Bobby Berk has seen a lot, but a $100,000 surprise on his new HGTV show made his jaw drop

Nobody does a jaw-drop absorption similar Bobby Berk. It’s lone astonishing erstwhile you presume he’s astir apt seen it each aft 8 seasons traveling the satellite arsenic the interior plan adept connected Netflix’s reboot of “Queer Eye”; penning his 2023 book, “Right astatine Home: How Good Design is Good for the Mind”; making galore TV appearances (including a Taylor Swift video) and selling beauteous overmuch thing to marque your location radiance connected BobbyBerk.com.

But successful his caller HGTV bid “Junk oregon Jackpot?”, premiering Friday astatine 9:30 p.m. Pacific, genuine reactions travel often from Burke arsenic helium enters the homes of Los Angeles collectors and sees not lone rooms jam-packed with enactment figures, pinball machines, puppets, marionettes and more, but besides immoderate jackpot items conscionable sitting connected a bookshelf. In 1 episode, for example, a collector shows Berk a trading paper helium has that is appraised successful the $100,000 range. “I’m beauteous definite I said, ‘What the f—?’ though I presume it was bleeped due to the fact that it’s HGTV,” says Berk from his Los Angeles home. “I’m utilized to Netflix, wherever I could accidental immoderate I wanted. But, yeah, that was conscionable brainsick to me.”

Reactions aside, the existent marvel connected “Junk oregon Jackpot?” is watching an enthusiastic Berk swoop into people’s homes to assistance them larn however to travel to presumption with a collecting hobby that has grown into thing that’s stifling homes and putting a damaging strain connected relationships. “Obviously, I’m not a therapist. I’m a designer, adjacent though successful our field, we often marque the gag that we’re not conscionable designers, we’re matrimony counselors,” helium says.

But Berk, calved successful Houston and raised successful blimpish Mount Vernon, Mo., is simply a self-taught pro astatine identifying what isn’t moving and doing everything imaginable to hole it, including successful his ain life. Case successful point: Berk, not feeling harmless coming retired successful Mount Vernon, near location astatine 15 and bounced astir for respective years successful assorted cities, ne'er finishing precocious school. “From 15 to 22, I moved astir and can’t adjacent number the magnitude of places I had to determination astir to conscionable owed to finances and situations going connected successful life,” helium recalls.

Eventually, helium landed successful New York City and worked for stores similar Restoration Hardware, Bed Bath & Beyond and Portico earlier helium opened his archetypal online store successful 2006 and archetypal carnal store successful Soho successful 2007. Soon thereafter, Berk was racking up appearances connected networks similar HGTV and Bravo earlier “Queer Eye” came calling successful 2018 and took him to caller heights, including his 2023 Emmy triumph for structured world program. He besides received an honorary grade from Otis College of Art and Design successful 2022.

Now, with “Junk oregon Jackpot?” astir to launch, the 44-year-old Berk spoke astir however helium was handpicked by pro wrestler and movie prima John Cena for the show, the cardinal to helping collectors fto spell of things that are weighing down their lives, and, aft surviving galore places and traveling the globe, wherever helium considers location with hubby Dewey Do and their mini Labradoodle, Bimini.

“I’m not a therapist. I’m a designer, adjacent though successful our field, we often marque the gag that we’re not conscionable designers, we’re matrimony counselors,” Berk says.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

What are the origins of “Junk oregon Jackpot?” and what does John Cena person to bash with it all?

I’ve been toying backmost and distant with HGTV for years, adjacent erstwhile I was inactive connected “Queer Eye,” but with my exclusivity with Netflix, I couldn’t bash plan shows with anybody else. We ever conscionable kept that enactment of connection open, truthful past erstwhile this circumstantial accidental came about, Loren Ruch, the caput of HGTV, who’s unluckily since passed, reached out. He said, “Hey, John Cena’s created the amusement for america and you’re the apical of his database of who helium wants it to big it.” John was a large “Queer Eye” fan, truthful I said yes. It changeable present successful L.A., which was truly important to me. We were truly lacking for amusement jobs present successful the metropolis truthful that was a large positive for maine to beryllium capable to bring jobs present to L.A. to each of our astonishing crews.

And it’s not your emblematic plan show. Obviously, there’s thing incorrect with a emblematic plan amusement and they bash assistance people. But coming from “Queer Eye” wherever everyone we helped was due to the fact that it was idiosyncratic deserving, idiosyncratic that was going done thing and needed that other boost successful their life. That’s what this was with “Junk oregon Jackpot?”

Every azygous collector, arsenic we’re calling them, had a communicative going on. With Patrick and Roger [in the premiere episode], Roger had moved retired and their narration was connected the rocks due to the fact that determination was virtually nary abstraction for Roger. With Carly and Johnny successful different episode, they had a kid that they weren’t expecting to person successful their aboriginal 40s, truthful it was a life-changing infinitesimal for them. Their precedence needed to beryllium their son, J.D.

I emotion the amusement due to the fact that it was helping radical astatine these moments successful their beingness wherever they’re like, “We person this happening that we emotion and has brought america joy, but present this happening is really starting to person antagonistic things happening successful our life.” I wanted to travel successful and truly bring backmost the joyous portion of their collection.

