With little explanation, HGTV has pulled its new show, “Divided by Design,” off the air midway through its first season.
On September 26, 2024, the network’s social media accounts posted a photo of the show’s stars, married Miami-based designers Ray & Eilyn Jimenez, informing fans that instead of airing that night as scheduled, the show would be on “a brief hiatus and return in 2025 with the second half of the season.”
The move has stunned fans of the couple, who previously starred on Netflix’s 2022 show “Designing Miami,” and has further complicated what was already a bumpy start for the new series.
‘Divided by Design’ Has Had a Rocky Start on HGTV
“Divided by Design” is a docu-series that follows the Jimenezes, who own competing design firms in Miami, as they conduct renovations for clients and in their own home. But the rollout of the show has been rocky.
HGTV first announced in December 2023 that it had greenlit “Divided by Design” for a 2024 debut and that media production company Butternut was producing the show for the network. Butternut was launched in 2022 by Courtney White, who was previously the head of Food Network, a sister network to HGTV under the Discovery umbrella. Prior to that, per Butternut, she was general manager and EVP of Food Network and HGTV, where she launched hit shows including “Fixer Upper” and “Home Town.”
HGTV heavily publicized the August 20 premiere of “Divided by Design” after delaying its debut by two months. Touted as a nine-episode series, the show was initially scheduled to begin airing on June 10. The Jimenezes made multiple PR appearances to promote the show in the spring of 2024, including a profile in People magazine and an interview on “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
But the June 10 premiere date came and went without the show airing. On July 23, HGTV quietly announced that the show would debut in late August instead. The nine-episode series did debut on August 20, and aired for several weeks.
In early September, Ray Jimenez told Collider, “We love the HGTV family. We feel welcomed. We feel like we’re being represented correctly. We feel like the show is being promoted correctly. And we’re just we’re just excited to be part of the HGTV network and family.”
In its September 26 post about suspending the show temporarily, HGTV said, “It’s been thrilling to share Divided by Design with you these past few weeks! The show will take a brief hiatus and return in 2025 with the second half of the season. Stay tuned for an official premiere date—you’re not gonna want to miss the remaining 🔥 episodes 🏠😎”
Fans Up in Arms Over ‘Divided by Design’ Hiatus
Fans of the show were stunned by the announcement, commenting in droves about how disappointed they were to see it go, including one who wrote on Instagram, “No freaking way!!! I was so hooked on it and kept checking everyday for a new episode ❤️”
Another commented, “Noooo, this is incredibly disappointing!!! Love everything about this pair! It was refreshing to see something different offered on HGTV for a change! I’ll be glued again in 2025…..until then, back to regularly scheduled programming.”
Someone else tweeted, “Bummer! I look forward to it every week 😭 I can’t wait to see their house fully completed”
But if the Jimenezes are concerned about the future of their show, they’re not showing it. They both commented on HGTV’s post about the show’s hiatus.
Ray wrote, “Beyond appreciate all the positive feedback guys! 🙏🏾 we’ll be back in no time!!! ☺️💪🏾”
When a confused viewer asked, “so the last episode for this year was episode 5?” Eilyn responded, “for now until Q1 of 2025! We’re coming back with so much more to show. So excited!!”
She also replied to a frustrated viewer who wrote, “Finally a show that my wife and I love to watch together and this happened….. It better be a break and not a cancellation of the show…. @hgtv parcero, sean serios y pongan al menos The episode 6….Finally a Greta night time show instead of reruns…. And you want us to wait till 25? @eilynjimenez_ and @rayjimenez_ con fuerza 💪 y en la buena”
Eilyn responded, “definitely a break until 2025 – and coming back with even more to see! Patience is a virtue for us all 😂🤍”
Like Heavy.com’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy.com
The post HGTV Fans Stunned as Network Pulls Show appeared first on Heavy.com.