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Want to Be the Next Chip or Joanna? Here Are the Steps to Becoming an HGTV Star

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Jan 25, 2018 4:44 pm·

By Tiffany White

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If you're a real estate agent or a house flipper and often find yourself wondering why you don't have your own HGTV show yet, perhaps you should look to stars like Christina El Moussa and Nicole Curtis for inspiration. Many famous faces who have their own shows on the network were discovered through casting agents and producers. But that doesn't mean you have to be "lucky" to score your own program. Getting your face out there, showing off your design skills, and building a loyal following on social media are all sure ways to get noticed. Below, seven steps to achieving HGTV stardom.

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Get featured on a blog.

The quickest way to catch the eye of HGTV producers is to put yourself (and your designs) out there for the world to see. If you don't run a blog yourself or have your own following, an easy way to stand out is to get yourself featured on someone else's blog, preferably a popular one. That's what happened to Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper. The two had been remodeling homes for years, but they didn't get a call from HGTV until pictures of their Waco, TX home were featured on the blog Design Mom. The rest is history!

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Know the right people.

If you want to get on TV, it helps knowing a friend (or two) who works in production. That's how Scott McGillivray landed his show Income Property. He was already a licensed real estate agent and contractor when a friend of his who worked in television asked him to help out on a renovation for a show. "It was fun, I got to know people in production," Scott said about the experience. "Eventually they sent a camera crew to follow me around and they were like, we need to do a show about what you do with these rental properties and bam, here we are."

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Have an amazing Instagram account.

For Erin and Ben Napier, stars of Home Town, it was their Instagram full of gorgeous photos of their renovations and quaint pics of their small town that got the attention of an executive producer at HGTV. But it wasn't just the pretty pictures that caught the producer's attention, it was the Napiers' story and the fact that they were from a picturesque town in Mississippi.

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Be a real estate agent.

Since most of the shows on HGTV revolve around selling homes or renovating them, it helps to already exist in that industry before a producer calls. Rehab Addict's Nicole Curtis was working as a real estate agent and part-time home renovator when a producer looking for agents for a show left her a voicemail. When she showed up to his office for an interview, she managed to pitch him an entirely different show about her home renovation side job.

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Start a Facebook account for your business.

The stars of Good Bones run a renovation company called Two Chicks, One Hammer and they have a typical Facebook business page like most places. However, they definitely didn't expect a casting agent to discover them from there. "She kept calling my cell phone, and I thought it was someone messing with me first and trying to get our business information," Mina Starsiak explained. "But then I heard it was [a casting agent]… and we started a conversation about whether it was something we'd be interested in. We were like, 'Sound's like a party. Let's do it!'"

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Apply directly through HGTV's website.

If it's not stardom you're after and you simply want to appear on shows like House Hunters or Love It or List It, you can actually apply easily on HGTV's official website. The process sounds simple enough: simply send an email with your name, contact info, current pic, and a brief explanation of your housing plans and why you want to be on the show. If you're lucky, a producer will contact you for further info.

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Contact the production company directly.

Not all HGTV stars are discovered. Christina and Tarek El Moussa of Flip or Flop knew they wanted to be on TV, and so they sent an email directly to Pie Town Productions. "We just started flipping houses and we took a long shot and sent a production company an e-mail," Tarek explained. "They liked us and said to send a home video. We did, and they liked it." If you want to go this route, other production companies that also make shows for HGTV include High Noon Entertainment and Stage 3 Productions. Good luck!