What We Know About HGTV Star Ty Pennington's Quick Dip Into The Modeling World

Carpentry is the game in which Ty Pennington is a master. His stardom began with the hit TLC series "Trading Spaces," and continued through his hosting gig on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." But before his rise in reality TV, Pennington tried his hand at modeling. Sadly, that career never took off, but the "Rock the Block" star says that the abrupt end to his modeling era changed the trajectory of his entire life, which HGTV fans are probably elated to hear.

Construction has been a part of Pennington's life for as long as he can remember. According to his website, the "Life to the Extreme" author began his woodworking journey early, which led to his exploration into carpentry and home improvement. Carpentry is not what he wanted to pursue in the beginning, though. Pennington had more of an interest in art, specifically graphic design. He certainly went on to explore one facet of the art world: photography. However, it wasn't behind the camera where he found his calling, but in front of it.

It's no surprise that Ty Pennington was a natural model. He has shared photos of his modeling back in the day to social media which feature black and white shots of his smoldering face, with hashtags like "#modeltygert" and "#manytalents." In an Instagram post from January 2023, Pennington even recreated a photo from when he was 27 and on the cover of a J.Crew catalog. He captioned the post with a backstory, explaining that the cover photo made him an overnight sensation.

It all came to an unexpected halt when Pennington was in a tragic car accident a week later. He described being "catapulted out of a barreling jeep, sliding across a razor sharp road on my backside. Somehow, I survived ... my buttocks sadly did not." The scars that were left shattered his modeling dream, which is why, he said: "I hung up my one decent head shot, picked up my trusty tool bag and went back to construction and carpentry." Nine years later, he said he got the audition for the TV show that would become Pennington's claim to fame, "Trading Spaces," so his retirement in male modeling wasn't in vain.

Ty Pennington is all laughs when looking back on his brief stint in modeling. He sarcastically joked to TooFab that "everyone knows that a career in male modeling an absolute — you're gonna make millions." In all seriousness, Pennington chalks it up to the universe telling him that modeling wasn't his field. He said that, if it wasn't for the accident, he would have never gone back to construction and wouldn't have auditioned for "Trading Spaces." The HGTV show host added, jokingly, that his one legacy in male modeling is when his brother left his only portfolio in an unlocked car, which someone found and used as toilet paper. So, it sounds like he's not pining over what could've been.

His audience seems to agree that the choice to go back to carpentry was the right one. In his post explaining the crash, one commenter said: "I'm sorry about the accident, but so happy it sent you to TV. More of us got to see and know about you." Another wrote: "We would have all never known your incredibly fun kind loving personality then!" The consensus is in: Ty Pennington was always meant for home improvement television.