HGTVis once againat the center of controversyafter a homeowner’s viral complaint raised concerns about the network’s renovation practices.HGTV is under firedue to numerous homeowner complaints about shoddy renovation work, leading to lawsuits and even the temporary removal of shows likeHome Work. Viewers also criticize formulaic house-flipping content and scripted scenes that don’t reflect real life.
A wave of belovedHGTV series such asBargain Block,Married to Real Estate,Farmhouse Fixer,Izzy Does It,andBattle on the Beachwere abruptly canceledin mid-2025, shocking viewers and hosts. Rising costs and production delays reportedly drove the decision. Many fans are upset by the loss of diversity-driven renovation content.
HGTV is also being slammed by a fan namedCaitlinOrellanain a viral TikTok video. She believes thenetwork portrayed her Victorian-inspired, “witchy” home unfairlyand made it look worse than it actually is during its October feature. Caitlin’s home was shared onHGTVHomeInstagram and YouTube accounts in October 2024.
The video opens with Orellana joyfully jumping and twirling in her living room, with white text reading, “Our house was featured on HGTV!” playing over the clip. The viral TikTok sound sampling Kendrick Lamar’s “United in Grief” plays in the background. When the song reaches the “I grieve different” line, the video switches to a screen recording of the HGTV home tour.
In the caption, Orellana complained, “They put a sepia filter over our entire segment and the house looked bad,” followed by a crying emoji. Orellana added, “HGTV really did me dirty on this one,” in her caption as she believes that while her space has a dark and moody feel, there were splashes of color like a colorful couch or rug which were ignored in the HGTV clip.
What Fan Complaining About HGTV Making Her Colorful Home Look Dull Means
How Editing Changed The Look Of Caitlin’s Home
It appears that Caitlin keeps posting content around her house on her own social media which makes her house look more cheerful than what was filmed and edited by HGTV. Her followers too think that the networkmade her house look drab and greywhich it isn’t.
Caitlin and her followers are blaming the social media post for adding a sepia tone that has changed the house’s mood entirely.
Caitlin has also decorated her house with vintage trinkets that are colorful and pretty and add little pops of interest to the décor. It appears that the video also missed out on highlighting these. Her supporters seem to bedemanding the network make a second home tour video to really highlight the mood of the space. They want HGTV to do better.
The muted and almost dull colors aren’t the only things that HGTV has fumbled with in the video. It appears even professional hairstylist Caitlin’shair color looked drastically different due to the sepia filter.Still, Caitlin seems to be on a mission to show off how lovely her house looks on her own social media pages, and after all, it is a big achievement for her to be featured in the HGTV video.
Is HGTV Losing Touch With Its Audience?
HGTVis facing growing backlash over how it handles renovations and home features. Viewers and homeowners like Caitlin Orellana are speaking out, saying the network makes spaces look dull or misrepresented. With canceled shows and editing complaints piling up,HGTV seems out of touch with what audiences expect. The network’s once-positive image is starting to fade.
