HGTV offers to pay your mortgage

Former 98 Degrees heartthrob Drew Lachey -- the brother of the much more famous Nick Lachey -- will be offering home owners a chance to win huge amounts of money to pay off their mortgages by competing in home renovation challenges.


HGTV's $250,000 Challenge will debut on May 31, and families will pair up with HGTV's design and construction experts to participate in weekly challenges including kitchen and living room makeovers, according to The Associated Press.

The show is an interesting reflection of the economic environment. HGTV currently airs My House is Worth What?, a show that features real estate agents providing home owners with their opinions of value, presumably so that they can take out home equity loans to make more upgrades. The new show features free kitchen and living room makeovers along with a chance to win money to pay off a mortgage -- an example of de-leveraging that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

Whether Drew Lachey's star is still strong enough to draw viewers is pretty dubious but after a stint on Dancing with the Stars, it's nice to see him trying to prolong his career by becoming the next jack of all trades Mario "I used to be a Tiger Beat cover boy and now I host random TV shows" Lopez.