Bobby Berk Was John Cena's First Choice To Host HGTV's 'Junk Or Jackpot?'

New York Post

Watch Bobby Berk Was John Cena's First Choice To Host HGTV's 'Junk Or Jackpot?' - New York Post on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00I saw that John Cena is an executive producer on Junk or Jackpot, and he handpicked you to host

00:06the show. How did he get in touch with you, and did you need any convincing to sign off?

00:11Well, John, he's not only an EP on the show, he created the show, so this was the brainchild of

00:17him. He was at dinner one night talking with his friends about a specific collection he had

00:22that he was actually going to get right off part of because he wanted to fund a renovation to

00:27expand a different collection, and he was like, it's actually a really great idea. People whose

00:31collections have went overboard, and they need help to get them under control and to do a renovation,

00:36and so he started talking to his team at WME. I'm also with WME, and he was a fan of Queer Eye,

00:42and he's like, I want Bobby to host it, and so our people reached out to each other, and when John

00:47Cena, extraordinaire, asks you to host a show he's created, you say yes.

00:51And the concept of Junker Jackpot is so fun. It's like all the other HGTV shows you love,

00:57plus an amalgamation of other shows like The King of Collectibles and others. Were you purposely

01:03trying to find a reality TV project unlike your previous series?

01:07The thing, though, that I feel is very similar to Queer Eye is that the show is really helping

01:12people. You know, renovation shows are great, but they're not always about helping a specific

01:17moment that's going on in somebody's life. We've come into these people's lives when something

01:21that once brought them a lot of joy and was the heart and soul of their lives was starting to

01:27be what was either causing problems in relationships or anxiety or literally mental and physical health

01:34problems. So the thing that brought them the most joy was the thing that was actually causing the

01:38most harm now. So to be able to come in and help them get that under control and help them put the

01:45spark back into the thing that they love so much and to have that thing no longer be a burden,

01:50but the joy that it originally was, was really important to me to do a design show that was

01:55truly helping people emotionally as well. You know, I have a book called Right at Home,

02:00How Good Design is Good for the Mind, and it's all about mental health and design. And I wanted

02:04people to really see that when you change up your home, you really can change your life,

02:09your relationships. It has a huge impact on who you are.

02:12You're not only a host and designer, but you also are kind of your client's therapist.

02:17How did you handle that unexpected role?

02:21You know, as an interior designer, and I have been a real true one for years,

02:26we always say in the industry that we aren't just designers, we're marriage counselors.

02:29So it's something that I've been used to for years. You know, renovating a home,

02:34building a new home, there's a lot of stress that goes into it, both just from all the choices

02:38and decisions that have to be made to financial stuff. So it can also cause a lot of friction

02:45in relationships. So as a designer, I've always been in the middle of those fights. I've always

02:49been in the middle of helping people, meet in the middle, make compromises. So this was just

02:55another day at the office for me.

02:57While some may call your clients' possessions junk, you treat their collections with respect,

03:02because getting rid of stuff you love is hard.

03:04Was it important for you to lead with kindness during this process?

03:08Absolutely. You know, one of the things that I was very, I said from the start, like,

03:15I don't want to go into this making people feel ashamed for, A, collecting, because I think that's

03:22great, but mainly for where the collection had went, allowing the collection to take over their

03:28lives instead of them taking on the collection. I wanted to make sure that there was no shame,

03:33because I didn't want them to feel it. I don't want the viewers at home to feel it.

03:36I wanted to celebrate their collections, because their collections are really things that bring

03:39them joy. But what I did want to help them figure out is how to make that collection a harmonious

03:47part of their life instead of something that was controlling their life.

03:50The collectors give you their budget, you give them your dream budget, and then they have their

03:55option to sell their items to make up the difference. Why is this such a great incentive?

03:59You know what? If I went in and I was like, okay, I'm paying for everything,

04:04they wouldn't get rid of anything. And this wasn't about making get rid of everything.

04:09This was about teaching them that you can let go of some things and still love your collection.

04:15Like, you can let go of some things, and tomorrow, probably never think of that piece again.

04:20So it was a really good exercise for them to learn, okay, so if I find something new that I love,

04:28and I want to buy it, I want to add it to my collection. But in doing so, it turns my collection

04:33into what it was before. Okay, you know what? I learned. It's actually easy to let some things go.

04:38So let me find some things I can let go if I'm going to bring in new things.

04:42So I really wanted them to go through that exercise of letting go of some things that they

04:46thought would just be detrimental to do so, so they could realize, it wasn't that hard.

04:53Let me treat this collection as an art collection, which most of them are, and rotate things in and

04:58out, and sell some things, buy some new things, and bring that joy back to what the collection was

05:04instead of it being overwhelming.

05:05And in the trailer, we see some collections we'll see over the season, including Wonder Woman memorabilia,

05:10vinyl records, everything having to do with Wonder Woman, I collect.

05:15Here you have one of the largest collections in the world.

05:17I do.

05:18How many pieces are in my collection?

05:20Which was the most daunting for you as a designer to tackle?

05:25I would say the Wonder Woman memorabilia, because it wasn't just kind of one thing, where like

05:34the records, records are one thing, they all fit in a square cube, like I knew exactly what

05:39to do with them, with Vivian's collection, which was Wonder Woman, I mean, it was anything

05:43from tiny little figures to underwear, to comic books, to everything, so there was not

05:49one real cohesive way to display it, so we just had to just go all out and just display

05:54it as well as we could.

05:56But that one was probably the most difficult.

05:58And she was, maybe have been the one least willing to part with things.

06:04Do you personally collect anything?

06:07You know what, years ago I used to collect vintage thermoses, but only because I loved

06:12the patterns from the 60s and 70s, and I was using them as inspiration for new products

06:19like wallpaper and bedding and things like that.

06:21And where are they now?

06:23Gone with the wind.

06:24I don't know.

06:25Yeah.

06:26So would you describe yourself as a minimalist?

06:28Absolutely.

06:29Yeah, yeah.

06:30I don't, yeah, I don't collect many things.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended