What you see on screen on "My Lottery Dream Home" is indeed the stuff of real estate fantasy. But behind the scenes, both the show and its host have some skeletons in the closet.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00What you see on screen on My Lottery Dream Home is indeed the stuff of real estate fantasy,
00:05but behind the scenes, both the show and its host have some skeletons in the closet.
00:09Launching any new TV series comes with its challenges, but for HGTV's My Lottery Dream
00:14Home, those obstacles were even more daunting, and for a very good reason.
00:19People who have just won big bucks in the lottery might not want the kind of attention
00:24brought on by reality TV.
00:26This initially made casting the show somewhat tricky.
00:29Actor Mike Krupa told MediaWeek,
00:32"...Lottery winners don't really need the exposure, and they don't need the money to
00:36participate."
00:37According to Krupa, the series' first season was easily its most difficult when it came
00:47to finding people willing to appear on the show.
00:50He said,
00:51"...we reached out to close to 1,000 lottery winners, and we got 10 to appear on our first
00:56season."
00:57After My Lottery Dream Home was on the air and winners could see what the show was all
01:01about, casting became significantly easier.
01:04Krupa added,
01:05"...once winners saw the show, and how it was about wish fulfillment and making people's
01:10dreams become a reality, people were more willing to take part."
01:14The show has consistently been a ratings winner for the network.
01:17"...I'll show you how to live like a millionaire!"
01:21The 2018 season premiere, in fact, set a new ratings record when 3.3 million total
01:27viewers tuned in.
01:28HGTV pointed out that this was not only the series' highest-rated season premiere to date,
01:35it was also the highest-rated episode of My Lottery Dream Home ever.
01:39"...Glad you only showed us three."
01:41"...I can show you more."
01:42"...Please don't."
01:43But ratings only tell part of the story.
01:46The series has also been a strong source of entertainment on other platforms beyond traditional
01:51TV.
01:52According to HGTV, in early 2020, the series was, quote, "...the second-most-streamed show
01:57on the network's streaming service, HGTV Go."
02:01The show also performed well on social media, with a January 3rd episode generating more
02:05than 270,000 views on HGTV's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
02:11When Season 7's Brian and His Wife Took won $200,000 from a scratch-off ticket, they immediately
02:17thought of the show as a means to purchase a new home.
02:20Brian told The Herald-Net,
02:21"...My wife and I had always watched that show before we won the scratch ticket.
02:26I used to joke we'd have David find us a house if we ever won."
02:30"...I beg."
02:32When he reached out to producers, Brian received a quick response, and a few months later,
02:36the couple was filming the show.
02:38While $200,000 isn't that much to work with, Bromstad was able to help lead the couple
02:43to a classic Victorian on Washington's picturesque Whidbey Island.
02:47Brian said he found the long days of filming to be grueling, and revealed he got a crash
02:51course in some of the more unreal aspects of reality TV.
02:55"...Come on in, guys.
02:57Wow.
02:58I like it, right?"
03:00According to the newspaper, Brian admitted,
03:02"...I wasn't prepared for the number of times I had to walk into the same room and look
03:06surprised."
03:08What viewers of the show see on screen is only part of what takes place during filming.
03:12In an interview with TV Insider, David Bromstad described the process a lottery winner goes
03:17through during the course of an episode from his perspective.
03:21Bromstad explained that when he first meets the winners, he knows the bare bones of their
03:24backstory, but tries not to learn much more than that, ahead of time.
03:29"...I went downstairs and I'm like, we won a million dollars, and she goes, don't do
03:33this to me now."
03:35After the winners tell him what they're looking for and how much money they've won, Bromstad
03:39spends some time with them off-camera.
03:41It's then that he says,
03:42"...I really get into the nitty-gritty of what they want, where they want to be, what
03:47I can look for, what I can't.
03:50We can only put so much on TV."
03:52In terms of how much advice he gives, Bromstad says that varies from person to person.
03:57He added,
03:58"...I give them as much as they want to hear."
04:00The big lure for fans of the show is the spectacle of watching average folks who've just won
04:04a windfall take off on a real estate shopping spree in search of an opulent, over-the-top
04:09new home.
04:10But that doesn't always prove to be the case.
04:13Bromstad told the New York Post,
04:14"...it all depends on how much money they've just won.
04:17Some people are living paycheck to paycheck, and they're pretty smart, like, wow, I'm 35
04:21years old and I've just won a million dollars?
04:24It's going to change my life for the moment, but I've got to be smart about it."
04:27"...I just want a place to gather for the holidays, upgrade the family house.
04:31That is so sweet."
