A group of Milwaukeeans will be in the national spotlight this weekend when a pilot for their new show premieres on HGTV.
On Sunday, April 2, HGTV will air the pilot episode of "My Flippin' Friends". The hour-long episode will feature five Milwaukeeans who renovate or "flip" homes.
- GALLERY: Meet "My Flippin' Friends"
The show features designers Jenni Radosevich, Mallory Davis, and Ben "Benji" Bernhard, real estate agent and general contractor Mike Styke, and project manager Alan Damato.
Radosevich said HGTV typically has shows that feature couples, but she also said, "This is the first (show) that they've ever done that has a group of people, a group of friends."
The idea began while Radosevich was living in New York City. She created a do-it-yourself blog about fashion. When she moved home to Milwaukee she turned her attention to do-it-yourself home projects.
"I started looking around in Milwaukee and there were a lot of great places that needed full renovation so that's kind of where it all started," she said.
She gathered some of her home renovation friends and pitched a show to HGTV. The network agreed to film a pilot episode.
Radosevich had done television before, but her friends had not.
"The whole process was extremely interesting to see behind the scenes of TV and how much work goes into it. It's a lot more work than people think," Styke said.
The group could not talk about the home they flipped for the show, but they did talk about how stressful the job is and how it tests their friendships.
"We're all very opinionated," Davis said. "We all like things done a certain way so it's kind of hard to navigate sometimes."
But at the end of the day, Damato said, "We all got each other's back."
They are happy their work and their hometown are going to be featured on national television.
"I like to say Milwaukee is the sixth character of the show," Radosevich said. "We really try to emphasize the makers here and the artisans and the community of people doing really cool things."
The pilot episode of "My Flippin' Friends" airs at 11:00 a.m. If the show catches on, HGTV will pick it up for a full season.
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