Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler are, arguably, the faces of HGTV Canada. They’ve both got long-running series on the air in Canada and around the world, co-starred in the home giveaway series Home to Win and allowed TV cameras to follow their lives both on and away from the construction site.
Now the pair is taking over Sunday nights—beginning this week—on HGTV Canada with projects that peel back the curtain on their family lives. Yes, there is still plenty of renovation drama in Moving the McGillivrays and Bryan Inc.—it’s what put food on the table long before the TV cameras came into focus—but there is personal footage fans have seen only snippets of in the past and been clamouring for.
The first up is Moving the McGillivrays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, a surprisingly intimate look at the journey Scott, wife Sabrina and daughters Myah and Layla go through on the path to creating their forever home while Scott keeps his responsibilities to Income Property, his production company, McGillivray Entertainment, helping Habitat for Humanity and his public speaking engagements. What appeared to be a fairly straight-forward case of finding the right house for his family turned into a nightmare. Scott and Sabrina, a teacher, knew they needed a house with storage, near their parents and close to a good school. After winnowing the list down to three properties, the couple made their pick. Episode 1 covers those first steps into renovating … and the most emotional footage of Scott I’ve ever seen on camera.
“As tough as it was for me in those moments, it was even tougher for me to see my kids seeing that,” McGillivray says during a press day at HGTV Canada’s headquarters. “It’s been a tough show and a bit of a roller coaster for sure.”
But as dramatic as the renovations on their new home are, fans will get a kick out of Sabrina and Scott’s relationship. She’s not afraid to put her husband in his place, call him out on bad jokes or roll her eyes at his confidence. And, thanks to some unearthed early footage of Scott walking around his first-ever income property, you understand why he became the success he is. Forget the orange shirt and floppy mop of hair in that grainy video: the then 21-year-old Scott McGillivray had a plan.
“After I bought the first property, at 21,” he recalls. “I was in university and had a student loan and I almost didn’t buy that first property. I just kept running the numbers in my head and realized, ‘We’re gonna make money on this property. This is insane.’ And when it actually worked, it was a massive confidence booster. I literally got a cheque for that first property, for $30,000 and I asked my friend, ‘Why isn’t everybody doing this?’ I’m still saying that today.”
But while Moving the McGillivrays reveals Scott’s wife and kids, Bryan Inc.—bowing Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT—spotlights the role Sarah Baeumler has had for years alongside her husband. While viewers have seen Sarah weighing in on design tips during House of Bryan: The Last Straw, where the couple built a forever home, and participating in Season 1 of Home to Win, she’s been part of Baeumler Quality Construction since Day 1.
“I’ve always been involved in the company, but more on the office side,” she says. “Bryan’s the guy on-site managing the projects and I was part of the office team looking at marketing and branding. I dabbled in design in House of Bryan. This is the first time Bryan has said, ‘I think it would be good for you to see our side of the business and understand what it means, from the ground up.'”
“I think the view out there is that Sarah shops,” Bryan says. “She runs the Baeumler Family Foundation, totes our four kids around and has been heavily involved in the construction company for 15 years. The only difference with this show is that we’re filming Sarah’s involvement.”
The education starts immediately on Sunday night when the pair purchase two homes, with a plan to renovate and flip them for profit. Sarah, project manager, quickly learns working within home-buying and design budgets is easier said than done. Throw in designing the company’s offices, keeping their media company and production company on track and … oh yeah … parenting four kids, and the duo have a tough task ahead of them. Episodes catch the pair on the construction sites, in the office, with the children … just a typical day in the Baeumler’s lives.
“There are big, big stakes with this show,” Bryan explains. “There is a name on the side of my truck that my father threatened me with my life if I ruined. The reality of that, versus let’s just break the bank to get exactly what we want … I think people will get a welcome peek into that side of it.”
Moving the McGillivrays airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.
Bryan Inc. airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.
Images courtesy of Corus Entertainment.