04:33Just as there's no one particular type of home that everyone's looking for, nor is there
04:38one specific type of lottery winner.
04:41Bromstad explained,
04:42"...they're younger, they're older.
04:44We had a gentleman who won $4 million who was in his late 20s and wanted to be a landlord.
04:50Older couples are frequently looking for a retirement home for the rest of their days.
04:54It really runs the gamut."
04:56Host David Bromstad considers himself a sounding board and advisor to the people he guides
05:01through the show.
05:02He told the New York Post,
05:03"...it's always nice to have someone who's not really part of their lives, an outside
05:07source to come in without any great emotions while listening to what they're looking for
05:12in a home."
05:13While Bromstad does his best to offer wise counsel, sometimes he finds himself working
05:17with someone who's looking for something a bit on the bonkers side.
05:21Asked to pin down the oddest thing he's encountered on a winner's wish list, Bromstad told AOL,
05:26"...the most bizarre was a guy who wanted a lot of bathrooms in the Hamptons.
05:31You know, we're in the Hamptons, so we want lots of bathrooms."
05:34"...we'll have to wait for Christina or Donna to get out of the bathroom."
05:38"...no wonder why you want an excess amount of bathrooms."
05:42The most surprising thing Bromstad has learned from fulfilling winners' requests is how many
05:47of them look for homes near families.
05:49He revealed,
05:50"...that is 100 percent the biggest thing.
05:52A house could be in the middle of nowhere and they always stay close to family.
05:56That was something that really surprised me.
05:58It's all about family."
06:00"...and action."
06:01David Bromstad's path to hosting My Lottery Dream Home was far from typical.
06:06As the network's longtime viewers will recall, Bromstad first came to HGTV as a contestant
06:12on the first season of Design Star in 2006, competing against other hopefuls for the opportunity
06:18to host an HGTV show.
06:21Bromstad was the show's first-ever winner, which led him to be hired to host HGTV's Color
06:26Splash.
06:27"...my parents raised me to just, you know, work hard for my money and be very grateful
06:31and praise the Lord because of it and be humble."
06:35That gig led to more hosting jobs with the network.
06:38And when the opportunity arose to host My Lottery Dream Home, Bromstad had become a
06:42seasoned HGTV veteran with years of experience in front of the camera.
06:46He said in a network interview,
06:48"...whenever people call me a star, I think it's weird.
06:51I go, no, I'm just a person with a cool job."
06:54"...super fun, unicorns and rainbows, people."
06:57After working with all those winners on the show, you'd think that surely Bromstad must
07:01be tempted to pick up the occasional ticket himself in the hopes of winning the jackpot.
07:06But he told The Wrap,
07:07"...no, I do not play the lottery because I've already won the lottery.
07:10I won Design Star, and that was my lottery."
07:13In fact, Bromstad says he's, quote, "...generally not a very lucky person."
07:18He told the outlet,
07:19"...it's hard for me to spend $30 on a scratcher, or $20, or even $10 on a few scratchers.
07:26I'd rather buy canoes."
07:27Of course, that's not to say Bromstad hasn't been tempted, which was the case when the
07:32Powerball jackpot rose to nearly $1.6 billion in 2016.
07:37He told AOL,
07:38"...I was in the middle of nowhere filming, when it was going on, so I figured, I might
07:42as well buy a ticket at every gas station I went to.
07:44I bought $100 worth of tickets."
07:47Asked what he would have done had he won the $1.6 billion, he quipped,
07:52"...I would have dropped the mic and said, peace out, b----.
07:55No one would see me ever again."
07:58My Lottery Dream Home is especially memorable thanks to its multi-million dollar pilot episode.
08:03The lottery winners who appeared on the series' debut, Rick and Lori Knudsen, won more money
08:08than anyone who would ever appear on the show, a whopping $180 million.
08:13"...Have you ever held $180 million?"
08:15"...No, I haven't."
08:18Host Bromstad ultimately steered the Knudsens to a hilltop stunner listed for a relatively
08:23modest $5.8 million.
08:26Features reportedly included, quote, a 17-seat movie theater and garage fit for a car collector.
08:32Meanwhile, the Knudsens ponied up even more of their millions for an adjacent property,
08:37a 155-acre bison ranch.
08:40The outlet estimated that the couple spent about $11.5 million of their $180 million
08:46windfall on the properties, and the following year, they bought homes for each of their
08:49five children.
08:51Bromstad joked to the Los Angeles Times,
08:53"...they bought a mountain.
08:55The home was magical, very chic.
08:57It looked like a ski lodge.
