Why Did HGTV Star Mina Starsiak Hawk's Husband Blow Her Off When They First Met?

HGTV's "Good Bones," which sadly ended in 2023, followed the drama-filled story of mother-daughter duo and longtime business partners Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk as they rehabbed homes throughout Indianapolis. During the show, we learned more about Mina's personal life too, including meeting her husband, Steve Hawk, whom she married in 2016. Based on how frequently he appears on her Instagram, we'd say they seem pretty happy together. However, Steve acted like he had absolutely zero interest in Mina the first time they met. 

As the HGTV star explained during a 2018 interview with Country Living, she first learned of Steve through Facebook after spotting his profile and noticing they had mutual friends. These pals organized a group hangout for them to meet at a sports bar. But, when the personal trainer first laid eyes on his future wife, "I was intimidated," as Steve confessed in a joint chat with HGTV. Mina quickly added, "So, he avoided me." Steve's standoffish manner may have signaled to some that he wasn't interested, but the truth was, he was just stunned by Mina's beauty. 

Still, the shy personal trainer struggled to make a move right then and there. In fact, Mina revealed to Country Living, "He let his friend hit on me." But she wasn't going to allow her Facebook crush to get away that easily. "We're going to try this again tomorrow — you get one more shot," the bold reality star recounted texting him afterward. Fortunately, Steve understood the assignment, and the rest is history.

Mina Starsiak Hawk and her husband, Steve Hawk, have been through a lot together during their relationship. In August 2024, "Good Bones" briefly returned to TV with a limited series spinoff, "Good Bones: New Beginnings," in which the lovable couple turned an Indiana lake house into a vacation home for themselves and their two children. This project had a much deeper meaning too, with Mina noting, in a clip shared by People, "The lake house is going to feel very healing for Steve because he's lost so much." While Mina's life has been filled with tragic details, Steve experienced multiple deaths in his family within a short period. 

In 2018, he lost his mother to stomach cancer, quickly followed by his father, who died after falling down the stairs just six months later. Then, in 2020, Steve's younger sister Stefanie passed away from ethanol poisoning. "He's going through life the best way he can after just some really, really epic loss in a very, very short amount of time. And because his time with his family was cut short, that's really why we wanted this lake house for Jack and Charlie — really, for the long term, for the memories, for the experiences," Mina explained. The HGTV star was notably very close to Stefanie too, even referring to her as her sister on Instagram.