Why David Bromstad Almost Didn't Host My Lottery Dream Home

Desiree Navarro/Getty Images

If you've ever watched HGTV's "My Lottery Dream Home," then you know that host David Bromstad and his infectious spirit are hands down the best part of the show. Sure, seeing lottery winners use their winnings to purchase expensive, palatial, lakefront properties makes for entertaining TV, but Bromstad's luminous aura is definitely the reason people have stuck around over the years. And trust, Bromstad knows he's a walking dose of serotonin. "I am Disney. I am magic. That's all my life is about," he said to describe himself to the Star Tribune in 2019. And yet, the HGTV star kind of stumbled into the gig.

You see, Bromstad, who'd already had ties to HGTV from triumphing on "Design Star" and participating in other programs, revealed to Watermark Online that he landed the gig during one of the rare times he wasn't booked and busy. "I actually got on the show because there was nothing else going on [laughs]," he shared in October 2024. "I was still in my contract with HGTV and design shows had just died," he continued, adding, "They asked me 'Hey, do you want to do a pilot for this show called 'My Lottery Dream Home?' I was like 'sure, I have literally nothing else to do.'" The rest, as they say, was history — or was it?

C Flanigan/Getty Images

It's impossible to imagine "My Lottery Dream Home" without David Bromstad, but heading up a real estate show wasn't always part of his life plan. A true artist, he wanted to create. "Yeah, no, the show is amazing. And it took me a minute to really come out and fall in love with the show because I was like, 'OK,' now I'm hosting a real estate show. I'm an artist," Bromstad shared on the "HGTV Obsessed" podcast in June 2021. "This is way off my beaten path, but at the moment, design was dead on the network. And because that was just straight design." He continued, "Designs never died, but just straight design, it was all — now it's renovation real estate." So, Bromstad couldn't really be picky.

Of course, Bromstad — who has earned a massive net worth working for the network – was singing a different tune by the time the show debuted in 2015. While chatting with AOL, Bromstad showered Loren Ruch, the show's mastermind, with nothing but praise. "Loren Ruch, who's one of the executives, came up with the concept," Bromstad shared in 2016. "He's a genius — he's like Jesus at HGTV. He's best friends with everyone he meets: He's beautiful, smart and a great friend." Continuing, he added, "I don't know if he'd say the same thing about me. [Laughs] He's the mastermind behind a lot of the really fun, great shows." Hmm. Something tells us Ruch would definitely feel the same way about Bromstad. His fans certainly do!