Did you guys catch the Season 3 premiere of Married to Real Estate last week on HGTV December 28th?
Source: Courtesy / HGTV
If you’ve never watched before, Season 3 of Married To Real Estate features power couple Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson as they help Atlanta families buy houses with potential and transform them into breathtaking dream homes in a new 12-episode season. Egypt, a real estate broker and designer, and her husband Mike, an expert builder, will continue to inspire fans and keep it fun while they run successful property businesses, manage a home and raise three daughters. Egypt, who previously starred in HGTV’s Property Virgins and Flipping Virgins, will apply her extensive real estate and financial knowledge to find clients affordable options in their ideal neighborhoods that can be reimagined with her custom design plans. Mike and his team will then maximize the budget and troubleshoot any construction issue to deliver stunning renovations that increase the homes’ value and return on investment. Also this season, Egypt and Mike will share memorable family experiences as their pre-teen Kendall takes up the viola while younger daughter Harper learns to ride a bike, and they’ll renovate a new office for their booming businesses.
“If you paid attention to season one and two, you know that we were trying to find a building, find a location to open up the business right bring them all together into one,” Mike Jackson told BOSSIP’s Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden. “You see that happen. It comes to pass. So that’s the big one. Plus we also step outside of residential construction and design and we do CAU, Clark Atlanta University. It was a pretty big project.”
“You also see our girls graduating,” Egypt added. “You see Mike and I going at it. I quit the show, I quit him, I quit the project for 5 minutes. Then I was back. The stakes were definitely higher so tempers were a little higher this season too.”
Source: Courtesy / HGTV
While anyone who has bought, built or renovated a home knows how stressful it can be, Egypt joked that the stress had more to do with the normal pressures of working with loved ones than the tribulations of home construction.
“It had absolutely nothing to do with the projects and everything to do with being married and working with your spouse and your uncle. All in good fun. I think we just take everybody on the journey with us and you know with our show it really is about an evolution of family and legacy so season three is no different. You get more of what folks have been loving about us and we thank everybody. We’re so grateful for this journey that you guys have supported us on.”
The couple’s genuine loving rapport is definitely a large part of what’s attracted over 15.6 million viewers to their previous run. But Egypt and Mike say very little has changed for them or their kids, even though the show has extended their family to include numerous fans, who Egypt has nicknamed “fanily”.
“I don’t think they’ve noticed it as far as people recognizing them especially Harper,” Sherrod said of the couple’s youngest daughter. “When people come up to her and say, ‘Hey!’ she just thinks it’s stranger danger, she’s not worried about that. With Kendall she recognizes that people understand what it is, but she’s like ‘OK but I’m trying to go buy me a new something.’ It’s not about the fame for her. The adjustment has been okay. We’ve kept them pretty insulated because nothing’s changed about mommy and daddy. They’re surrounded by love and their full village and aunties and grandmas and cousins and everything so nothing big has changed. We haven’t gone out and gotten paparazzi. That’s not our life, we’re still in Costco!”
Source: Courtesy / HGTV
That down to earth energy is definitely part of their appeal. The success of Married to Real Estate has been beautiful to watch because Mike and Egypt are such a positive reflection of what a healthy Black marriage can look like. It’s also just as powerful to see Black entrepreneurship in action.
“I feel like growing up I wanted to see more people like me,” Egypt recalled. ” I wanted to see marriages that worked. In our community maybe we just haven’t had as many examples or maybe they’re just not shown on television. We recognize the importance of people viewing a really truly happy marriage where folks are friends, we’re getting along, we don’t demean each other. It’s not fake. We’re the same people on and off the camera. But where we have this whole picture of having children and we love just as hard, we’re building a legacy for our kids and we do good business. Representation across the board, any facet of life, matters. We recognize and do not take for granted what our show means for our community.”
While the spotlight can be a difficult place for some, Mike and Egypt say remaining true to who they are have made their journey run smoothly.
“We are who we are, on camera and behind the scenes, so we never have to put on,” Jackson told BOSSIP. That’s when you start to feel the pressure, when you gotta live up to something that’s really not you. When [people] come up to us and say, ‘Listen, my daughter just sat and watched the show with me,’ or ‘isten just keep going because you’re representing us well,’ those are the things when you know your’e doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Tune in for all-new episodes of Married to Real Estate Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on HGTV
Fans can stream the first two seasons of Married to Real Estate now on Max®. And, HGTV’s digital platforms will offer up even more exclusive content from the new season at HGTV.com and by following @HGTV and #MarriedtoRealEstate onâ¯Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and Threads. In addition, fans can connect with Egypt (@egyptsherrod) and Mike (@djfadelf) on Instagram.