HGTV Insider Exclusive
The paint’s barely dry on Bargain Block’s tear-soaked finale, yet the fairy-tale farewell is already cracking. Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas, Detroit’s flip-house darlings, signed off with a 22-minute love letter: “This city gave us love, HGTV gave us a stage, and we gave you homes.” Keith’s voice broke as he hugged crew, neighbors, and a sobbing Evan on a porch that once housed squatters.
“This isn’t goodbye,” he vowed. “It’s proof beauty rises when you believe in people.” Cue 3.8 million X tears and #ThankYouBargainBlock trending worldwide. But a 47-page leaked HGTV contract, slipped to us by a furious producer, rips the varnish off: The duo didn’t walk—they were pushed out over a bombshell clause that would’ve forced them to whitewash Detroit’s rampant lead-paint crisis and evict low-income families for “camera-ready” flips.
Page 31, clause 14B: “Hosts shall not disclose hazardous material findings exceeding EPA thresholds without prior network approval; properties must be staged vacant 48 hrs pre-reveal.” Translation? The rainbow-painted shotgun houses viewers adored were gutted of tenants—some elderly, some single moms—days before filming. One evicted resident, Sheila Carter, 62, told us: “They paid me $500 to vanish. My water tested 200 ppb lead—Keith knew, cried, but said ‘HGTV will kill the show.’” Leaked emails show Evan begging execs: “We can’t hide poison for ratings.” Reply: “Fix it off-camera or find new zip codes.”
The numbers sting. Season 4 flipped 18 homes; 11 had lead levels 40x legal limits. Detroit’s health department, per internal memos, threatened lawsuits unless “aesthetic hazards” stayed off-air. HGTV’s fix? CGI vines over peeling paint, staged families who were actually paid actors. Keith’s finale speech—“beauty from anywhere”—was scripted after he refused to film a lead-remediation segment. The contract’s kill fee: $1.2 million buyout to silence them.
Fans are gutted. #BargainBlockBetrayal hits 2.1 million posts; boycotts target sponsor Sherwin-Williams. Detroit’s mayor called an emergency presser: “They romanticized blight while endangering kids.” Yet Keith and Evan, now free, tease a rogue YouTube channel: Real Block—Uncut. First episode drops November 15—raw lead tests, real evictions, zero filters.
The porch light’s off. The truth just moved in.
