Bobby Berk Talks Bringing ‘Queer Eye’ to His ‘Junk or Jackpot?’ HGTV Series

Bobby Berk is bringing his Queer Eye to Junk or Jackpot? Executive produced by actor and now retired WWE star John Cena, the new HGTV series premiering December 26 sees the Emmy-winner use his interior design skills to help collectors with renovations. 

However, in order to do that the clients need a budget to make these projects a reality. This process is easier said than done as the owners must decide to part with beloved items to generate cash and clear space within their properties. 

Among the cherished valuables are retro video games, Star Wars action figures, Magic: The Gathering cards, pinball machines, and rare puppets. Experts are called in to help assess these treasures, which brings some surprising appraisals. Between deciding furniture pieces and color schemes, Berk often also takes on the role of pseudo therapist. 

Here the TV personality unpacks what makes the show stand out. 

I love the concept. How did this project land on your lap? 

Bobby Berk: It’s all thanks to John Cena, the wrestler, the actor, the Renaissance Man. He was out at dinner with friends one night and talking about his collections. He needed to get rid of some stuff to make some room for a renovation. Some of his fan collections had gotten out of control. He thought this would be a really cute show. He went to HGTV about it, and they loved it. He was a fan of Queer Eye and wanted to see if I’d host it. Of course, when John Cena asks you to host a show, you say yes sir. The rest of history. It has been a lot of fun. It’s a mixture of Antiques Roadshow meets Hoarders meets Queer Eye meets a renovation show. It taps into all the things you love about finding out the value of unknown treasures and that satisfaction you get out of seeing a space really out of control get under control and redone. Also, the emotional component of helping good people get their lives on track. It really checks all the boxes for a really great show. 

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Talk about some of the people we’ll meet this season. 

Episode 1 is Patrick and Roger. We showed up for filming on the first day and Roger wasn’t there. We were like, “Where is Roger?” Patrick, with tears in his eyes, said, “Well, Patrick is on his way, but he is coming from somewhere else because last week he moved out. He basically told me if you can’t even make space for me on the sofa, how is there a space for me in your heart? If you and Bobby don’t get this under control, I may not be back. I’ll be here to film and be here to support you through the process, but if I don’t see your priorities are where they should be, which should be our relationship first, we’re going to have a really hard conversation.” We had a collection that really affected someone’s marriage where they allowed something that usually provided a sense of joy and happiness for them to become a source of stress, anxiety, and dread. Literally, it was almost the demise of their marriage. 

There was a couple who was always told they couldn’t have kids. So, they poured their happiness into their collections and became collectors. It was, “We have disposable income and don’t have kids to worry about school or colleges or anything, we’re just going to buy whatever we want that makes us happy.” Then in their early 40s they had a little miracle baby they weren’t expecting. Their priorities shifted. They also started to see unhealthy boundaries with collecting that their son was starting to get from them. Their son was starting to really collect anything and everything and not see a value in it. He just wanted more. 

That certainly creates a slippery slope. 

It got them thinking they needed to take a step back and need to get some healthy boundaries with collecting. They thought, “We want our son to enjoy collecting like we had, but we want him to understand the boundaries and the healthy relationships with collecting.” There is a couple who were not only together but recently moved in together. The girlfriend moving in didn’t see space for her in the house. The collection took over everything. This collection was a part of a business. So the business and collection had taken over the entire home. There was really no palace for Sarah. It was a balance between maintaining that collection and the business was their bread and butter, but also making Sarah feel like she was welcome in the home and that it was her home to and that she wasn’t just another piece of the collection. 

At the start these collectors have trepidation when it comes to selling, but once they do, it’s like a light switch turns on where it feels good. Is that what you found? 

Yeah, a lot of times I would ask our collectors a week or two in after they sold things can you from memory list everything you sold. A lot of times they couldn’t. Maybe they can name a couple of pieces. I told them, “You weren’t going to remember these pieces.” They were like, “You’re right.” There are things they thought were so important and could never part with, they realize they should have done this a long time ago. Some people were like, “Why didn’t you and HGTV come in and pay for everything for them.” Well, I wanted this to be a teaching moment as well. I wanted them to have to sell some things because if we didn’t put a financial obligation into this, they wouldn’t have gotten rid of anything. They would have put stuff in storage and it would have all come right back. I wanted them to be forced to do that because they could truly see it wasn’t as hard as they thought and they didn’t do all of those things. 

Getting rid of some of it allowed the things that did mean the most to become special again. It allowed them to see the things in their home that are really worth it. It also allowed them to have spaces in the home where their spouse had a place to be or their friends and family were now willing to come over. It was a story over and over where a collector’s friends and family wouldn’t come over anymore. They loved to entertain and have people over, but everyone got such anxiety being in the house thinking they would knock something over. There was literally no room to breathe. To be able to have a home to display this thing they were so passionate and happy about and share it with friends and family, there were really some lightbulb moments. Like why didn’t I do this before? Why did I allow this thing that used to spark so much joy for me to overwhelm my life and cut me off from the relationships that mattered most? 

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Do you yourself have collections that this show made you think twice about? Or are you a minimalist? 

I don’t. I’m a minimalist. Although there were multiple closets and cabinets that were out of sight and out of mind when we moved into our home five years ago. I just shoved things in going, “I’ll eventually come back to this.” During the show while filming I thought, “Now is the time. Now is the time to get through these closets and clean them out.” 

Have you interacted a lot with John regarding the show and getting his feedback? 

He has been such a great help. He was texting me yesterday actually before we started the press tour. He is really great at saying the right words to encourage. It has been awesome. 

He is often like a fortune cookie with his pearls of wisdom. 

He is so sweet. A lot of times you meet people that give the perception of being warm and lovely. Sometimes it’s just acting. With John, he really is the sweetest, sweetest man. 

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Does this new show feel like the next chapter of your career? How is it officially being part of the HGTV family? 

It has been amazing. I’ve worked on and off with HGTV over the years. I did a little segment with them back in 2013, Celebrity Holiday Homes. There were many seasons of Design Star filmed in my furniture stores around the U.S. I have always been on HGTV adjacent. Just a friend of the family, but never part of the family. It has been amazing to finally be a part of the HGTV family full-time now. Obviously, we’re looking forward to hopefully a Season 2 of Junk or Jackpot?. We also have other ideas for shows we’re talking with HGTV about now that we’ll be able to share soon. I think it’s really a match made in heaven. 

Are you close with a lot of the HGTV personalities? 

I have been friends with Drew and Jonathan [Scott] for years and years. I’ll actually be at Jonathan and Zoey’s [Deschanel] house on Saturday night for their Christmas party. I’ve always been connected. I’m friends with the Kitchen Cousins, Michel Boyd and Alison Victoria. Being in the design industry for as long as I have, I’ve been part of that family for a long time. It’s great to potentially be working with them onscreen. 

Junk or Jackpot? Premiere, December 26, 9:30/8:30c, HGTV