Fresh off the heels of A Very Brady Renovation, HGTV star Mina Starsiak of the Indianapolis based series, Good Bones is getting ready to square off with some of her renovating co-stars in the network’s newest competition show, Rock the Block premiering this October. In what is looking to be our next obsession in the home renovation realm, Starsiak will be up against three of the hottest HGTV stars to transform four identical suburban properties in the greater Los Angeles area into one-of-a-kind homes that standout from the rest on the block.
Ahead of the series premiere on Oct. 21, Starsiak opened up to PopCulture.com exclusively about what fans can expect from the show as she renovates alongside, Jasmine Roth of Hidden Potential; Leanne Ford of Restored by the Fords; and, Alison Victoria of Windy City Rehab.
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“All of us had the most fun, but it was some of the hardest work we’ve done,” Starsiak told PopCulture.com, adding how the days were incredibly long and lasted 16 hours at a time in 105-degree heat. “We were in the desert in Northern California, so, it was intense, but it was incredibly fun, super rewarding.”
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Starsiak, a proud Midwest native, born and raised in the Hoosier state, admitted that working construction and renovation in California was a lot different than it is in Indiana while shooting for her own series, Good Bones alongside mother, Karen Laine.
“It was a learning curve for me because I’m not from California, like Jasmine and Leanne,” she revealed. “[They have] very different building codes, so, if you want to put in a water feature in your backyard or a six-sprayer body shower thing, girl, you’re not allowed to do that because you can’t use that much water.”
With Starsiak always up for the challenge though, she added how there was “a lot of things” that required an adjustment “because of the rules of the state and then in the city.”
In order to morph their homes into the ultimate suburban oasis, HGTV gave its stars a budget of $175,000 each. With the four designing women using each home as a direct reflection of their distinctive vision and style, the network states in a press release the winner will not only go on to gain the satisfaction of beating the best in the business, but they will also get a street named after them. With endless possibilities in both design and construction, a range of HGTV stars, including Tarek El Moussa, Mike Holmes, and Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt will serve as judges, while Property Brothers star and real estate expert, Drew Scott will host — someone of whom Starsiak admires in the home design field.
“Everyone thinks all of us HGTV pop stars have pajama parties and we all know each other really well. Some of us do, but whenever that comes up, we always talk about the Property Brothers and I’m like, ‘They’re the nicest folks, they’re Canadian.’ Obviously, it explains so much,” she laughed. “But they are some of the nicest, and most hardworking. I don’t know how they do it.”
Starsiak goes on to share that while she worked with both Roth and Ford on A Very Brady Renovation, the three work to maintain a friendship even off-screen.
“We’ve got to spend a lot more time together and [they’ll] text me just random stuff, funny stuff, or pictures or comments we find online, so if I go out to California, not for something I’m doing with Leanne, I would reach out and we’d get a drink,” Starsiak disclosed. “So, it’s cool, because we’ve developed some friendships that will last and kind of fit into the whole idea the public has of us being all besties.”
But does that budding friendship get in the way of a little healthy competition when it comes to the series objective? While Starsiak, Roth and Victoria are competitive, she admits it’s a little different for the “wildly talented” Ford.
“She doesn’t have the competitive drive that I think the other three of us had, so we were going into this like, ‘Whatever I have to do, you guys are going down’ and Leanne — you’ve got to love her for it — she’s like, ‘I’m just going to make it pretty. I don’t care if I win!’” Starsiak laughed. “But she’s amazing and that’s what’s annoying, because she could not care and she’ll win.”
Will Starsiak beat out Ford, Roth or Victoria in the new series? Fans will have to tune into Rock the Block when it premieres Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV.
Photo credit: Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images