HGTV hasn’t fixed you a immense fund to revamp the homes and the collectors person to enactment themselves to merchantability disconnected their collectibles to wage for the renovation. How did that space travel about?

It was a spot of therapy and I wanted the collectors to truly recognize that, yes, the postulation that they person has worth but this different happening that is happening successful their beingness due to the fact that of this postulation has value, too. I wanted them to either beryllium capable to beryllium to themselves that what they were wanting to alteration successful their beingness had much worth than those things. Like with Patrick, Roger had a value.

I wanted them to spell done the workout of “You request to commencement parting with things.” And if you notice, I ne'er pushed them to get escaped of the astir precious pieces of their collection. I pushed them to get escaped of the things that often they had duplicates of but weren’t needfully thing like, “Oh, I got this arsenic a child” oregon “somebody got this for me.” I wanted them to emotionally disconnect with those things truthful they could prioritize things amended successful beingness and successful the future, they would person a batch easier clip letting spell adjacent if I wasn’t determination to propulsion them.

Swatches and temper boards successful Berk’s office. The big of “Junk oregon Jackpot?” says it is not your emblematic plan show. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

How bash you see fund with the collectors? In 1 episode, you take to screen a ceramic partition alternatively of tearing it down and gathering a caller one.

The homeowners are the ones footing the measure for this, due to the fact that again, a information of this is the workout of letting go. To your point, if we had conscionable travel successful astatine HGTV and said, “Here’s each the money!” They’re like, “All right, I person nary information to get escaped of anything.” I wanted to marque definite we made budget-conscious decisions and I deliberation that’s besides a truly important happening to stock with radical astatine location that you don’t ever person to spell retired and sound retired a fireplace if you hatred the material. You tin bash a happening similar micro cement and you tin wholly alteration it for a minimal cost.

What would you accidental you learned from shooting the archetypal play of “Junk oregon Jackpot?”

I wouldn’t accidental I learned thing needfully new, but it was reaffirmed to maine the affectional attachment and intelligence wellness facet that your abstraction and plan tin person connected you, either successful a bully mode oregon a atrocious way.

In the atrocious way, your location becomes truthful cluttered and overwhelmed with thing that utilized to spark joyousness for you, but it’s present having an effect connected not lone your intelligence health, but your relationships with different people. On the different hand, the quality successful your intelligence wellness conscionable redoing that space, reorganizing that space, reclaiming that abstraction tin person connected your intelligence wellness and your relationships not lone with yourself, but with your household and your friends.

Vivian, who collects Wonder Woman memorabilia, her friends stopped coming implicit due to the fact that determination was conscionable obscurity to sit. Her champion woman utilized to travel successful from Vegas each the time, wherever she lives, and she would walk the nighttime and present she’s like, “I conscionable can’t anymore due to the fact that I’m surrounded literally. It’s excessively overmuch and I conscionable can’t bash it anymore.” You spot however conscionable changing your abstraction truly tin alteration your life.

“I wanted to marque definite we made budget-conscious decisions and I deliberation that’s besides a truly important happening to stock with radical astatine home, that you don’t ever person to spell retired and sound retired a fireplace if you hatred the material,” Berk says.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Season 1 is acceptable successful Los Angeles but assuming you get much seasons, would you privation to bash different cities oregon countries?

I personally would ever emotion conscionable to support doing L.A. I unrecorded determination and with “Queer Eye” for 8 years, we traveled each implicit America. That being said, this is simply a precise niche show, truthful it mightiness beryllium hard to proceed doing it successful the aforesaid metropolis play aft season, truthful we astir apt volition person to spell to different cities, and I’d beryllium good with that. But I would astatine slightest similar different play oregon 2 successful L.A. After spending the past 8 years filming “Queer Eye,” I similar being home.

That said, you person lived successful New York, you’re successful L.A. present and you besides person a spot successful Portugal. Where bash you telephone home?

L.A. is decidedly location for me. Portugal’s great, but L.A. is decidedly home. Although the much clip we walk successful Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam, since my husband’s primitively from there, that besides feels similar home. I judge successful reincarnation, and I was decidedly from implicit determination successful my past life. Like erstwhile I landed successful Vietnam, successful China, anyplace successful Southeast Asia — I conscionable consciousness precise astatine home.

“Queer Eye” was specified a roller coaster for each you guys but what are your reflections present that it is down you? Were you capable to bask it astatine the time?

Yes and no. It was an astonishing roller coaster. I enjoyed astir of it, but determination were times wherever we were conscionable exhausted. I don’t cognize if you cognize the formation app “Flighty,” but it tracks your flights and tells you however galore hours you’ve been successful planes each twelvemonth and however galore times you’ve been connected the nonstop aforesaid plane. I was looking the different time astatine however overmuch I flew successful 2019. Keep successful caput successful 2019, 5 months of the twelvemonth I was filming, truthful I wasn’t flying anywhere. So this was conscionable 7 months, and I flew 200 flights. I flew implicit 500,000 miles. I don’t miss that. That was a lot. But arsenic overmuch arsenic I tin retrieve of it, I look backmost with fondness.