08:59Breathtaking.
09:00But as big as it was, it was very cozy."
09:02"...The mountain we stared at, we own."
09:07The lottery winners on the show really do run the gamut, from six-figure scratch-off
09:11wins to multi-million dollar jackpots.
09:14With so much disparity in the amount of money won by the clients, host Bromstad is put to
09:18the test as he tries to locate ideal homes for a wide range of winners.
09:23And this can go from prices no object opulence to bargain deals.
09:27The average winner who appears on My Lottery Dream Home makes off with about a million
09:31dollars, according to Bromstad, who told TV Insider,
09:35They're looking for houses that are appropriate for their win.
09:39According to Bromstad, these winners usually don't spend all their winnings on a home,
09:43typically because they'll use some money to pay off debts and gain financial stability.
09:48Most of them, he revealed, are also first-time homeowners.
09:51He said,
09:52"...they are living in condos or renting a home, so they're paying off debts and then
09:56moving forward.
09:57To me, winning a million dollars just elevates your plans ten years."
10:01This is going to be an absolute hoot."
10:05Among the many winners to appear on the show was Anthony Culligan of Louisiana, who won
10:09$2 million through his state Powerball lottery.
10:13As Culligan told the Acadiana Advocate, filming his episode entailed spending Mardi Gras weekend
10:18with Bromstad while looking for a new home near his family.
10:21He said,
10:22"...I tell you, we laughed and cut up and had so much fun.
10:26I didn't know he was like that.
10:28I did not know.
10:29I just started laughing and couldn't stop."
10:31During their time together, Culligan and Bromstad took in a Mardi Gras parade and even went
10:36on a swamp tour, while the newly-minted millionaire also taught Bromstad the proper way to peel
10:41and eat boiled crawfish.
10:44Culligan said,
10:45"...this was my first time hanging out with a celebrity, and it was a blast.
10:48Winning the lottery didn't change me, but it changed the people around me."
10:52"...he did a great job, he made one happy family right here."
10:56David Bromstad has advised lottery winners over the course of several seasons, and he
11:00revealed the most important piece of advice he shares with those who've just come into
11:04a lot of money, telling the Los Angeles Times,
11:07"...having a million dollars is not going to sustain you, it's just going to progress
11:11you."
11:12He pointed to the example of someone who had appeared on the show after winning a $4 million
11:16jackpot, spending $350,000 on a home even though they could have spent much more.
11:22Bromstad said,
11:23"...they could have easily run out and bought a million-dollar house.
11:26They understood that money is about investment."
11:29According to Bromstad, his role on the show transcends real estate and home design.
11:38He says,
11:39"...they're bringing me in because they're stuck.
11:40It's just the overwhelming amount of choices they now have.
11:43I tell them to take a breath and make this decision correctly and have a good time with
11:48it.
11:49I treat them like a friend.
11:50We have the best time ever.
11:51It's a love fest."
11:53David Bromstad graduated from Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota in 1992.
11:58From there, he studied at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.
12:03According to the Star Tribune, his dream at the time was to become an animator.
12:07As Bromstad described in a 2021 exclusive interview with The List, his primary purpose
12:12for attending Ringling College was to work for the Walt Disney Company.
12:16He explained that he only had a few choices for schools he could attend to make that a
12:20realistic dream.
12:21Unable to afford one of the other options, he explained,
12:24"...and so I applied to that one school and that one school alone, got in, and Disney
12:29pulled directly from their illustrators.
12:31And so that's what my major was, but I realized about six months into my college education
12:36that I didn't want to do animation."
12:37Since his graduation from Ringling College, Bromstad has remained in Florida, living in
12:42both Miami and Orlando.
12:44While he visits family in Minnesota as often as he can, it seems that the Florida lifestyle
12:48suits the emerging artist better than the Midwest.
12:52David Bromstad may have decided against working in animation, but he still went to work for
12:56the Walt Disney Company.
12:58After graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design, he started in visual merchandising,
13:03though he didn't stay in that department for long.
13:05In a 2018 interview with Spectrum News 13 in Orlando, Florida, Bromstad recounted his
13:10choice to switch paths, saying,
13:12"...my boss was like, you're too talented, I can tell you're bored.
13:15So I took my full-time job and all my benefits and went to an art, kind of like, sculpting
13:20place and then I became a private artist for them."
13:23Bromstad's tenure with Disney only lasted about a year and a half before he switched
13:27to a contracting position for the company.
13:29According to a 2011 interview with Ryan G. Van Cleave, he began working on installations
13:34for Walt Disney World, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios, with much of his work
13:39appearing in storefronts.
