The Sad Truth About HGTV Star Keith Bynum

Keith Bynum has been bringing smiles to HGTV viewers' faces since "Bargain Block" first hit the airwaves back in 2021. Sadly, though, his own life hasn't always been quite so rosy. Quite the opposite, actually, as the HGTV star has been very open about the impact homophobia has had on his life. 

Bynum's first experience with homophobia came when he was a foreman working in Austin, Texas. Speaking to GLAAD, he explained that he hadn't come out yet, and as such, had never really been exposed to any kind of hate. However, his job changed that. "Within the first couple of weeks, it was very clear that this was probably not going to last for me, because the homophobic remarks — and none of them were ever directed at me, because I was still closeted at the time — but the amount of very hateful things that I heard was very shocking," he recounted. 

Bynum has also spoken to People about the homophobia he saw first-hand while at the job, and he told the outlet he did end up quitting because of it. That said, he also noted that it spurred him on to bring about change in the industry he so much wanted to be a part of. "I was like, 'One day I'm going to have a place and it will not matter. It will not matter what you are or who you are, nobody is going to feel like crap. That's not fair,'" he said. After moving from Texas to Colorado before eventually settling in Detroit — and becoming a very public face of the LGBTQ+ community in construction — Bynum has certainly done that, and then some.

Heartbreakingly, Keith Bynum's co-workers weren't the only people in his life who were less than accepting of his sexuality. He also faced serious pushback from his family — and they even ended up disowning him. 

Speaking to fellow HGTV star David Bromstad as part of an HGTV Pride special, Bynum recalled, "It did not go well when I came out. So, they have essentially disowned me." As for what that entailed, Bynum told Queerty that he'd been cut out of the wills, as well as the family business. The HGTV fan favorite has also revealed that his dad told him not to expect a career in construction anywhere else, either. However, that was still just the start of it. 

As if being abandoned by his family wasn't bad enough, in his interview with Queerty, Bynum further revealed that his mother had given him an extremely harsh ultimatum regarding his then-year-long relationship with Evan Thomas. "My mom, who I was extremely close with at the time, she was like, 'It's him or us, and you make the decision today,'" he recounted. Blown away by his family's cruelty, Bynum actually did end the relationship, reasoning that they were in a long-distance setup, anyway. However, he came to regret it immediately after. "I realized as soon as we broke up, that was the dumbest thing I had ever done," he admitted. Bynum ended up moving away from his family, and thankfully, around a year later, he and Thomas were able to rekindle their relationship. Luckily, Thomas' family was the opposite of Bynum's, and he told Bromstad that they'd become his support system. We're glad they were more welcoming than his own family had been.

Despite her initial refusal to accept her son's sexuality, Keith Bynum's mom eventually did come around. Bynum revealed this development in a touching Instagram post in mid-May 2022. Alongside the picture of a visibly emotional Keith holding his mom's hand, he wrote, "It's never too late to start again." The HGTV star also included the sweet hashtag, "#Lovemymama."

Heartbreakingly for Keith, it seems their reunion may have come about as a result of his mother's health woes. Just shy of a month after Keith's post, LaQuita Jolene Bynum passed away. Keith later revealed that she had succumbed to brain cancer. 

Fans of the HGTV star will know that Keith is a keen artist, and even regularly includes his own work in "Bargain Block" projects. As such, it only made sense that he channeled his grief into a painting. Taking to the Instagram account dedicated to sharing his art, Keith shared a snap of a painting he titled "Facing the Storm." In the accompanying caption, he explained, "The day I found out my mama had brain cancer I just couldn't do anything that day but paint. This was the painting." We're grateful to hear that the mother and son had made peace before her passing. What's more, in the time since LaQuita's death, Keith has also reconnected with his sister. "Even though a thousand miles separates us we've always been close. I'm so happy to have her back in my life," he wrote in a 2023 Instagram post. No word on whether their shared grief played a role in their reconciliation, but we're happy for them whatever the catalyst may have been. 

Getting back to Keith Bynum's career, it turns out his dad's comment to him that he'd never work in construction wasn't his only perceived barrier to success. He also shared that until he saw how comfortable David Bromstad was about his sexuality, he wasn't sure he could make it, himself. 

Of course, Bynum did eventually see Bromstad living his truth, and in his interview with the "My Lottery Dream Home" star for HGTV's Pride special, he made sure to point that out. "That moment for me, I was like, 'I can get this dream, I can do this. ... You know, I can be on HGTV, just like David did,'" he recounted to an emotional Bromstad. With a shout-out like that, it's no wonder why Bromstad has such a great relationship with other HGTV stars. 

Now an HGTV star himself, Bynum has made it known that he's all about using his position to foster even more representation. Speaking to Queerty, he explained of his and Evan Thomas' platform, "We have to think about it in a bigger way than ourselves. You do have that position of representation on the network, and it's important that we get that right." It's incredible to see the "Bargain Block" star being so intentional about paying it forward. 

While Keith Bynum had high praise for David Bromstad and HGTV for giving him a platform to begin with, that's not to say it's always been an easy ride. Quite the contrary, as there was a ton of behind-the-scenes drama when Bynum and Evan Thomas were featured on "Rock the Block" Season 5.

Fans who follow Bynum and Thomas on Instagram may remember that the former first hinted at tensions on set when he mentioned that it was weird that they had lost a challenge despite getting a perfect score. However, it turned out that was just the start of something much deeper. In a now-deleted post of his own, Thomas also questioned the judging, prompting a response from one of their competitors, "Renovation Island" star Sarah Baeumler, who said she'd been a fan of their design. Enter, a reply from Bynum that hinted at whatever had gone down during filming. It also seemingly alluded to the Baeumlers getting a rough deal, too. "Seeing what y'all went thru was hard to watch. This is nothing to do with winning or losing, it's bigger. Love you both," he wrote (via Heavy). 

Making matters even more suspicious, once "Rock the Block" Season 5 had concluded, Bynum took to Instagram yet again. This time, he shared a pic of him with Thomas, alongside the caption, "I woke up today knowing two things were true in my heart. First, I love @emuralit more than anything and no one can take that from me. The second is, things done in the dark eventually come to light. #ndasareforever." Curiously, the second half of the caption has since been taken down. Neither Bynum nor Thomas have offered up anything further than that, but it's clear that whatever happened behind the scenes left them shaken. 

As much as Keith Bynum has faced a ton of sadness in his life, there's no denying that he's also found ways to rectify that. Other than playing a part in creating more representation, there was also his response to his early workplace situation in Austin. After realizing how unwelcome he felt in his foreman job, he's made a point of doing what he can to transform the culture of the construction industry. What's more, as he told Pride Source, though he and Evan Thomas weren't doing it intentionally at first, they've come to understand that their own carpentry is making woodwork more accessible to the LGBTQ+ community. 

Then, there's the production side of things. Even though they've never gone into detail as to what happened, Bynum and Thomas' experience on "Rock the Block" obviously wasn't a positive one. The solution? They became the executive producers of their next project, "Bargain Block: New Orleans."

Bynum may have become a household name thanks to his position as an HGTV star, but if his record is anything to go by, perhaps it's time we start lauding his commitment to constantly making the world a better, more inclusive place, instead.