We got the chance to chat with all three of them.
What was going through your heads when you found out you were in the top three?
Eli:Oh, boy.
… And they were just like, “How do you feel about that?”
That was I feel quite honored.
And I made it!
Apparently, you don’t have to win the challenge to make it to the finale.
I’m going to the finale.
Chris:Well, having been in the bottom and the top, that is the scariest experience ever.
And we can all agree that going to that doorknob …
There’s a major reality check.
Nobody really understands how scary it is.
You don’t know from time to time.
I was in the top.
I was in the middle.
We were all there, so none of us really knew.
So it was a big relief and it was just super exciting.
I can’t believe I made it to the finale.
A total roller coaster.
Carmeon:The process was so long.
I know it started back in January or February.
I didn’t recognize the phone number, so I didn’t even answer it.
It’d be great if you could call me back.
Can we talk?"
And I was like, “Dean?
It took a while to register, but it’s like, “Oh, okay.”
And that was August.
“No, you got to go.
You’re not going to get this opportunity again.”
What was your hesitation?
Carmeon:Well, my own design business took off over the summer.
I don’t compete for anything.
I don’t want to go compete and risk losing my business on top of this.
How Eli and Chris joined the Design Star: Next Gen cast
What about you, Chris?
You ought to take the phone call.”
I called and visited with Dean.
And he was like, “Hey!
We’d love you to be part of this show.”
And much like Carmeon, I was kind of torn.
Is this something I really want to do?
Because, I already have a pretty successful, big firm and thought about it and thought about it.
And Dean kept calling, and okay, what the heck?
I really, really wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone.
And it definitely tore me down.
I mean, I but everything came back to me really fast.
And honestly, it was the best experience.
I felt more creative, more energized, and more excited about the creative process after I got home.
So it was something that I will never, ever regret doing.
Eli:Similarly to Chris, I thought it was a joke.
This dude that was not Dean I didn’t meet Dean for months was hitting me up.
And he I was skiing, and I was just like, “Who is this guy?”
I’m like, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and it was the same message.
And it was just like it wasn’t even like, “Hey!
We’re casting the show.
I think you’d be a good fit for this.”
It was just, “I’m doing a TV show.
Do you want to be on it?”
Get out of here!
No, this is this is not real, so I just brushed it off.
Do you know this guy who’s been trying to, like, reach you?"
Can you look the guy up and maybe give him a call back?"
And I’m like, “Sure.”
And it’s like, he’s legit.
I actually was just like, “I mean, I got like 800 followers on Instagram.
I’ve been doing this for about four years professionally.
Other than that, I was designing restaurants.
They were my own restaurants, I don’t know if I have the experience for what you want.
Why don’t you talk to other people at my firm?”
And then he listed all the people at the firm and he goes, “We want you.”
I just don’t think I fit the mold, so maybe that’s why they wanted me.
Carmeon:Not at all.
Eli:Not even close.
It really didn’t hit me it was a TV show and how naive I was to the process.
It’s just mind-boggling to me once we got into it.
Carmeon:Yeah, and I had watched it every season ofDesign Starbefore going.
I watched it in real time 10 years ago and right before going on the show.
And so even when they called me, “We want you to do this show.”
I was like, “Do I have to live with everybody?”
It like I was like, “What what channel is this on?
Like, I’m not I don’t do drama.
I don’t want to live with people.
And then also designing a room in two days with $500.
That’s not that’s it’s possible for you to’t do that now.
And that’s not what I do.
That’s not my business model.
That’s not what I promote on social media.
And I’m just like, “Oh, my God.
What did what did I just sign up for?”
[Laughs]
Chris:It was very overwhelming, to be honest.
Eli:It totally was way bigger.
It was so much bigger than anybody could have expected.
And I remember just I still didn’t think it was real.
My friends are big pranksters, and no, I’m not kidding.
I know it’s them.
My heart was just racing.
What what do I even do?
And then everybody proceeded to trip over the same obstacle when we walked in.
This is a disaster.
Why did I come here?
Chris:I think we went into survival mode.
I think, basically all of us, ‘cause we did.
We were just in shock, I think.
And it’s amazing, also, how they just disappear very quickly once you get used to it.
We’re all mic’ing ourselves up in the morning, and we were ready to go.
It was totally different.
Is there something that wasn’t a part of an episode that you wish we could have seen?
Carmeon:I wish that they were able to edit in more of our interactions with each other.
I was one that made it a point to go and visit everybody during the process.
I wanted to see what everybody else was doing, check in, see what their designs look like.
Also, check on their mental state.
Every experience was one filled with laughter and one-liners and jokes.
And it would be things that we would talk about for days.
Chris:We spent a lot of time laughing.
Eli:That’s what got us through.
Chris:We laughed a lot.
I think it goes by so fast.
She’s like, “Eli’s grave.”
And for all of us, we were everyone’s cheerleader.
Nobody was, like, trying to screw anybody over.
It was so supportive.
[Laughs] Even you, Chris.
Chris:I will have I think more than likeDesign Star, we became “Design Family.”
And we actually created a design family, and that’s going to go on way past the show.
That’s the big one.
Chris has a place in Aspen just last weekend in Silverton.
I probably talked to Tony almost every single day on Instagram.
What kind of television show have you all envisioned having for yourself?
And have you always wanted to have your own HGTV show?
I was too different or a little too outside of the box of what they were looking for.
There’s nobody that looks like me on TV.
I wasn’t pitching myself, but they were approaching me.
What do you want your HGTV audience to see?”
And just a true love letter to Memphis and my love of Memphis and everything that’s here.
So [it’d] be great if you guys could just come along for it.
So that’s how I pitched my show to the producers.
Eli:That’s great.
I just always never really thought about it.
And then when the opportunity came along, I thought, “Well, this could be really fun.
And my show, I kind of wanted to do for design what Anthony Bourdain did for food.
So I’m going to call my showOh my Goddard.
All those shows are unique.
Eli:Let’s make it happen!
And he’s been on TV, on HGTV, for, like, almost 15 years.
The guy is the most employable.
I mean, outside of the Property Brothers, he’s the second most-famous HGTV star.
So considering his beginning is basically our beginning, he’s one that stands out to me.
Eli:That was who I was going to say.
Chris:Me too, because he’s the original Design Star.
Eli:He’s just he’s the most out there.
And that’s what, I think, I really respect about him.
He’s just so out there.
Carmeon:Definitely the time constraints, especially for me.
A real learning experience for me, and it was really hard.
I thought it was just all about design.
Chris:My biggest one would [be to] be your authentic self.
So I would just say, be your most authentic self.
Eli:I say: go for it.
I think, don’t play it safe.
So, like, I think everybody else would typically be so afraid to fail on camera.
It’s good to do that.
You know, we brought it together as a team and we did it.
So you got to just go for it.
[Laughs]
Eli:[Laughs] You helped keep me in check a lot.
Carmeon:Yeah, I would.
Know the basics, but brush up on designing for photography before you sign up for the show.
Eli:Yeah, one of those tips that I want to back up.
I want to back you up on one that that used you said, Carmeon, designing for TV.
They told me kind of halfway through.
They’re like pull out I think [designer and celebrity judge] Lauren Makk did.
Take a photo, and see how it looks.”
I was just doing a styling project, and I would’ve never done that.
I was doing it last week.
And every view we were just doing the photos, and that I could not have had that skillset.
All episodes ofDesign Star: Next Genare streaming now on discovery+.