13:41Sadly, after the September 11th, 2001 attacks, Disney let go of many of its contractors,
13:47including Bromstad.
13:48However, he still has love for all things Disney, and he's even accumulated several
13:52Disney-themed tattoos over the years.
13:55He also visits Walt Disney World as often as he can.
13:58After his various artistic roles and contracts with theme parks in Orlando, Florida, David
14:03Bromstad found himself designing children's spaces and model homes for an area home builder.
14:08In this capacity, he used the precise and colorful skills he'd practiced working for
14:12Disney to create fun, fantasy-themed bedrooms for kids.
14:16Discussing this experience with Cleave, Bromstad observed,
14:19"...the big lesson from designing so many kids' rooms?
14:22The wow factor.
14:23A kid wants to run into their bedroom and yell, this is the coolest bed I've ever seen!"
14:28It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world saw Bromstad's talent.
14:31He successfully auditioned for HGTV's Design Star, which premiered in 2006 and won the
14:37first season.
14:38"...I can see it."
14:39"...Oh, fun.
14:40The two gnomes up here."
14:43As a result of his success in the series, he landed his own show, Color Splash.
14:48The opportunity was a learning experience in how to display his identity to the public.
14:52He explained,
14:53"...being gay wasn't a great idea to present on TV at that time.
14:57But I had to be me, and that ultimately is what made all the difference.
15:00I learned to trust my gut and not second-guess myself."
15:03It seems his intuition was spot-on, for being his true, authentic self also became his ticket
15:08to a long-term gig with HGTV.
15:11While 2015 was a transformative year for David Bromstad from a career standpoint, it was
15:16a difficult one for him personally.
15:18That same year, Bromstad broke up with his longtime partner, Jeffrey Glasgow.
15:23According to In Touch Weekly, Bromstad and Glasgow had been together since 2004.
15:28In a dramatic twist, Glasgow later sued Bromstad, citing emotional and financial damages that
15:33reportedly developed after Bromstad became famous from his 2006 Design Star win.
15:39At the end of 2015, Glasgow filed a lawsuit in a Miami-Dade County court, which alleged
15:44that Bromstad was using their shared funds on drugs and sex workers.
15:49Bromstad denied the claims, and a county judge ruled against Glasgow, ultimately dismissing
15:53the case.
15:54Despite the personal and legal drama from the fallout of this relationship, Bromstad
15:58hasn't appeared to take a professional hit, nor has the experience deterred him from finding
16:03a future partner.
16:04Speaking with the Star Tribune, Bromstad stated that he was single as of 2019, but that he
16:09was certainly interested in settling down and starting a family.
16:13After moving to Florida for college, David Bromstad resided in Miami for a number of
16:18years.
16:19However, in 2020, Bromstad decided to relocate to the Orlando area.
16:23Ironically, it took him some time to find his own home in his new city.
16:27He explained to the Orlando Sentinel,
16:28"...Right now I'm in an apartment.
16:30I'm so busy finding everyone their dream home I'm neglecting my own.
16:34I'm always on the road.
16:35We'll get here eventually."
16:36The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed his house shopping, but it also gave him time
16:41to narrow down exactly what he wanted from his dream home.
16:44In 2021, he finally found it — a five-bedroom, four-bathroom Tudor-style house near Orlando,
16:50Florida.
16:51Despite initially telling the Orlando Sentinel he wanted a fixer-upper he could customize,
16:56Bromstad ultimately opted for a newer building that was ready for an immediate move-in due
17:00to his tight schedule and frequent traveling.
17:03As a bonus, viewers were able to see Bromstad go through the difficult process of selecting
17:07a home within a certain budget, just like the average homebuyer and his clients on My
17:11Lottery Dream Home.
17:12This process was televised for a special spinoff of My Lottery Dream Home, called My Lottery
17:17Dream Home, David's Dream Home, which premiered in July 2021.
17:22Just as homebuyers tour several potential options on the show, Bromstad did the same,
17:26enlisting a friend to help him with the process.
17:29Though Bromstad is happy with his choice, he's not sure it will be his home forever.
17:33He told the network,
17:34"'It's my dream right now.
17:35It's such a special and unique place, and every time people come in, the vibe here is
17:39so cool and chill.
17:41It's a great entertainer's home, so I'm just living for the moment.'"
17:46One of the biggest tragedies in life comes from a loved one getting sick, and, sadly,
17:50David Bromstad faced that exact challenge in 2016.
17:54In a Facebook post from August of that year, the TV personality asked his friends and followers
17:58for their support after his dad was hospitalized.
