The latest round of HGTV’s hit series “Rock the Block” will offer the most “insane” action yet, according to host Ty Pennington, who has urged viewers to prepare for some never-before-seen antics as his crew—and a star-studded cast of would-be renovators—heads to Las Vegas.
With Pennington, 61, at the helm, Season 7 of the show will see a wide variety of celebrities showcasing their renovation skills, with several showcasing surprising talents in an effort to prove themselves to be the ultimate Sin City wild cards.
Late wrestler Hulk Hogan‘s daughter, Brooke Hogan, former boy band star Drew Lachey—brother of Netflix host Nick Lachey—Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis, and “Southern Charm” alum Chelsea Meissner will go head-to-head in the seven-week competition, which will see them each overhauling their own “blank slate” home on a cul-de-sac in the Nevada locale.
However, the stars aren’t going it alone in their effort to prove they have the most renovation chops. Each celebrity will be paired with their own HGTV mentor: Scott McGillivray of “Renovation Resort Showdown,” Taniya Nayak of “Battle on the Beach,” Mina Starsiak Hawk of “Good Bones,” and Kim Wolfe of “Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?”
Speaking to Realtor.com® ahead of the show’s premiere on April 13, Pennington put his money on this season being the most intriguing yet, revealing how the celebrity contestants significantly upped the ante by showing off some surprising design and renovation skills right from the off.
Beyond raising the stakes with their unexpected abilities, Pennington highlights the celebrity contestants’ willingness to showcase a side of themselves they’ve previously kept private as the show’s real ace in the hole.
In particular, he points to the vulnerability Hogan, 37, brought to the table. For the last eight years, the former singer has quietly made a living as the owner of a design firm in Nashville, TN.
She was readying to make her return to reality TV as a contestant on this show when she was prematurely thrust back into the spotlight following the death of her famous father in July 2025.
“Who knew Brooke Hogan would be—not only so adorable in the sense it’s hilarious—but then also go through such an emotional roller coaster because of the loss she’s gone through with her dad, and then literally share what her life has been like with her [show] partner, Scott, in this whole design process,” reflects Pennington.
“That really shows what this show is about, which is what I love,” he adds. “This season, you really saw what it’s like for someone to show their authentic self, like, ‘Look, you may know me as this, but I’m actually this person who does more than sing. I actually renovate and design and [it’s] something I’m very passionate about.’”
Getting to know Season 7’s celebrity contestants in a new light is something the seasoned HGTV pros had to do quickly.
While some may have been familiar with their partners from afar, only one pair—Wolfe and Meissner—had genuine ties to each other before the show. The inevitable learning curve, Pennington notes, is yet another reason this season stands out.
“The reason this particular season is so insane is because you’re working with a stranger you’ve never worked with before,” explains Pennington.
“Anybody who’s ever had to work with anyone before, whether it be a spouse or a friend, that’s difficult enough. But a stranger you’ve just met, even though they may be a celebrity, you’re like, ‘Is this gonna work?’ You’re sort of watching these four different train wrecks in design. It makes people who are good have to be great.”
Adding to the pressure of working with a stranger is the “compressed” timeline of the competition. Over the course of just seven weeks, teams are tasked with completely overhauling their three-bedroom, four-bathroom, approximately 5,000 square-foot house using a generous $275,000 budget.
Each week guest judges including Lisa Vanderpump and “Property Brothers” Drew and Jonathan Scott will consider the overall design, creativity, and of course, added value to determine a winner.
In a new twist, the team that comes out on top each week will have the choice of $3,000 to put toward the next renovation challenge or add $1,000 to the final appraisal price.
The updated prize option could be crucial to the final outcome, as Pennington details the difference between the appraised value of the first and second place homes in almost every previous season has been less than $10,000.
As such, the actual selling price of the single-story homes, which each have a starting market value of $1.9 million before the “Rock the Block” renovations, has become a competition in and of itself that Pennington and his castmates care very much about—in some ways even more so than the actual show championship prize, which is having the team’s names cemented on a street sign.
“Oh, God, yes,” Pennington admits. “Because I’m friends with all the designers that have been on these shows, I’m the first one to get hit up, like, ‘Guess whose home sold first?’”
“Sometimes it’s spot on to what the Realtors® voted on, and sometimes it’s one house off, but it’s always pretty close to what exactly the realtors judged on,” he adds.
“In a real estate market, the people who live out there are gonna know what kitchen layout is gonna sell better, which amenities, which things in the backyard are gonna sell more. There’s a lot that goes into making sure you put in what is going to raise that value.”
With the competition taking place in a sprawling desert neighborhood in north Las Vegas, contestants had ample room to incorporate over-the-top added amenities such as RV garages, private courtyards, and multigenerational suites, and they were granted full permission to play with the glamorous, sexy, and dramatic design aesthetic Sin City is known for.
“The visual stimulation and inspiration that these teams got from being there really showed up in the rooms and it’s just awesome,” reports Pennington.
“With Vegas, it’s metallics. It’s anything shiny,” he describes. “That could be an antique brass or it could be a bold mirror. Vegas is about texture. It could be fur. It could be checkerboard. There’s so many different themes and designs in Vegas.
“Let’s not forget Liberace! I mean, you could go way over the top, you know? And I think that’s what it’s about. You’ve got this super swank, modern lounge vibe that you could go with, but you could also go super classic—everything from Cosmopolitan to Caesar’s Palace is possible. I think because Vegas is such an amazing palate, it’s also an amazing show.”
Whichever Vegas-inspired decor vibe the contestants rolled the dice with, Pennington says the teams who focused on their home’s first impression played their cards right.
“I’m a big fan of wow them when they walk in the front door,” he explains. “Anybody who’s a potential buyer, whatever they see when they walk in the front door is going to determine, honestly, I think it’s 75% of the sale.
“If you get a feeling by walking in the door, whether it’s the foyer, whether it’s the living room, or whether it’s you seeing the kitchen to the right, that is going to determine whether you’re going back to see it again or if it’s going to top the last place you just saw.
“That’s what this show does. It is that wow factor of when you walk into a room that can immediately tell you, ‘Oh, this one’s gonna win.’ Until you see the next room. And then you’re like, ‘Oh my god, that one’s gonna win.’”
Pennington himself has applied the advice to include a wow factor at one of his personal homes. While the added feature at his Savannah, GA home isn’t located near its front door, it’s just as welcoming.
“We built this 9-foot pool outside that, in Savannah, which is super hot and [then] cold in the winter, it’s so key,” he says. “We had just a little tiled area before and we were like, ‘You know what this needs?’
“Sometimes just spending the money on something small like that can change the feel of the whole place,” he adds. “Now there’s this great little carriage apartment right next to a 9-foot pool, which changes the whole vibe. It feels like you’re in Europe. I think it’s those things [that] you’re like, ‘What can I do for $10,000 that’s going to really improve the value of this home?’”
It seems the best odds of hitting a jackpot in the renovation world, according to Pennington, is betting on the house. As the saying goes, the house always wins.
Season 7 of “Rock the Block” premieres Monday, April 13 at 8 p.m. on HGTV.