HGTV is getting on the Barbie craze with its latest endeavor. The network revealed that it will be releasing a new series called Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge that will bring to life the iconic home of the Mattel creation. The series, which is set to debut on July 16 on HGTV, will be hosted by supermodel, designer, and author, Ashley Graham. There will be four parts to the special which will include eight teams comprised of familiar faces in the HGTV family and one member on each squad that will hail from The Food Network.
‘Barbie’s Dreamhouse Challenge’ Will Push its Stars to the Limits
Over the four-part series, there will be a host of talent from HGTV’s collection of shows that will participate in the new special. This will include Egypt Sherrod and husband Mike Jackson, Jasmine Roth, Ty Pennington, Alison Victoria, Jonathan Knight, and Kristina Crestin. That’s just some of the talents that can be expected to be seen as a bevy of others that include James Bender, Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas, and Mika and Brian Kleinschmidt among others.
“To pull this off, we’ve assembled the biggest group of renovation stars ever on HGTV to create a real-life fully functioning Barbie Dreamhouse,” said Graham in the press release. “The pressure is on for the teams to unleash their creativity far beyond their usual design parameters to dream up a place that Barbie would be proud to call home.”
Jonathan Adler, an acclaimed designer and Barbie collaborator, will serve as the head judge, alongside Tiffany Brooks. There will be a rotation of guest judges along the way that will feature Nischelle Turner, Marsai Martin, and Christian Siriano. In the end, the winning team will have a donation made in their honor to the Save The Children Foundation.
Fans can expect to see plenty of callbacks and nostalgia to the world of Barbie. Each challenge will see the house come to life, including a light-up dance floor, a hat carousel in the closet, and a few pet elevators located throughout the home. The premiere episode will be 90 minutes and focus on the first floor. Each ensuing episode will tackle a new section of the home before it’s eventually completed. The second episode will see the creation of Ken’s den as well as the primary suite. After that, the third episode will bring to life the front and backyard, and exterior while the finale will complete the office and closets.
The Time is Now for HGTV’s Barbie Series With the Upcoming Movie
The release of the special will coincide with another major release, the Warner Bros. Pictures film Barbie which will star Margot Robbie as the titular character along with Ryan Gosling as Ken. Greta Gerwig is the director with Noah Baumbach as the screenplay writer. There will be plenty of recognizable faces popping up in supporting roles throughout the movie, which will include Kate McKinnon, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, and John Cena. The film will hit theaters on July 21, just five days after the HGTV series premieres.
This film will be the first time the Mattel toy is featured in live action. There have been multiple animated movies over the years, including Barbie in the Nutcracker which kicked off the first of a line of films that began airing on Nickelodeon beginning in 2001. The fashion doll first came to prominence when it was created back in 1959 with Ruth Handler being considered the creator of the toy.
