Real star power

Airs Mondays, HGTV

On Drew and Jonathan Scott’s latest show Celebrity IOU, charity begins at home. Specifically, it begins at a home renovation site, with a heartwarming story and some serious star power.

In each episode, celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Melissa Mccarthy and Michael Buble team up with the tool-toting twosome to revamp spaces for mentors, friends and family members who have had a major impact on their lives.

The show has been renewed for a second season, set to air early next year, and has attracted 18.9 million viewers in the U.S. since it premiered in April. The Scott brothers spoke with Postmedia about the series.

Q What sets Celebrity IOU apart from your other shows? Drew Celebrity IOU landed at a particularly interesting time in everyone’s life, that’s for sure. This show has been in the making since 2015, when we first pitched the idea to Viola Davis at the Emmys. She immediately got on board and that’s when we knew we had something special on our hands. From that moment on, word spread quickly and we signed a total of six big celebrities with six even bigger hearts.

Jonathan It was such an honour to be able to play a part in these huge acts of kindness. There were a lot of tears of joy shed on set.

Q Any specific renovations that stood out?

Jonathan Every renovation had its own special story, but we really enjoyed watching Melissa Mccarthy’s uncle and aunt come into their renovated home and just be completely blown away. Both were retired police officers, and her uncle still deals with injuries he sustained on the job. Watching both of them overwhelmed with gratitude after they had given so much to their community was really special to us.