Longtime HGTV star Egypt Sherrod was thrilled when the New York Times asked to interview her and husband Mike Jackson, her co-star on “Married to Real Estate,” now in its fourth season. But the resulting article, a critique of home improvement TV shows and social media influencers, left Sherrod stunned.
“We were so excited to have the @nytimes come to set and write a story about US,” she wrote in a fiery Instagram post on April 13, 2025. “Imagine our surprise this morning to see ONLY me… with a hypercritical article about the entire home tv movement.”
“I won’t be a scapegoat,” Sherrod continued. “I won’t be martyred. I can’t speak for anyone else—but Mike and I are still a small family business. We’re the real deal. 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽So for a publication like The New York Times to use my image to headline an article filled with distortions and mediocrity? That’s not just irresponsible—it’s unacceptable! Let the fakes be your poster child. Not me.”
The article that Sherrod, 48, expected to be about her family and show focused mostly on a variety of online home design and renovation personalities, including Lisa Chun, billed as “one of the most popular home influencers in the world,” and interior designer Orlando Soria, who hosted HGTV’s “Build Me Up” in 2019 and 2020 but told the outlet he now makes more money as a DIY social media influencer.
“Married to Real Estate” was described as “a newish series hosted by polygot designer-builder couple Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson” and was compared to “a hard-hat ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians.’” The writer of the piece, New York Times Magazine assistant managing editor Amy X. Wang, said she “dropped in” on the Atlanta couple in March as they filmed, writing that the couple was “already internet famous when they pitched” their show to HGTV, “seeing a chance to amplify their own existing businesses.”
But Sherrod, a real estate broker who’s been flipping houses since she was in her 20s, has been part of the HGTV family for over a decade, previously hosting “Property Virgins” and “Flipping Virgins,” with Jackson frequently appearing as a guest star.
The couple has repeatedly told the story of how, as they filmed and posted their at-home shenanigans during COVID lockdowns in 2020, it gave them the idea for incorporating their family’s life into an HGTV show, which became “Married to Real Estate.” Given their popularity with viewers, HGTV has included them on many of its competition shows, too, including the third season of “Rock The Block,” which they won.
In her post, Sherrod took issue with Wang claiming she witnessed their production crew quickly set up lighting and cameras to capture the couple working on a house for an hour-and-and-a-half before leaving to prep for other work projects, “pick up their children, feed them and clean up their own house, so it could be filmed the following day for another episode.”
Sherrod wrote, “For a reporter to spend ONE hour with us and write as if we’re just TV characters passing through? That’s not journalism. That’s laziness.”
“We’re one of the very few positive shows about Black families on television,” Sherrod added. “And yet, we’re constantly overlooked—left out of the press, the covers, the licensing deals, the invites. We don’t get equal treatment. We don’t get equal protection. We have to fight for every inch to protect our narrative. Even from BIPOC media.”
Sherrod concluded her post by writing, “From the beginning, we made a vow: If anything ever comes between our marriage or our family—this ends. So today, I’m choosing to share this pain. For every woman, every family, who can’t speak up. Who can’t cry out. Who can’t scream at the hypocrisy. I see you. I am you. Enough ✊🏽✊🏽”
Thousands of Fans & Friends Supported Egypt Sherrod for Speaking Out
HGTVSherrod included two videos in her post, including one of her discussing why the article felt like the last straw for her, prompting her to speak out.
“I am tired y’all,” she said in the selfie video. “I’m tired of having to prove myself, I am tired of being overworked, underpaid if paid at all. I am tired of not getting equal press and publicity. I’m tired of being the scapegoat. I am tired.”
The second video was filmed by someone capturing Sherrod painting a client’s kitchen at 8:57 p.m. on Sunday, April 13. Sherrod quipped, “Oh! And no New York Times reporters here for an hour telling us that we’re just doing this for TV!”
More than 22,000 fans and friends liked Sherrod’s post, including fellow HGTV stars received lots of support from fans and fellow HGTV stars, including Ty Pennington, Brian Kleinschmidt, Christina Haack, Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, and Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama.
Among the more than 2,000 supportive comments Sherrod received, rising HGTV star Poonam Moore — who co-starred with Jackson on the new “2025 Smart Home Giveaway” special — wrote, “Thank you for sharing this and speaking for us all. I have felt this feeling”
Many left encouraging comments for Sherrod, including someone who commented, “Wow sis, who knew…thank you for your candor. I knew you were the real deal when I first started watching you years ago. Stay strong and true to you and yours…we see you too❤️”
Beginning on April 16, according to a press release issued a day after Sherrod’s post, HGTV is moving new episodes of “Married to Real Estate” to a new time slot on Wednesday nights, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time.