Home reno show co-host takes fans behind the scenes
Co-host of popular home reno show shares details of family life in new series
Jillian Harris is no stranger to reality television.
As a former star of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, and a longtime co-host of the home renovation show Love It Or List It, the 37-year-old has spent her fair share of time in front of the camera.
So, when she and her partner Justin Passuto began seriously tossing around the idea of growing their own family — yes, before marriage, much to the chagrin of some of their fans, although the couple has since become engaged — and building or buying a new home in order to accommodate their growing gang (the pair already shared a fur baby, a boxer dog named Nacho), a TV show documenting their new home seemed like a no-brainer.
That is, until the cameras started to roll.
“After the cameras spent a couple of days with us, the network came back and said there’s a lot of good stuff here, but we don’t want to do this show with you anymore. We’d rather do a documentary,” Haris recalls with a laugh.
As it turns out, the house wasn’t destined to be the star of the show, after all. Rather than document the trials and tribulations of a home renovation (although the demolition drama is alluded to several times during the docu-series’ first episode) the cameras would capture Passuto and Harris’s relationship — what they don’t already share with their combined 700,000-plus Instagram followers, of course.
The four-part series, aptly titled Justin & Jillian, was the result. Through the show, the pair say, they hope the cameras shine a more realistic light onto the seemingly perfect lives they share through their social media feeds.
“I think the show is going to show exactly that — that we’re not living in a picture-perfect world,” Passuto says. “We have issues, just like everybody else. There are hurdles that we need to overcome and real-life decisions to make.”
Passuto says their fans can expect to get a real, behind-the-scenes glimpse at what goes on beyond the perfectly polished photos of luxury kitchens, spotless style and smiling faces in picturesque locales they’re used to seeing on their carefully groomed social accounts.
“It’s a whole strategy and a business, in a sense,” Passuto says of their edited online personas. "For us, (the show) was an awesome opportunity to show the chaos behind the scenes.”
But the show won’t be all drama. The pair promises there will be a few good laughs, too (some intentional and others not). During a joint telephone interview, the pair’s lighthearted jesting and provocations allude to the playful relationship dynamic that will prove to be fodder for the on-air fun.
“I didn’t know how it was going to be to be on camera, and I was a little worried about it,” Passuto admits of his first few attempts in front of the lens.
“He didn’t really know what he was getting into,” Harris interjects.
“For me, it was about the rush and the adventure. It was a new experience, and I didn’t want to shy away from a cool opportunity,” says Passuto, who was a former professional snowboarder before starting his own mobile boat-detailing business in Kelowna dubbed Scrub Captain.
“And, I mean, if Jill can do it, how hard can it be?”
But, all joking aside, the duo had to decide just how much of their lives they were willing to share with viewers.
“I wanted Justin and I to be the realest and the rawest we could be ... but there were definitely times, especially on the way to the hospital, when I thought, why am I doing this? This is a private moment,” Harris admits.
“But, Justin always reminded me that I love storytelling, I love over-sharing and Justin said, we’re going to have a documentary about the first year of our life together.”
Harris says there were times throughout filming where they would wake up in the morning in their bed at home and find the camera crew in their room already filming.
“We have opened our home and our hearts to the network, crew and our viewers,” she says.
The pair also admits they regularly shot their own footage for the show on their iPhones or GoPro cameras in order to capture authentic moments.
The resulting series is a true — well, as true as reality TV can be — look into their wild world of work, play — and new parenting. (The couple welcomed their son Leo into their lives in August 2016, as seen in the show’s first episode.)
“It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Passuto says of being a father.
“Notice he didn’t say exhausting,” Harris adds with a laugh.
“I’m a champion, Jill,” he fires back. “But I have to say, I couldn’t do it without Jill.”
That support system serves the two well in their parenting — and also in creating a united front against any online vitriol they face.
“We got a lot of scrutiny for getting pregnant before we were married — or even engaged,” Passuto says.
“People say, well, don’t read the comments, but the comments are what makes me happy. That’s how I like connecting with our readers, followers and fans,” she says. “That’s probably the only con to this career that I’ve decided to take on. That not everyone is going to like me. And I just don’t like that. It’s hard, but I guess I just have to accept that.”