Masters of Flip to headline Edmonton Fall Home Show
It came down to feast, famine, or flipping.
And if you’re a fan of Kortney and Dave Wilson, stars of HGTV’s Masters of Flip, you know the two Canadians who went down to Nashville to find fame and fortune are no longer flipping out about what direction to take their careers.
“The music industry is feast or famine,” said Kortney, adding that for a new Nashville artist she had a really good start. “The very first week (in Nashville) I got a deal with Reba McEntire, and then a couple of months later her production company got me a deal with Disney records.”
But show business has just as many downs as it does ups, and the two stars who are headlining next week’s Edmonton Fall Home Show at the Edmonton Expo Centre realized as country musicians they didn’t want to be singing the blues.
“We had to survive,” said Kortney. “Dave and I had just bought our first house … we had just gotten married. We had our first baby and we were like ‘what are we going to do?’ ”
So just how do up-and-comers in country music become masters of house flipping, let alone create a show that is now available in 147 territories worldwide?
“Our realtor at the time said ‘why don’t you try flipping houses? You have a knack for fixing up your own,’ ” explained Kortney. A number of house flips later, and having had a relationship with Canada’s Corus Entertainment — CMT’s Meet the Wilsons was a show about their pursuit of a musical career in Nashville — Masters of Flip became a reality.
“We were not so sure at the time, because there were a lot of house flipping shows out there and we really didn’t know what would
make ours all that different,” said Kortney. “We really didn’t want to go down this road if we couldn’t figure out what differentiated us, so we wanted to bring a little bit more colour to the show, a little bit more humour to the show, and make it fun. That’s how the show came about and we’re certainly pleased, and shocked, at how well it has resonated with everyone.”
The story is even more incredible when you find out its Cinderella aspects. While both Dave and Kortney are from Ontario, they never knew each other until they met in Nashville.
“We literally moved here within a couple of weeks of each other. Dave was really just here on a writing vacation, I was here to take a stab at getting a record deal,” said Kortney. “He was actually living in London, England at the time. And I met him like on my very first day in Nashville. It was a very big surprise to my parents when I came here on my very first day and fell in love.”
At the Fall Home Show, Kortney and Dave are hosting two presentations that will provide homeowners with tips on how to increase the value of their property.
“We’re not necessarily speaking to house flippers, because I feel like most people there will be homeowners,” said Kortney, stating that a home should reflect the homeowners while they’re in it. “But these tips will improve it when they go to sell their house by differentiating the house from the others on the market.”
The Wilsons have been to Edmonton before, presenting at the Canadian Country Music Awards a number of years ago.
“It’s an awesome city and we’re looking forward to meeting everyone,” said Kortney. “It’s our favourite thing to do in this entire process — to meet people who are watching the show and hear what they think, and hear how it’s made a difference to them in their lives and their houses. So we can’t wait to see everybody.”
Also appearing at the Fall Home Show is HGTV star Tiffany Pratt, the designer and stylist known for her trademark colourful hair. Pratt has been seen on Home To Win and Buy it, Fix It, Sell It. She will be speaking to visitors about the power of transformation.