Lies From My Lottery Dream Home You Were Led To Believe Were True

Everything is never really as it seems with reality TV. While "My Lottery Dream Home" has been airing on HGTV since 2015, there are probably a lot of lies and misconceptions about the show you might think are true. Yet with most productions, things aren't exactly as they appear. Since its premiere, fans have watched "Color Splash" alum David Bromstad lead lottery winners on their real estate journey all across the USA. He's friendly and fun, and the contestants always seem to have plenty of money to spend on their homes. But is it all too good to be true? And are there really that many lottery winners out there? Not only that, but are there that many lottery winners who want to go on a real estate show?

We've uncovered the behind-the-scenes secrets that you may not know about the show and the contestants who participate. Even if you've seen every episode of the show's 17 seasons (that's impressive!) and consider yourself an HGTV superfan, you're still likely to be shocked at what you discover. And, maybe you'll just be inspired to go and rewatch your favorite episode with new eyes! 

There's such a thing as the lottery curse. It's the name for the phenomenon that happens when many lottery winners end up in a worse financial spot than before they won. It's often because they can't handle their money. To avoid this pitfall, some winners might be secretive about their newfound cash, wary of greedy family members, or potential scams coming their way. It's possible that this was the reason it was so hard to cast the first season of the show. "We reached out to close to 1,000 lottery winners and we got 10 to appear on our first season," producer Mike Krupat told Mediaweek. That's only a 1% yield!

Luckily, it isn't as hard to get people to agree to film now as the success of the show helped spur more participation."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," Krupat said. To continue to encourage lottery winners to want to come on the show, Krupat insisted that the team is very careful to tell positive, people-focused stories. "Lottery winners don't really need the exposure," he said. "And they don't need the money to participate. The truth is they have great stories to tell, which is appealing to them." Fans of the show will know this is true, as each episode is very feel-good.

If you spent every work day being around lucky lottery winners, you might feel tempted to buy a ticket or two for yourself. After all, maybe some of their luck will rub off on you! However, Bromstad isn't much for gambling himself. "You'd think I would, especially rubbing elbows with all of these really rich, really lucky people. [But] no, I do not play the lottery," he told The Wrap. While he didn't clarify if he's never bought a single scratch-off ticket or simply doesn't line up each month for a shot at millions, he did discuss other ways he has experienced lots of luck in his life.

He continued, "... I've already won the lottery. I won Design Star, and that was my lottery. I'm generally not a very lucky person. So I'm good. I've won it, that's my win." Without his "Design Star" win way back in 2006, who knows if the Florida native would have ever made the jump from being a Disney enthusiast and designer to a certified HGTV celebrity? However, as seen in his long-running show "Color Splash" and now on "My Lottery Dream Home," his fans know luck may have a little to do with his success, but it's really Bromstad's love of bright color combinations and a keen eye for style that did most of the work.

You might think house-hunting lottery winners are all looking for unbelievably impressive mansions in the Hollywood Hills, but this simply isn't the case. Sure, some of the clients who come into big money want to splurge, but most of those featured just want a normal family home — albeit a bit of an upgrade. "It all depends on how much money they've just won," Bromstad told the New York Post. "Some people are living paycheck to paycheck and they're pretty smart, like, 'Wow, I'm 35 years old and I've just won a million dollars — it's going to change my life for the moment but I've got to be smart about it.'"

This is a sentiment that Bromstad is consistent with, telling AOL, "Most people are looking to upgrade their primary homes. They're coming from very humble beginnings, and it's so fun to see these people live the dream. It's pretty amazing." There is evidence of this on many episodes of the show, too, as it films all over the country. It doesn't just feature pricey mansions in California. Bromstad helps buyers find lower-budget dream homes in other states like Texas, New Hampshire, and even Arkansas, too.

You might think that Bromstad has his real estate license, which is what qualifies him to tour these fabulous listings with guests on the show. However, although he has an extensive background in design and decor, there is nothing on record to indicate he is currently a licensed realtor or real estate broker. For example, he is not currently listed as an agent in Tennessee, where HGTV headquarters are, nor in Florida, where he lives. He also doesn't have the certification listed on his LinkedIn, although he does have an impressive resume and plenty of design tips to save time and money. This lack of license is likely why you see him meeting with a local agent at the beginning of each episode to get information on listings for his clients.

So, how did he land the gig if he's never worked in real estate before? "I actually got on the show because there was nothing else going on," he told Watermark Out News. "I was still in my contract with HGTV and design shows had just died. They asked me, 'Hey, do you want to do a pilot for this show called 'My Lottery Dream Home'?' I was like 'Sure, I have literally nothing else to do.' Now the show that should have never been is now one of the biggest shows on the network." Luckily for Bromstad and the network both, his keen eye for design and bright personality allow him to perfectly play the part of the agent, with or without a license.

