The host of HGTV’s Income Property, Canadian born Scott McGillivray, has been blessed; with a knack for renovating properties; with ‘boy-next-door’ good looks; with a beautiful wife; and most recently with his first child, a baby girl. McGillivray sat down for an interview with yours truly during a lunch break while on set in California to share his thoughts on all the wonderful changes in his life.
MG: Before you got married in 2008, would you say you dated a lot or a little?
Scott: I’d probably have to say I dated a lot. I had a few long-term relationships, but for the most part I had the bachelor life until I was in my mid to late twenties.
MG: How was the adjustment, for you, going from the single life to being a married man?
Scott: Wow! It is a huge adjustment. That’s for sure. But I’m a family guy. I’ve always felt like a family person. You know that whether you're single or in a relationship. You kind of always know if you want to get married and have kids. I always knew that, and I did a lot of dating (laughs), and I know when I met Sabrina, I guess you could say I had a lot of experience with people I knew I didn’t want to be with. When I met her, I was like “Wow! This is the girl I want to have a family with.” It’s not a Cinderella story. It wasn’t love at first sight. It grew and grew and got stronger and stronger, and I was like, you know, ….some people think the grass is always greener when you’re single, and you want to have a committed relationship, and a lot of people who are in a committed relationship would rather be single. But that was never the case with Sabrina. I was always happy to be with her so I knew it was different.
MG: What one special thing about Sabrina captured you?
Scott: What one special thing about her?
MG: I’m sure there’s more than one, but what stands out?
Scott: I would say it was because when I met her she was wearing a bikini…
MG: That’s what caught your attention!
Scott: (laughs) That’s what caught me at first! I won’t lie.
MG: That’s a beautiful, honest answer.
Scott: I met her on a beach and I was like “Woah!” Then we got to know each other. You know, she’s pretty laid back, she’s pretty fun; the hard thing for me is to have someone that let’s me be me. I always hate people who are one way with their spouses and girlfriends, and then another way when they’re not. I’m pretty wild; I’m pretty random. I’m pretty independent.
MG: You don’t strike me as wild.
Scott: Oh my God!
MG: Of course, I only know you from HGTV, mind you, but I just don’t see “wild”. You seem very focused to me.
Scott: Oh, for sure, I’m very focused, but I like having a good time, and I like to go out and party. I like to hang out with my friends. I would never want to be somebody who is one way with my spouse and another way with friends. I like that I could just be me, and I can be goofy, and she loves that about me, so that’s great.
MG: Tell me, what type of marital situations have you run into that may have required you both to compromise so that things can run smoothly?
Scott: Well, I think that since I met Sabrina before the TV stuff; when I met Sabrina I was very heavily into real estate investing, buying rental properties, and that, to her, was totally foreign, being with someone who was into being an aggressive investor like that. But the transition from nobody knowing or caring who I was to becoming a public figure was a big step, I think. You know, at first it’s kind of neat, then it’s kind of funny, then it’s a bit invasive.
MG: Sure, you’re recognized on the street.
Scott: Yea, everywhere we go. She totally gets it. She’s totally supportive, and she’s also…I’ve always been busy which is nice because now I’m just busy in a different way; you know there’s so much travel. I’m in L.A. (Los Angeles) for a month, and we have a two and half month old baby.
MG: And her name is Myah?
Scott: Yes. So I brought them out here; they’re here with me because I couldn’t imagine being away from them for so long. But that’s huge; to travel and live in a foreign place when you’ve got a baby that’s two and half months old, right?
MG: It is a big deal.
Scott: It’s tough for both of us, but it’s worth it because I get to see them every morning and every night. Sabrina can come on set or whatever; like, she’s adapting which is great. She’s pretty cool.
MG: So now you two have been married three years?
Scott: Four years in June.
MG: You’re already one step ahead of the game because you remembered what month! So how do you guys manage, with a new baby, to keep the romance alive?
Scott: (laughs) Wow…uh, I think right now we’re happy to be a family, and it’s just an exciting time. We’re still us, but we’re still kind of in shock. When you have a kid, it’s kind of a shock. All of a sudden, there’s another member of your family and you’re just so infatuated with this new person and everything about them. But Sabrina and I know we’ve been lucky. She sleeps well at night so we put her down, and we can sit down and chat; kind of reconnect ourselves. It’s tough when you have a baby. A lot of people lose focus, I think.
MG: Yea, and you’ve only been new parents now for two and half months so perhaps you haven’t really hit the wall on that one, I think.
