Gulp. Here goes...
In April, we filmed our very own episode of HGTV's House Hunters International in our charming city of Lucca, Italy! How did this happen? Well, it all started during the pandemic.
Between episodes of Tiger King, Dario and I binged lots of travel shows on tv and YouTube during the lockdown. House Hunters is often called “television comfort food” because of its straightforward and predictable format which is easy to follow, making it the perfect show to binge. We were forced to postpone two Italy trips during that crazy and uncertain time and watching these shows and dreaming of when we would be off to Italy again helped to pass the days and softened the blow of our missed adventures and pent up wanderlust.
A couple of years before 2021, we started casually dreaming about buying property in Italy. When our search began in earnest in late 2021, we impulsively sent an email to House Hunters International, not really expecting anything to come of it. To our surprise, the following week we received a response from Alicia, a casting producer, who shared insights into the filming process, the time commitment, and the compensation.
We were intrigued but not convinced, so I found the likelihood of it not actually happening kind of comforting. After all, HGTV receives thousands of applications each year. According to the production company's site, as of today 1,979 episodes featuring 146 countries have been filmed and 1,902 episodes have aired. Honestly, we just didn't think our story was that unique or interesting. So, we figured we’d just go with the flow and see where things went.
Through our early conversations with Alicia, we learned that House Hunters International selects
participants who have already completed their purchase to avoid wasting resources and time since a lot can go sideways with buying property internationally. As we've written about in other blog posts, house hunting in a foreign country is a time-consuming and exhausting endeavor. Recognizing the difficulty and timeline of the process, we now understand that reenacting it is the most practical approach. Case in point, from the moment we initially started house hunting to when we finally turned the keys in the front door, more than two years elapsed. So, each episode of House Hunters International essentially features a dramatization of the buying process.
The Selection Process Sprinkled with Italian Bureaucracy
Alicia periodically checked in with us as we navigated the slow-moving Italian bureaucracy. At one point, Italy had the right of first refusal on our historical property, leaving us in a weird limbo for 60 days. After anxiously waiting, we finally closed the deal in early 2022, but our seller wanted to rent back from us while waiting for their new home. More waiting. Have I mentioned that buying internationally requires a lot of patience?!
Our Casting Journey
Once our purchase was finalized, Alicia sent us detailed paperwork to complete, including an eight-page questionnaire and requests for photos of the property. We learned that as many as 70k people are part of the HHI casting process each year, although few actually follow through with the involved paperwork. At one point, my computer crashed before I had saved the document and I wondered if maybe it was a sign to abandon ship too!
During this time, the producers continued to meticulously collect information about our real-life house-hunting journey. The Producer, Joycelyn, described the show as part reality, part game show and part drama. We were impressed by how the House Hunters team seemed interested in translating our real-life house-hunt into an episode that depicted our motivations, thought process and the types of properties we had explored.
"A chi sa aspettare, ogni cosa arriva."
Translation: "For those who know how to wait, everything arrives."
We went months with no further word and we assumed that maybe they had changed their minds. But to our complete surprise, in February of 2023, we received an email from Alicia congratulating us on being cast to film an episode!
What had we gotten ourselves into?! I’m not someone who enjoys being in the spotlight, plus I have an aversion to being recorded. But I found comfort in reminding myself why I think people watch the show. In my opinion, most viewers are drawn to the excitement of moving abroad, using the participants to experience new places vicariously. The show offers a virtual tour, showcasing the unique charm and possibilities of each region. So, less about us and more about Lucca! Right?
Two Years and Many Emails Later...
Employing a bit of creative license and TV magic, the House Hunters International production team aims to craft an episode that depicts the challenges of your real life property search. Over the next months, we engaged in several more rounds of written Q&A emails, followed by a couple of video calls with the Producer, Joycelyn. She shared that she was was juggling the production of three other episodes in different locations while we would be shooting ours.
Because we don't live in Lucca full-time yet, coordinating filming dates took some time. We were initially scheduling to film in the summer of 2023, but the production company temporarily suspended filming in Italy for some reason.
It was a long wait, but nearly two years later, we finally filmed our episode in April 2024.
Staged for Suspense
The show’s primary goal is to create suspense about which house you will ultimately agree on, mirroring your real-life house hunt but with a bit of added drama for TV. We knew that the they look for a bit of conflict, to leave viewers guessing which house you'll finally agree on, and several of the questions were designed to find sources of disagreement during our purchase process. Dario and I tend to be pretty lockstep in our decision-making, so there were definitely some sources of conflict thrown in by the Director to add some spice.
Hopefully we don't come across as annoying or boring. If you've watched the show, you know there's typically a good cop/bad cop formula, so chances are one of us will be the annoying one. I'm anticipating cringing through the entire thing! As relatively private people, we sincerely hope that something close to our true story makes it past the editing floor to the final version of the show (which we don’t get to preview beforehand). Nevertheless, it was a fun and surreal experience.
Join Us for a Watch Party
To add a twist of fun, we've created a drinking game for viewing our episode. Our ulterior motive? If everyone's a bit tipsy, we can laugh through the whole experience together! So grab your favorite beverage (Aperol Spritz if you're keeping with the theme) and laugh along with us. Cheers !
Take a sip when:
Ashley says "beautiful" (trust us, it happens a lot)
Anyone mentions Italian charm (requisite for any European property)
Dario’s scarf makes a cameo
You hear “empty nest” (again)
There's talk of natural light, outdoor space, or an open floor plan
Our episode of House Hunters International (Season 197/Episode 8) is set to premiere on Tuesday, November 26th at 10PM EST. Tune in to see why we fell in love with Lucca and why we hope you will, too! It’s such a special place, and we’re thrilled it’s getting the spotlight.
Check out Part II - Behind the Scenes!
We just watched your episode and looked you up in the English Mondays Facebook group. My grandparents were from Lucca and we visit often. FWIW, neither of you were annoying. Cin cin!