — a little above his $900,000 budget. Bromstad admitted later in a chat with Realtor.com that the backyard won him over. “I didn’t understand the price tag until I walked through the outdoor kitchen and that extra space out there, then I was like, ‘I get it,’” Bromstad explained in the show. “It felt like home.”
Bromstad’s Relationship Status
Bromstad is unmarried. His most recent relationship was with Jeffery Glasko before they parted ways. The relationship lasted over a decade but ended with Glasko filing a lawsuit against Bromstad, accusing him of “breaching an oral nuptial-like cohabitation contract and partition of the condo they shared.”
The case was dismissed in favor of Bromstad — Glasko was sanctioned instead.
Bromstad’s Net Worth
Bromstad’s net worth is reportedly around $4 million, with an annual salary of around $500,000.
FAQs about “My Lottery Dream Home”
How Many Seasons and Episodes of “My Lottery Dream Home” Are There?
So far, there have been 11 seasons of “My Lottery Dream Home” — more than 100 episodes aired and counting.
From the information available on HGTV’s “My Lottery Dream Home” official website, season 12, episode one “From Portland to Paradise” is expected to debut on March 24, 2023, at 7:30 pm | 6:30 c on HGTV.
Is “My Lottery Dream Home” canceled in 2023?
No, but the show was postponed by almost a year though. Season 12 was originally scheduled to premiere in June 2022, but will now premiere March 24, 2023
Have there been any “My Lottery Dream Home” bankruptcies?
From our research, there haven’t been any bankruptcies on “My Lottery Dream Home.” However, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t or won’t happen in the future. Odds are it will since by most estimates, nearly one-third of all lottery winners end up going bankrupt.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