Like most shows on HGTV, you might wonder how real everything is during each episode, and maybe even if "My Lottery Dream Home" is real or staged. Most of the storylines and outcomes are the show are real, in that yes — the clients really do tour the houses, and as far as we know, they are not lying about where their money came from. However, all the small moments or conversations happening in the background might not be entirely authentic. It is reality TV, after all! So if the producers aren't totally happy with a shot, clients have to re-shoot it. "I wasn't there to be Joe Hollywood," former guest Brian Kutz told HeraldNet about how many times they needed to redo certain reactions or conversations. "We really were just trying to get Coupeville on the map."

These reshoots are not necessarily to change the course of the storyline or influence the guests' choices. Sometimes, the lighting might be bad in a shot, or the sound could have gotten messed up due to a microphone issue or a plane flying overhead. In these cases, producers on reality TV shows will typically ask guests to reshoot their reaction to a room or their discussion about the features, just to make sure audiences at home get a good experience, too.

Based on the name of the show, it is perfectly valid to assume that it's a program about lottery winners buying houses. However, as the seasons have gone on, the scope has actually expanded a bit to include anyone who had a sudden infusion of money. There are still many who might have earned this through gambling games like scratch-off tickets. However, there are more and more contestants who are on the show because they have received sizeable inheritances from deceased family members, not won the lottery.

For example, in Season 17, Episode 1 titled "Hot Springs Party Place," a woman seeks to honor her deceased husband by purchasing a lovely getaway home on the shore of a lake in Arkansas. Bromstad helps her and her son fulfill this dream while respecting their grief. He does the same in Season 16, Episode 3, "Family Bonds" when two siblings use money from their late brother to purchase a home near the Coachella Festival. In these episodes, he always shows compassion to his clients and offers his condolences over the situation, instead of celebrating the big win as he does when his clients have won a prize.

Sometimes you hear rumors of celebrities who act totally differently when the cameras are off. You might think this about Bromstad because he is so bubbly on-screen — there's no way someone could really be like that! Luckily, contestants confirm that he is just as fun and friendly as he seems, even when the cameras aren't rolling. "I tell you, we laughed and cut up and had so much fun," Anthony Colligan from Season 7 told The Acadiana Advocate about his time on the show. "I didn't know he was like that. I did not know. I just started laughing and couldn't stop."

There are accounts of him being kind, too. A group of fans spotted him in Somerset, Kentucky, while a recent season was in production, and he took the time to chat to them, even though he was very busy. "He was working and looked like he had a lot going on, and I guess we kind of interrupted that. But he was very kind to us," one told the Commonwealth Journal. "He was just like what he is on the show."

Even with the popularity of the show, many contestants still think twice before agreeing to be a part of it. You might think all lottery winners are eager to burn through their new money, but Bromstad wants to make sure everyone knows this isn't the case. "A lot of winners get financial advisers and think it through before they call me," he told The New York Post. This is a very different reality from the narrative of big spenders splashing out. Instead, many who appear do their due diligence to discover a realistic budget for their next real estate purchase, which they mention at the start of each episode so Bromstad knows what he's working with. They don't seem to be after lots of fame or notoriety, unlike others who might sign up for a reality TV show on other topics.

That said, Bromstad still goes out of his way to make sure the people he hosts on the show aren't taken advantage of at any point in the process. "They know I'm going to give them great deals and show them exactly what they want to see," he said. This is why there are at least two properties featured in each episode. Even with a larger budget, he still wants to make sure clients are getting exactly what they want.

He is such an enthusiastic host, leading many to think that he was excited to be on it from the very first episode. However, this isn't the case! In fact, on the HGTV Obsessed podcast, Bromstad revealed that he actually had a bit of an identity crisis during the first season of the show."Yeah, no, the show is amazing," he told the interviewer, Marianne Canada. "And it took me a minute to really come out and fall in love with the show, because I was like, okay, now I'm hosting a real estate show, I'm an artist. This is way off my beaten path, but at the moment, design was dead on the network."

He started hosting right after his long-running show "Color Splash" was canceled in 2012. That program was more about design and renovation, which Bromstad prefers, so he had to hype himself up a bit to fall in love with real estate. Yet now, it's more like second nature. "I was like, it's a really beautiful show," Bromstad said. "It's really easy to do, and now I get to express myself with fashion." Longtime fans will know this is true, as he sports fun, colorful outfits on the show whenever he gets the chance.