What Really Goes on Behind the Set of Extreme Makeover Home Edition?

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is one of the Top rated Sunday Night TV programs and a great show for the whole family to watch. It was a wonderful treat when the TV show came to visit my state of Michigan and surprise a family in need.

My husband's best friend Jake is the lead contractor for a large construction company on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. Last year his firm was granted permission to build a brand new home Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Armada, Michigan.

Recently him and his wife came over for dinner and after talking with him a bit about the show, I soon realized that there is much more that goes on behind the scenes of this show than what meets the TV viewer's eye.

I listened to what Jake had to say and asked a few questions of my own. I was totally shocked when I heard the dirt about what goes on behind the scenes of the show. I picked Jakes' brain a bit with some off the wall questions I have always had about the show and he threw in some things I never would have had a clue took place on the set. I thought I would make this fun and share some true or false questions that lie behind all the media hype of ABC's number one family show.

The cast really does ride all the way from their set in California to where the family lives in a motor coach. FALSE. They do actually spend a lot of time on the bus, but only for photography, photo op purposes and rest. The short clip that is shown at the beginning of each show is actually filmed just before they get to the families home. The cast generally flies in via plane nearby to the current location. They stay at hotels in the area or on the bus once they are on location.

The Family does not know when and if Extreme Makeover is coming to their home. FALSE. In the Armada episode, the family did know they were coming, Jake could not't confirm for this every episode. The reason for it in this case was to assure the family was present at the time of the taping. A set up crew arrived sixty minutes prior to the TV and Design Team arriving.

The Families get to keep all of their personal belongings after they tear the house down. TRUE. Jake said in accordance with the Armada show, they rented Pods which are portable storage units. All of the families personal belongings were stored inside the Pods right there on the property.

The house really does get built in seven days, this is not just media hype made for television. TRUE. The homes do in fact get built and completed in seven days before the family arrives home. According to a set director who was filming in Armada MI, he assures this is the case with each build. My friend Jake told me that on day number seven he himself was in his Super Duty Ford truck with the speedometer reading 95, hauling ass down VanDyke Rd, escorted by two police cars with their sirens running to get him to Home Depot to complete last minute glitches and projects. This is no joke and I asked him twice to make sure he was not kidding.

The stories are always true that the families talk about and portray on the show. FALSE. With the Armada show telecast, the woman's husband did in fact die in the home from complications of black mold. What was not 't shared with the television audience was that she was an abused spouse and he was very abusive towards her right up until his death. This information was not revealed until well into the renovation process.

The homes are built with quality construction materials. FALSE. For the most part they are. Except Jake did say to me in the case of the Armada home, due to time constraints. they ran out of the treated lumber they used to build the house, so the blue wood that is shown on TV as being used for mold prevention in a small area of the home is actually regular wood spray painted blue.

Ty Pennington is present and completely involved with the contracting and direction of the team at all times. FALSE. As for the Armada house, Ty actually was hardly seen by Jake and his construction crew throughout the seven days of the project, he was only there a total of two days. Once in the beginning and again on the last day. When he was there he was working in private and he also spent a lot of time in the Motor coach.

I love the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition and they do wonderful things for so many deserving families. In the future, if you ever have an Extreme Makeover home go up in your neighborhood, just remember there is always a little more than what meets the eye that goes on behind the scenes. So with that- "BUS DRIVER- MOVE THAT BUS!"