No one reacts quite like Bobby Burke. This is only surprising when you consider that he's probably seen it all after eight seasons traveling the world as an interior design expert on the Netflix reboot.strange eye“; writing the book “Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind” in 2023; has appeared on television numerous times (including Taylor Swift videos) and sells just about anything to make your home sparkle on BobbyBerk.com.
But in his new HGTV series “Trash or jackpot?”premiering Friday at 9:30 p.m. PT, Burke often has heartfelt reactions when he walks into Los Angeles collectors' homes and sees not only rooms chock-full of action figures, pinball machines, marionettes, marionettes and more, but also some jackpot items just sitting on a bookshelf. For example, in one episode, a collector shows Burke a trading card he has that is valued at $100,000. “I'm pretty sure I said, 'What the hell?' although I guess it was a signal because it's HGTV,” Burke says from his home in Los Angeles. “I was used to Netflix, where I could say whatever I wanted. But yeah, it was just crazy for me.”
Reactions aside, the real wonder of “Trash or Jackpot?” watches as an enthusiastic Burke breaks into people's homes to help them learn to come to terms with collecting, which has grown into something that is suffocating homes and creating destructive strain on relationships. “Obviously, I'm not a therapist. I'm a designer, although in our field we often joke that we're not just designers, we're marriage counselors,” he says.
But Burke, born in Houston and raised in conservative Mount Vernon, Missouri, is a self-taught professional with a knack for identifying what's not working and doing what he can to fix it, including in his own life. Case in point: Burke, not feeling safe going to Mount Vernon, left home at 15 and bounced around different cities for several years, never finishing high school. “From the age of 15 to 22, I moved around and I can’t even count how many places I had to move just because of finances and situations in my life,” he recalls.
He eventually settled in New York City and worked at stores such as Restoration Hardware, Bed Bath & Beyond and Portico before opening his first online store in 2006 and his first physical store in SoHo in 2007. Soon after, Burke began appearing on networks like HGTV and Bravo before “Queer Eye” came calling in 2018 and took him to new heights, including his Emmy win in 2023 for Structured Reality Programming. He also received an honorary degree from Otis College of Art and Design in 2022.
Now, with “Trash or Jackpot?” Ahead of the launch, Burke, 44, spoke about how professional wrestler and movie star John Cena chose him for the show, which is key to helping collectors get rid of the things that weigh their lives down and, after living in many places and traveling the world, he calls home where he and his husband Dewey Do and their mini Labradoodle Bimini are home.
“I'm not a therapist. I'm a designer, although in our field we often joke that we're not just designers, we're marriage counselors,” Burke says.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
What is the origin of “garbage or jackpot”? and what does John Cena have to do with all this?
I played with HGTV for years, even when I was still on Queer Eye, but given my exclusivity on Netflix, I couldn't do design shows with anyone else. We've always just kept that line of communication open, so when this particular opportunity came up, we were approached by Lauren Ruch, the head of HGTV, who has sadly passed away. He said, “Hey, John Cena created a show for us and you're at the top of his list of who he wants to host it.” John was a big Queer Eye fan, so I said yes. It was filmed here in Los Angeles and that was very important to me. We were really short on entertainment jobs here in the city, so it was a big plus for me that I was able to find jobs here in Los Angeles for all of our amazing teams.
And this is not your typical design show. Obviously there is nothing wrong with a typical design show and it actually helps people. But we came from Queer Eye, where everyone we helped was because it was someone deserving, someone who was going through something and needed an extra boost in their life. That's what happened with “Trash or Jackpot?”
Each collector, as we call them, had their own story. With Patrick and Roger [in the premiere episode]Roger moved away and their relationship was in jeopardy because there was literally no room for Roger. In another episode with Carly and Johnny, they had a baby that they weren't expecting in their 40s, so it was a life-changing moment. Their priority had to be their son, J.D.
I love this show because it helps people in those moments in their lives when they say, “We have this thing that we love and that brings us joy, but now that thing is actually starting to bring negative things into our lives.” I wanted to come and really bring back a joyful part of their collection.
