Bobby Berk was hand-picked to host HGTV’s Junk or Jackpot? by executive producer John Cena.
“My new project is for HGTV and HBO Max, it is called Junk or Jackpot? It was through the mind of the genius John Cena,” Berk, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly at the BAFTA TV Tea event this month. “He was out at dinner one night talking with friends about these crazy collections of wrestling memorabilia.”
Berk added: “He’s like, ‘I need to develop this.’ So he did and he asked me to host it. It’s been a lot of fun. He is the hardest working man in Hollywood.”
The first season of Junk or Jackpot? will have six episodes following Berk as he is tasked with helping homeowners decide whether to keep their unique collections — from superhero figurines to rare puppets and dolls — or sell them in order to renovate their outdated homes.
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“I’m excited to help passionate people sift through their cherished items and give them reimagined spaces that will best honor what they hold dear,” Berk said in a July press release, while Cena, 48, added, “The idea for Junk or Jackpot? was born out of a conversation I had with friends. People often wonder if their collections are trash or treasure, and this show will help them find out.”
Berk, whose new project comes two years after his departure from Netflix’s Queer Eye, told Us there’s “an emotional component” to Junk or Jackpost? that might surprise viewers
“This project is all about not just design. … People have these amazing collections that they’ve collected over the years but they have taken over their lives,” he explained. “It is either causing problems with their personal relationships or just their relationship with themselves. I’m excited for people to see the connection between stuff and emotion and how to really work through that in a healthy way.”
Berk also told Us he learned some unexpected things while filming the series.
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“I’m always shocked at what these things are worth because I’m not a collector,” he continued. “I’m a minimalist. I don’t do things that much. So to find some comics books that are worth $60,000 that were just sitting up on a shelf blew me away.”
Junk or Jackpot? is being introduced as HGTV plans to “bolster its 2025-2026 slate with over 100 episodes” of original content, including new seasons of The Flip Off, Love It or List It and Renovation Aloha. There are new shows coming to HGTV, such as Home Town: Inn This Together, Cheap A$$ Beach Houses and Tropic Like It’s Hot, in addition to holiday shows Hoarding for the Holidays (working title) and White House Christmas 2025.
“HGTV’s passionate fans tune in for our signature home renovation, real estate and design expertise, and they also want content that’s unfiltered, escapist and fun,” Howard Lee, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief creative officer of US Networks, said in an August statement. “The network’s large order of new and returning series has something for everyone.”
With reporting by Olivia Bria
