Mina Starsiak Hawk Opens Up About Her 'Good Bones' Spinoff, 'Risky Business'
The new series — which features just one house — shows a grittier, more in-depth look at the renovation processs. HGTV sits down with Mina to get all the details.
Peter Wynn Thompson
Allow us to introduce you to Good Bones: Risky Business, HGTV's gritty Good Bones spinoff, hitting the network on September 6 at 9/8c.
Good Bones has captivated fans since it first premiered on HGTV in 2016. We love the show for it's feel-good vibes, but it doesn't always show the underbelly of what a remodel really entails. If you've watched, you know it doesn’t feature any cursing (which is often par for the course on major remodels), nor does it provide a deep dive into the unique challenges of remodeling each room within a home. Instead, Good Bones introduces viewers to a general overview of what goes into buying and updating a diamond-in-the-rough.
In the name of giving us a new look at what it really takes to renovate a home, HGTV came up with an idea: Good Bones: Risky Business. The spinoff maintains Mina Starsiak Hawk at the helm, but from a buying, building and filming standpoint, it's entirely unique. Risky Business will debut on HGTV and discovery+ on September 6 at 9/8c. In the meantime, we chatted with Mina about all the fun details.
What Sets Risky Business Apart?
It Features One House Instead of Six
Good Bones: Risky Business is a six-episode series that showcases a remodeling investment by Mina, but unlike Good Bones, where each episode showcases one house, Risky Business follows the storyline of Mina’s undertaking of a singular run-down Indianapolis mansion.
“I love the core of the Two Chicks & A Hammer business. I love the smaller projects, and the houses in these transitional neighborhoods, [but] it’s limiting because I can only do as much as the neighborhood calls for,” Mina says. “I can’t do fun, extravagant things all the time because I’m not going to make the money back, and we barely make a profit as it is.”
Because of this, Mina was set on going all in on the 6,000-square-foot mansion. It's been the eyesore of its neighborhood for decades, often frequented by squatters. Having already passed through the hands of numerous buyers and remodelers — and even once being set ablaze by a squatter — the house presented itself as an exciting opportunity Mina simply couldn’t pass up, even though she wasn’t (and still isn’t) sure how it will pan out. Her goal? To transform it into a bed and breakfast and event space. Each episode will focus on a space within the mansion, detailing every thought and action that’s gone into updating it — in real-time.
Peter Wynn Thompson
The Stakes Are Higher
The riskiest part about Good Bones: Risky Business is the financial aspect of the build. “Every house I buy is a terrible risk, and this was the riskiest because I didn’t really go in having a plan,” Mina reveals. “Instead of a $300,000, I’ll-figure-it-out risk, this was a $1.2 million, I’ll-figure-it-out risk, and it’s [still] not figured out. I thought we’d be able to use it as an income-producing property six months ago. So it's really a question of how badly do I want to hold it, and how much time can we wait before we get the money out of it.”
It’s hard not to wonder what will come of this remodel. Will it turn out as planned (a B&B)? Or will it follow Fixer to Fabulous: Welcome Inn’s suit and transform into something else entirely? Only time will tell.
Peter Wynn Thompson
We Get a More In-Depth Look
While filming for Risky Business, a cameraman essentially lived at Mina's house. Every move, every reaction, every muttered curse word (because, yes, cursing is allowed) was recorded — even if she didn’t want it to be. “It’s much more like Cops-style filming,” she says. “They’re just going with whatever happens.”
Production, including content-gathering and editing, looks different as well. “The biggest change is there's more time to focus on all the issues, all the things that come up, and talk about them. [Versus], In Good Bones you get a very high-level overview in the 42 minutes of an episode.”
According to Mina, Risky Business will bode well with Good Bones viewers and industry pros looking for more realistic accounts of remodels. “It's going to be something that’s unique about Good Bones: Risky Business,” she says. “People in the industry can watch and really see, ‘Oh OK, no, I get that; that makes sense,’ because there’s so much more in-depth information.”
Though, Mina assures us everyday design lovers will also appreciate a grittier take on the process, “it will also broaden the audience pool a little bit,” she says.
“[Risky Business] was kind of supposed to be a separation of church and state, so the Good Bones Season 7 homes wouldn’t be affected by adding this huge project to our plate,” Mina says. “And, as so many things do, that relationship did not shake out, so there was a lot of adjustment of resources.” As such, Good Bones Season 7 is airing on Tuesday, July 12.
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Good Bones: Risky Business will premiere on HGTV on September 6 at 9/8c. And it comes at the perfect time: during the Good Bones Season 7 mid-season break.