Checking in with CARTER OOSTERHOUSE

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“But when you’re able to get in there and just figure out how the people are able to put something like this together, whether it’s to music or like a dubstep or whatever, it’s really creative. It gets me going when I see how creative people can be.”

The holiday series returns for its sixth season Monday, Nov. 26, with Oosterhouse and Taniya Nayak again judging the elaborate and over-the-top outdoor lighting displays at homes across the country. In this go-round, the pair also go inside the homes to check out the Christmas decor within and there also is a showcase of outdoor displays that have grown too big for their homes.

Also a carpenter and designer on TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” Oosterhouse appreciates the time, work and love that go into creating these displays and gives particular credit to outside-the-box thinking – for instance, the light-adorned 80-foot yacht or the display that incorporated a hot-air balloon. “So you hear stuff like that and you’re like ‘What?’ ” he says. “And it may not make sense at first but then when you see it, you’re like, ‘OK, that makes sense. I get it now.’ ” Full name: Carter Nicholas Oosterhouse Birth date: Sept. 19, 1976 Birthplace: Traverse City, Mich. Alma mater: Central Michigan University, B.A. in nutrition Family ties: With his wife, actress Amy Smart, has a daughter, Flora TV credits include: “Three Wishes,” “The Inside Job,” “HGTV Green Home 2008,” “HGTV Green Home Giveaway 2009,” “Change the World: American Heroes,” “Surprise Vacations: Disney Parks Edition,” “Carter Can,” “Celebrity Motor Homes,” “Million Dollar Rooms,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “The Doctors,” “Rowhouse Showdown,” “Trading Spaces,” “Rachael Ray” Did you know: Oosterhouse played rugby in college and is also an expert sailer and kayaker

Favorite book: “I did read a book called ‘Shantaram.’ It’s a true story of ... a guy from Australia who gets put in prison and he experiences India for the first time and he escapes to India. But it shows the culture of the Indian people and his perspective. So it’s a truestory book of a guy’s life that goes in and out of a world that he’s never lived in and is completely foreign to, as he would be from Australia, and shows another culture that most people probably have never seen through his eyes . ... That was a completely enjoyable book, which is one I just read.” Favorite movie: “’Midnight Run’ is a great movie. ‘Big’ is a great movie. ‘The Greatest Showman’ – that movie is fantastic. (laughs) See, I watch it all the time and (my wife) is like, ‘Really? We’re going to watch it again?’ But that movie, I’ve been watching quite a bit lately, especially having a 2-year-old. It’s really fun to watch it with her.”