If the rumors are true, there is very little about Love It or List It that is as real as it is portrayed to be on camera.
Love It or List It has always been one of the most popular house-hunting shows on television because of its unique format.
However, the show may not always be as “real” as it seems. Over the years, rumors have surfaced that everything, ranging from Hilary and David’s feuds and the endings of the episodes, to the renovations, are all fabricated for the camera.
About Love It or List It
House-hunting shows usually all have more or less the same format, that is; couples tour several potential properties.
If it is a particularly entertaining episode, the homeowners may even bicker a little bit about which of the potential properties is their favorite.
Love It or List It, on the other hand, introduces an entirely new (or rather, old) option into this mix, as the house-hunters also get the option to simply update their current home to fit their new criteria/preferences.
The show’s hosts, David Visentin and Hilary Farr, then take turns trying to convince the homeowners to “List” their current home or to “Love” their current home in each episode. This makes the entire process all the more exciting and unpredictable.
Is Love it or List It real?
The formulaic nature of house-hunting shows like Love It or List It is often part of what makes the show so enjoyable and relaxing to watch.
But it can also call the show’s authenticity into question. After all, even with Love It or List It’s added complications, every episode seems to follow a similar pattern.
The homeowners are torn about leaving their current house, but they cannot keep living the way they have been. Then Hilary tells them that their renovation budget may be too small for everything that needs to be done in the house.
The first house that David shows is usually a letdown. Hilary encounters some unforeseen obstacle during the renovation.
And by the end of every episode, the homeowners are usually more confused than ever when David shows them their dream home and Hilary unveils the renovations which always somehow turn out perfectly, despite all of the unexpected extra work.
This somewhat “scripted” format has often left fans wondering how “real” Love It or List It truly is. The answer to this question is complicated.
As with all television shows, Love It or List It expectedly takes a few liberties with the editing of its episodes.
But it is up to you to decide whether Hilary and David’s real-life friendship, the show’s alleged two-ending filming policy and the rumors about its renovations means that Love It or List It is fake.
Hilary and David’s rivalry is just for show
Hilary and David’s friendly on-screen rivalry is one of the main reasons why Love It or List It is still such a fan-favorite home renovation show.
However, although Hilary and David never even met before the show’s auditions started, they have now become real-life best friends.
That does not mean that they take it easy on each other in the show, though, and Hilary has admitted that she still gets “upset” when she loses an episode.
Love It or List It reportedly films multiple endings for each episode
A Reddit user by the name of @xXGARR377Xx posted in a thread discussing rigged television shows that Love It or List It reportedly films two endings (a “Love It” and “List It” one) for every episode.
These claims have never been officially confirmed, but Hilary, as well as Marci and Matt Lew (who were on the show in 2015) confirmed that the homeowners’ reactions to the renovations and the homes were genuine.
The renovations are real, but all is not as it seems
The renovations that are done to the homeowners’ homes on Love It or List It are where things really get complicated.
Like most other home renovation shows, Hilary and her team on Love It or List It simply do not have enough time to renovate entire homes for every episode.
As a result, the team usually just chooses one or two projects to focus on for the episode.
However, Norman Waine and Jeanine Almeida; and Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan, two couples who appeared on the show, have sued Love It or List It for shoddy workmanship.
These couples claim that even the few renovations which were done, were not done properly.
Neither of these lawsuits ended up going to court, but if the allegations are true, it would be a real blow, considering that the homeowners on the show pay for the renovations themselves.