Scott: No. I think it’s still early. It’s not like we’re trying to reinvent the wheel here. We take advice from other people that have done this, and have a few kids and they’re like “You have one kid. Travel now! You’re not outnumbered yet!”
MG: By the way, congratulations on your baby girl. So who changes more of the dirty diapers? You or Sabrina?
Scott: Until we got here (in L.A.), I was more on diaper duty. We fell into our roles very quickly. I went straight to diaper duty and bath time, and Sabrina obviously does the feeding, and a lot of the putting down to sleep.
MG: What do you like best about being a daddy?
Scott: You know, it’s exciting. It’s like getting a present every day. I don’t know. You’re like kind of giddy about it. It’s like “Oh my God, I can’t wait to see Myah”. Then you see her, and she smiles and looks at you, and it’s like every day is something new and it just melts your heart.
MG: Does she look more like you or Sabrina?
Scott: She looks like a bald version of Sabrina.
MG: (laughs) She’s going to change every day in that first year. What’s the first thought that comes to your mind if I say “Scott, you know, one day Myah is going to bring a boy home to meet you.”
Scott: Don’t spoil this for me!
MG: You’re not ready for that one yet.
Scott: I am not ready for that one yet. She can’t even talk yet let alone think about those kinds of things.
MG: There’s a very special bond between daddies and daughters. Miss Myah is going to be a very lucky young lady.
Scott: I hope so.
MG: What advice would you offer to a newlywed couple to help them transition in their first few years of married life?
Scott: Definitely don’t sweat the small stuff. A lot of people get stuck in the “I always/You never..” mode. I see that all the time. “I always…You never..” Just relax. Look at the big picture. I always say to my wife: ‘At the end of the day, like, it’s small peanuts, right? It’s just a small thing. Let’s try to be logical, understanding.
MG: In the next season of Income Property, what can your audience expect? Are there any new surprises or teasers? You’re in L.A. now. Is it going to be mostly in L.A.?
Scott: No. It’s a little bit of everything, and a little bit of everywhere. The show has evolved. The show is getting bigger. In fact, it will be an hour next season because the renovations have gotten so big. It’s really hard to squeeze it all into a half hour.
MG: It goes by too fast!
Scott: Every season, including this one, we try to make sure we’re taking on bigger and better stories and renovations.
MG: When are you guys going to come to Texas?
Scott: Everyone is always asking “when are you coming here? When are you going there?” You know, it might be on the horizon. We’ve actually looked at it before. We’ve looked a couple times at coming to Austin because there’s such a great market there with the colleges and stuff. It might pop up again. I’d love to work down there in the winter when it’s snowing (back home in Canada).
MG: It’s beautiful here in the winter. We hardly ever have to put on a sweater. It’s all about t-shirts and flip-flops. It’s fantastic.
Scott: That’s why I want to come! I think you’ll see this year that I’ve really taken a different perspective on things. I’ve been doing this show for as long as I’ve been married, for four years, and when I first started doing this show (actually, just a little longer than I’ve been married), I’m mostly trying to help couples, right? I started off being the single guy helping couples. Then I was married; I was a ‘couple’, so I was a couple helping couples. Now I’m a ‘couple with a baby’ helping couples with babies. I’ve grown into the audience a little bit.
MG: And they’ve grown with you…
Scott: Now I just think, I used to help couples with babies and I’d think “Oh, yea, you have a baby”, but now I really understand.
MG: Now you know!
Scott: Now I’m so connected with them. I’m, like, I completely get all the things they’re going through and the challenges they’re having and why this is so important. I feel even more invested than ever.
MG: You are. You do such a great job, too. You know, we ladies here in Texas have a little nickname for you.
Scott: Uh oh…
MG: It’s Scottie McHottie.
Scott: (laughing) Thank you. I’ll take it!
MG: Every now and again when you’re sitting around with Miss Sabrina, you can say “You know…they call me Scottie McHottie down in San Antonio…”
Scott: Yea, she’ll just shake her head at me.
MG: Sure, but every now and again, she needs a good giggle.
Scott: Thanks.
MG: Scottt, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I’m looking forward to the season premier.
Scott: You’re very welcome.
HGTV’s Income Property, featuring host Scott McGillivray, premiers May 2nd at 9:00 p.m. EST. Set your DVRs and don’t miss out!
Photo credits to Scripps Network/IDAM. Thanks go out to Jade Williams at HGTV and Scott McGillivray.
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M. Gwynn has authored two books, Harvest and The Cat Who Wanted to be a Reindeer on Amazon.com .
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