At this point we’re all in agreement that the Barbie marketing—from conception to rollout—has been flawless, right? I mean, the proof is in the billion-dollar pudding. One of these gems has been the Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge on HGTV. Though I found the rules of the show a bit convoluted, it didn’t take away from getting to see every decade of Barbie fashion interpreted into interior design across four episodes. Yes, only four episodes! It’s an easy, color-saturated investment. The finale aired on Sunday, and Barbie cast members, led by Margot Robbie, appeared to announce the winners:
A winner was crowned Sunday on HGTV’s Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, and they invited a very special—and fitting—guest onto the show to help do the honors: Barbie herself, Margot Robbie.
The four-part event series was inspired, and sponsored, by the new hit film, Barbie, and featured eight teams of two made up of mostly HGTV stars, all drawing inspiration from various decades while working to transform a Southern California home into a Barbie Dreamhouse.
After two different teams went head-to-head in each episode, the four winning teams had their spaces judged by a group of guests and Barbie fans during what the show dubbed its “pink carpet finale.”
The remaining four teams included Jasmine Roth and Antonia Lofaso who did the kitchen and family room, Christina Hall and James Bender who designed the dressing room and closet, Mika and Briana Kleinschmidt who did the backyard, and Alison Victoria and Ty Pennington who were responsible for Ken’s den.
Not only was one team going to win the title of “Dreamiest” space and a donation to charity made in their honor, but they were also playing for one of eight Barbie superfans to win the chance to spend a night in the completed Dreamhouse.
After the group of guests toured the Dreamhouse and made their votes, it was time for host and supermodel Ashley Graham to announce the winner. But instead, she introduced a “very special guest” to do the honors. She gestured to a video screen that revealed Barbie stars Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, America Ferrara and Simu Liu.
“Hi everybody, we’re from the Barbie movie,” Robbie said to a thunderous applause from everyone at the Dreamhouse. “We cannot believe what amazing work all of the teams have done to transform this house, and we cannot wait to see it.”
And with a quick table drumroll from her co-star Liu, Robbie went on to announce that the winning space of Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge was…
No spoilers on my watch! While the room that won wasn’t my personal fave, I totally understood why it did win. But that’s just splitting hairs for me—they had me at vintage design and color on steroids. And of course Margot Robbie made a cameo to announce the winner. Barbie is her baby, she’s spent years worth of labor ushering this film into the world. This Barbie is a Producer.
Sold!!! I had no intention of watching it but now I’m excited! Thanks for covering this.
Isn’t doing press to promote a movie in violation of WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike?
Or are they getting around it by suggesting Margot is doing press to fulfil her producer responsibilities?
I suspect it was all filmed before the strike. (Unless the finale was live)
Chiming in to confirm it was filmed prior to the strike. HGTV was teasing cast appearances (including Margot) before the strike. The teasers included snips of their recorded appearances.
I love me some HGTV, but there are some shows and personalities that are like nails on a chalkboard to me. One of them, Christina Hall, was featured on this, and even just her one second appearance in the ads was enough to put me off.
But it does sound cute so maybe I’ll check it out.
I watched the first 3 episodes last weekend and it was really fun. All of the rooms were great. I’m pretty sure this was filmed before the strike because I saw a promo for it before Barbie the movie even opened. I have a favorites but won’t be able to watch it until this weekend.
This is brilliant! Margot Robbie is amazing. I want her to produce my life, my travels, my next dog adoptions. Man she rocks.
YES!!!
@Samipup Right? She is just a warm cup of awesome!
I watched the show and really enjoyed it. I liked all of the spaces the designers did, though I did have my favorites. Each space was so different, and they were assigned different decades as inspiration, so IMO it was always comparing apples to oranges. They should have made it like the “Brady Bunch House” special and ditched the competition aspect. Still, it was a LOT of fun to watch.
One of the best aspects was bringing in a Barbie “super fan” for each team, with the winning team’s fan getting to spend a night or weekend in the house and come to a premiere event. The super fans were lovely. And boy were they dedicated to Barbie!