If you are of a certain age and hear the name Jonathan Knight, you'll immediately think of the group New Kids On The Block. But Knight has also carved out an impressive second career as a host on HGTV. He hosted three seasons of the series Farmhouse Fixer and appeared on multiple seasons of Rock The Block.
Now he's back on HGTV with the new series Crashers, which is a revamped approach to the older network series House Crashers.
I recently spoke with Knight about his new series, his HGTV career and the challenges of being in a band when you are in your 50s.
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity (mostly mine):
How much of a challenge is it to go into a show where a lot of viewers sort of know the format and you've got to figure out a way to both make it your own while still retaining the things that people loved about the original version?
Jonathan Knight: Yeah, it's definitely a challenge. When I agreed to do the show, I was watching old episodes and thinking that we just needed to do something new and fresh. I mean, this is definitely a classic HGTV show. So we wanted to keep it as true to the original as possible, while bringing something new to it, if that makes sense.
Crashers is a very different pace than Farmhouse Fixer and a host, I'm wondering what it was to be on a show where you are just jumping into a project and going bam, bam, bam, as quickly as you can.
Jonathan Knight: It is totally different. On Farmhouse Fixer, my last season, it took 16 months to do one season, and we did eight episodes. We are already on episode 11 of Crashers.
So it is a lot faster paced, a lot more chaotic. On Farmhouse, we had time to prepare. On this show, it's a real time renovation.
We've had so many times where things haven't shown up, and we'd have to run out and grab new tile, or cabinet orders didn't show up. Or, as an example, on this past Memorial Day, we were working and a lot of our subcontractors were like, "I'm not coming in today. I'm out fishing on a boat." So it's been very different a lot more challenging.
I am just so thankful that I did two seasons of Rock The Block. Because the pace of this show is very equivalent to the pace on Rock The Block. You just get in that space and you go. And if something is not working or something goes wrong, you just have to solve the problems and make it work. So it's been fun.
Do you think you could have done this show as your first show out of the block? Because it seems like to do this, you need a certain amount of confidence about the process. To not worry about the cameras or the process of production and just realize "Hey, I know what I'm doing. I am going to trust my gut. We're going to do this."
Jonathan Knight: Yeah. I mean, there's been times where I've had a few breakdowns, but it's taught me to step back, take a breath, don't freak out. We're going to have to figure something out.
And I think it's taught me a lot about problem solving in the home improvement space. It might not have been exactly what you wanted in the design, but we're going to make it look amazing. And, you know, it may be a little bit different, but it's still functional. It's still beautiful. And it works.
Along those lines of going with the flow, my son is about two weeks away from his 21st birthday and the New Kids were his first big music concert. He struggles at times with anxiety issues and he was so impressed that you were able to talk publicly about some of the challenges with anxiety that you have faced. He thought it was really inspirational and I wonder if you have heard that feedback from other people who have heard your story.
Jonathan Knight: Thank you for sharing this. It's always gratifying when you run into situations where people are saying, "Thank you for sharing your experiences. Thank you for sharing what you've gone through."
Over the years, I've learned not to say no. And to say yes, even when it's really scary. I always say that if you say yes to something scary, you get through it and it's not scary anymore. I think problems with anxiety are more out in the public now. And that's good. Sometimes I am filming with homeowners and they'll be like, "Oh, my God. I'm so nervous." And I'll say "That's okay, I'm, so nervous too. We're in this together. We're going to get through this and we're going to make a really beautiful episode, you know?"
And I think just acknowledging it, just takes the burden off of how you feel. But I always say run towards what scares you the most. And I think that's really helped me grow as a person. I mean, I still pinch myself when we're filming and then I'll see clips of the show and think "How did I get here? I am now on HGTV!"
I've done so many HGTV shows now and I still have to pinch myself. And it's all because I just said "yes."
Did you have a moment where you thought, "You know what, I'm a TV guy now, this is an actual career. I'm not guesting on a show, I'm not making some one-off appearance yet. This is a career for me."
Jonathan Knight: It's funny, because when I travel with my brother and we're walking through the airport, it's not like, "Hey, it's Jordan and John from New Kids." They always point to me and they're like, "Hey, you're that guy on HGTV. I love your show."
I think it's just a whole different fan base and it's been really cool to experience it. My brother just sent me a video of him in his living room and the commercial for Crashers came on and he was saying, "You know, I'm proud of you. You've worked so hard to get here."
It's been a real accomplishment. Especially for me, because I have been watching HGTV since I was young. Saturday morning was my thing.
I would wake up and HGTV would come on and I would just watch it for hours. So to now be part of this network is amazing.
Well, one plus is that you can do this job when you're 70. I don't know if you want to out there trying to dance around for an hour on stage at that age.
Jonathan Knight: You know, that's been a topic lately. We're all in our fifties now and recently we've been talking about "what does the future hold? How do we keep going?"
But then you look at a lot of the great artists, the legends - not that I consider myself a legend - but you look at all these artists that are in their late seventies and late eighties, they're still doing it. You know, I think we can continue to do it. The pace might slow down a bit.
We might not be moving as much on stage, but I think when you have a career that you love, you know, I can't see myself slowing down.
It's a tough thing for people because you love doing it. And then there's this point where it's really hard for people to recognize "Oh man, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore." I've seen a couple of people lately where I thought you guys went one too many tours. But you can tell they still love doing it. I can't imagine having to make that choice, it's tough.
Jonathan Knight: I think we'll know. I think we'll know internally when it's time to go enjoy the fruits of our labor that we've been working for the last 47 years.
Well, I don't know how much relaxing you're going to be doing. I'm sure you never thought that at this point in your life, you'd still be working two jobs.
Jonathan Knight: Honestly, I would have four jobs if I could. I started working when I was 10 years old and I think it's, it's just taught me a really good work ethic. And the work I do is because I love it, not because I have to do it.
Crashers premieres Monday, June 8th on HGTV.