18:01Bromstad explained that his dad would be in the hospital for at least a few days, with
18:05the host reporting,
18:06"'His valves are freaking out and is having major fluttering.
18:09His resting heart rate was at 136, which is very high.
18:12They are monitoring him for seizures and a heart attack.'"
18:15Bromstad also shared that his dad wasn't feeling very optimistic amid his health issues, and
18:19asked people to pray for him.
18:21Thankfully, Bromstad's father was able to make it through his tough time in the hospital.
18:25Over the years, the HGTV star has shared a number of photos with him, and the fact that
18:29the two seem fairly close only amplifies the pain both surely felt during that challenging
18:34period.
18:35As he showcased in his brief appearance on a My Lottery Dream Home Holiday special, Bromstad's
18:38father even shares his son's sense for design.
18:41You got the right theme, it's Scandinavian."
18:43In a 2021 Instagram post, Bromstad referred to his pops as the greatest dad ever, and
18:48alongside a few photos of the two of them smiling, he wrote,
18:51"'You're amazingly kind-hearted, godly, loving, and deliciously competitive.
18:55Thank you for teaching me to be compassionate, kind, confident, and of course silly.'"
19:00It's not just his dad's health complications David Bromstad has had to confront.
19:04In 2015, he took to Facebook to share the incredibly sad story of his friend, Greg Gerrard,
19:09who had experienced a hemorrhagic stroke.
19:11The incident completely altered Gerrard's life, and left him in need of a lot of care
19:15and rehabilitation to help gain back his mobility.
19:18In his heartfelt post, Bromstad wrote a long statement explaining that he joined forces
19:22with Gerrard's family and a nonprofit in order to raise funds for him to get some normalcy
19:26back into his life.
19:27Highlighting the wildly positive effects physical therapy was already having on Gerrard's recovery,
19:32Bromstad shared a donation page, which has since expired.
19:35The TV star also included several throwback photos of himself and Gerrard in the post,
19:39which were surely even harder to see in comparison with his friend's present struggle.
19:44Bromstad doesn't appear to have offered an update on Gerrard's recovery since, but judging
19:47by his Facebook page, he appears to be doing well.
19:50Sadly, David Bromstad spent some of his early years dealing with bullies.
19:55The star has opened up a couple of times about his difficult experience at school, telling
19:59Lavender during his 2013 interview that he was harassed by his classmates after moving
20:03cities, and he didn't even know why.
20:05He reflected,
20:06"'Going to school' was torture for me, and I dreaded going to school for fear of being
20:10tormented every day.
20:11I was always the center of every joke and always laughed at."
20:14Bromstad also shared that he would have homophobic slurs hurled at him, and that to this day,
20:19he's unsure how he survived such a tough period.
20:21Today, though, Bromstad has turned that horrific experience into a positive.
20:25The TV personality now uses his voice and resources to help others in his position who
20:30are dealing with bullies.
20:31In 2013, Bromstad donated $5,000 to Safe Schools South Florida, which helps create safe environments
20:37for LGBTQ plus youth in Florida schools.
20:40In a statement for the charity, he shared,
20:41"...I was bullied and harassed continually through high school, and I know what hell
20:45that can be.
20:46I wanted to support Safe Schools South Florida's great work on behalf of LGBTQ students and
20:51help prevent this bullying and harassment from happening to others."
20:54When the now-heavily-tattooed David Bromstad came out in the 1980s, it definitely wasn't
20:59easy for him.
21:00Speaking to Passport, Bromstad recalled feeling brave enough to share his identity with those
21:04around him, but recalled his coming out wasn't exactly met with a lot of praise or understanding
21:09from those at his school.
21:10Sadly, that ostracization extended all the way to his principal.
21:14He explained,
21:15"...600 kids in the cafeteria made obscene gestures targeted at me.
21:18Even the junior high principal, who wanted to be cool and probably didn't realize the
21:22meaning of what the kids were doing, joined in the ridicule."
21:25After Bromstad came out again as a public figure, he reflected that it went more smoothly
21:29than in his younger years.
21:30But that still didn't make it easy.
21:32As he explained,
21:33"...I finally accepted myself for who I was and loved myself for who I was.
21:36It was a struggle for me, as it went against everything I was raised to believe.
21:40So it took me 10 years to understand that I am an amazing human being, no matter what."
21:45Honestly, when I came comfortable being gay was when my first day of shooting on HGTV
21:50with Design Star."
21:51The star now seems to be more comfortable than ever in his own skin, and often shares
21:54words of affirmation and encouragement across his social media accounts.