How Jack McBrayer Was Inspired by Hosting HGTV's 'Zillow Gone Wild' (Exclusive)

Jack McBrayer opens up to PopCulture.com ahead of the May 3 premiere of 'Zillow Gone Wild.'

By Anna Rumer

Jack McBrayer is touring some of the wackiest and weirdest houses on the market for HGTV's new show, Zillow Gone Wild. Ahead of the series premiere on Friday, May 3, the Emmy-nominated actor and comedian opened up to PopCulture.com about being a houseguest at some of the most inventive and imaginative homes on the market – and how he's been inspired to bring some of that non-traditional style into his own house. 

Inspired by the viral Instagram account of the same name, Zillow Gone Wild takes viewers inside quirky homes like that of the "Saxophone House" in Berkeley, California, or an underground bunker that was transformed into a cozy place to entertain. As McBrayer explores the homes, he also digs into the intriguing backstories of the buyers and sellers when it comes to their interior design inspirations. Each home, once ranked on attributes such as creativity, commitment to the theme, and unique qualities, will enter the running for the "wildest" home of all, decided by fans for the season finale.

Exploring all the unconventional houses was "so fun," McBrayer gushed to PopCulture. "I got to go to these wild places and see these crazy unique homes, but my favorite part was meeting the people who were making these decisions, who were inspired to choose these designs and styles of architecture and that kind of thing. That felt very special."

The 30 Rock star continued, "I like to think that I'm a person who's a good houseguest and easy to talk to, so it really just made it that much more fun and easy to just drop by someone's home and 'ooh' and 'ah' over everything."

Before he signed on as the host of HGTV's new show, McBrayer was clear with the network that he didn't want to turn the series into something "snarky or cynical," and he was happy to hear the network wanted to have "positive and celebratory" outlook on the homes as well.

"These people are just kind of being quite vulnerable with us and telling us the stories behind all of their choices and everything," McBrayer explained. "And some of the stories are very poignant and just really lovely backgrounds. ... I saw 24 houses and each one was special in its own way. There are no two that I would mix up together. "

The host added, "Sometimes I'm like, do I just have some boring taste? Because I love my house. I live in my dream house, but it would never appear on Zillow Gone Wild. It would be like Zillow Gone Meh." McBrayer was able to draw some inspiration from the unique properties he toured, however, especially when it came to their water features. 

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Joking that he might have been "a fish or something" in a past life, the actor admitted his eyes "lit up" at some of the beautiful swimming pools he saw this season. "It did inspire me – you know what? I could put different seating arrangements out here, or I can incorporate more plants and planters in my pool area," he told PopCulture, joking that while he brought elements of his experience home with him, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to purchase an old abandoned Catholic church or anything anytime soon."

Zillow Gone Wild premieres Friday, May 3, at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. Viewers can enter for a chance to win $25,000 by correctly guessing which home will be crowned the 'Wildest House' from the series after the penultimate episode of Zillow Gone Wild airs on June 21. From there, they can visit www.hgtv.com/wild to cast their vote, and all submissions that match the winning home in the finale episode on June 28 will be automatically entered in HGTV's Wild and Win Contest.

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