HGTV hasn't given you a huge budget for home renovations, and collectors have to work on their own to sell their collectibles to pay for renovations. How did this angle come about?
It was a kind of therapy, and I wanted collectors to really realize that yes, the collection they have has value, but so do the other things that happen in their lives because of that collection. I wanted them to either be able to prove to themselves that the things they want to change in their life have more value than these things. As with Patrick, Roger had value.
I wanted them to do the “You need to start letting go of things” exercise. And if you notice, I never forced them to get rid of the most valuable items in their collection. I pushed them to get rid of things that they often had duplicates of but weren't necessarily like, “Oh, I got this as a kid” or “someone bought this for me.” I wanted them to disconnect emotionally from these things so they could better prioritize their lives and it would be much easier for them to let go in the future, even if I wasn't there to push them.
Swatches and mood boards in Burke's office. Host of the program “Trash or Jackpot?” says this is not your typical design show. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
How do you calculate your budget with collectors? In one episode, you decide to cover a brick wall instead of tearing it down and building a new one.
It's the homeowners who foot the bill because, again, part of it is an exercise in letting go. By the way, if we just went to HGTV and said, “Here's all the money!” They're like, “Okay, I don't have the motivation to get rid of anything.” I wanted to make sure we made budget decisions, and I think it's also really important to share with people at home that you don't always have to go out and knock out the fireplace if you don't like the material. You can make a thing like microcement and change it completely at minimal cost.
What do you think you learned while filming the first season of Junk or Jackpot?
I wouldn't say I learned anything new necessarily, but it confirmed for me the emotional connection and mental health aspect that your space and design can have on you, in both good and bad ways.
In a bad way, your home becomes cluttered and overloaded with something that used to bring you joy, but now it affects not only your mental health, but also your relationships with other people. On the other hand, the difference in your mental health, just by redoing that space, reorganizing that space, reclaiming that space, can impact your mental health and your relationships not only with yourself but with your family and friends.
Vivian, who collects Wonder Woman memorabilia, had her friends stop visiting because she simply had nowhere to sit. Her best friend was constantly coming from Vegas, where she lives, and spending the night, and now she's like, “I can't do it anymore because I'm literally surrounded. It's too much and I just can't do this anymore.” You can see how simply changing your space can truly change your life.
“I wanted to make sure we made budgetary decisions, and I think that's also a really important thing to share with people at home: You don't always have to go out and knock out the fireplace if you don't like the material,” Burke says.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
The first season is set in Los Angeles, but assuming you have more seasons, would you be interested in playing in other cities or countries?
Personally, I would always like to continue performing in Los Angeles. I live there, and with Queer Eye we traveled all over America for eight years. That being said, it's a very niche show, so it might be difficult to keep doing it in the same city season after season, so we'll probably have to go to other cities, which is fine with me. But I would like at least another season or two in Los Angeles. After spending the last eight years filming Queer Eye, I love being home.
However, you have lived in New York, are now in Los Angeles, and you also have a place in Portugal. Where do you call home?
Los Angeles is definitely home for me. Portugal is great, but Los Angeles is definitely my home. Although the more time we spend in Southeast Asia, in particular in Vietnam, since my husband is from there, it also feels like home. I believe in reincarnation and in my past life I was definitely from there. For example, when I landed in Vietnam, China, anywhere in Southeast Asia, I feel at home.
'Queer Eye' was quite a rollercoaster ride for you all, but what are your thoughts now that it's behind you? Were you able to enjoy it at that moment?
Yes and no. It was an amazing roller coaster ride. Most of the time I enjoyed it, but there were times when we just got tired. I don't know if you know the flight app “Flighty”, but it tracks your flights and tells you how many hours you've spent on planes each year and how many times you've been on the same plane. The other day I looked at how much I flew in 2019. Keep in mind, in 2019 I was filming for five months of the year, so I wasn’t flying anywhere. So, it's only been seven months and I've made 200 flights. I've flown over 500,000 miles. I don't miss it. It was a lot. But for as long as I can remember, I remember it fondly.
