The stars of Magnolia Network’s Anything but Gray have revealed what it’s really like putting the colorful home renovation show together.
The series, which premiered on October 18, features designer Gray Benko as she transforms homes in Charleston, South Carolina, with the help of her design partner, Chelcie Eastman, and father, affectionately known as Grumpy.
Throughout the six-episode season, Benko and Eastman bring unexpected hues, playful details and ingenious design solutions to each property, proving that a forever home should reflect individuality and joy.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, they lifted the lid on the blood, sweat and tears that go into making each episode.
They also explained that while their work as interior designers might look like a big team effort, it really is only just the three of them beavering away behind the scenes.
‘What you see happening is truly just us,’ Benko said. ‘When we are staging the houses for the reveal, it’s really just us. We don’t have this huge team of people behind us.
‘After the cameras leave and get what they need, we’re still there going like, “It has to get finished,” and we have basically a day to get it done.’
Magnolia Network series Anything but Gray is helmed by designer Gray Benko (center), Chelcie Eastman (left) and Benko’s father, Grumpy (right)
The trio transform homes in Charleston, South Carolina, making each property they touch pop with color
Anything but Gray is a continuation of Benko’s last show, Happy to Be Home with the Benkos, which ran for two seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Benko fronted the original program with her husband Mike Benko, but the pair have since separated.
During Season 1 of Happy to Be Home, Gray Benko recalled to the Daily Mail that ‘there were nights where we would be there until 4am, and then I had to get up the next day and be there to film looking bright-eyed and bush tailed on the Friday to film the reveal. That was exhausting.’
But now, with Anything but Gray, ‘we’ve gotten it down to more of a science.’
‘Although,’ she admitted, ‘there were times myself and Chelcie would show up right after we dropped our kids off and we didn’t leave until 8.30 at night.’
To film the series, Benko and Eastman were working on multiple projects at a time, which was a huge undertaking for just the two of them.
‘It is very, very unusual for an interior designer of any caliber to take on six to 10 giant projects like this on their own and all at the same time, unless you’ve got a giant firm behind you,’ Eastman said.
‘I think that’s one of the things people don’t understand: We are really just two moms doing a job.
‘We are real interior designers that anybody can hire and we can go anywhere in the United States and do a house for anyone. We’re not just a TV show.’
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Benko (pictured) lifted the lid on the blood, sweat and tears that go into making each episode
Benko revealed that she and Eastman work without a team of people and tackle multiple projects at once
Renaming the original show and moving in a different direction felt like a natural progression for the hosts.
‘This is the same show, but with a different concept,’ Benko told the Daily Mail. ‘The customers have to give us a little bit more trust now, whereas before they were in the design consultation.’
Benko, who shares two teenagers with her ex-partner, Mike, added that a change was inevitable. Their two children frequently appeared in the first two seasons of Happy to be Home, but now they’re older they ‘don’t want to be on TV.’
‘It just made a lot of sense to make the shift to having the show just be about our job and what we do,’ she said.
Benko and Eastman are now tackling ‘full home historic renovations’ in Anything but Gray.
Before, they said that viewers ‘didn’t really get to see a lot of the actual process,’ but now ‘you actually get to see the interior and the thought behind it.’
There has been ample change to the home renovation show landscape in recent months largely due to the multiple cancelations over on HGTV, a fellow Warner Bros Discovery subsidiary.
Magnolia Network is owned by Warner Bros but does not appear to have been hit by dramatic cuts.
Over the summer, HGTV pulled the plug on several fan favorite shows, including Bargain Block, Married to Real Estate, Farmhouse Fixer, Izzy Does It and Battle on the Beach.
News of the cancelations left both fans and the hosts of these shows devastated.
Bargain Block co-star couple Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas spoke out about how their business was ‘derailed’ after their program was axed.
‘Our entire business and lives have been put through the ringer at the hands of a giant corporation, yet we persist,’ they said in a statement shared on social media.
‘Though you may not be seeing us for much longer on HGTV, we’re excited that we’ve built such an amazing base of followers and we’re very excited about the future.’
Magnolia Network, on the other hand, seems to be doing just fine, and Benko and Eastman have sung its praises.
For them, working with the channel has been a dream come true, and they say they have felt right at home.
‘It is very, very unusual for an interior designer of any caliber to take on six to 10 giant projects like this on their own and all at the same time,’ Eastman (pictured) told the Daily Mail
Anything but Gray premiered on October 18 and is comprised of six one-hour episodes
‘I feel like when they asked if I would do this show, the thing that made me feel comfortable doing it, especially because I have a family, is the fact that it was Magnolia,’ Benko told the Daily Mail.
‘I was like, I know that I’m in good hands and it’s going to be wholesome and it’s not going to be something that I’m not going to want my kids to see.’
Eastman agreed, and added that the team at Magnolia Network ‘cradle you’ and ‘make sure you’re safe.’
Anything but Gray is set to conclude with its final episode on November 8.
Fans will have to sit tight to see whether the series will return for another season.
‘As far as Season 2 goes, we haven’t heard anything about that yet. Usually, when it gets renewed, it’s not until after the series is completely done airing,’ Benko said.
For the most part, response to the show has been hugely positive.
‘I feel like we push some boundaries,’ Benko added, ‘and it gets people talking and thinking about stepping outside of their comfort zone a little bit.’
