“Texas Flip N Move” is a reality-style series that follows several family companies/teams of real estate entrepreneurs who compete against each other by renovating and flipping houses for profit. The series premiered in November 2014 and ran for 12 seasons on DIY Network, which later rebranded to Magnolia Network. The show was pretty popular with viewers, who enjoyed observing the process of transforming almost condemned frame houses set for demolition into dashing homes for potential new owners. However, the show just went under the radar after the 12th season, despite the apparent popularity and a colossal fanbase. Now, fans are wondering what happened, and whether the show was canceled.
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The Show’s Format and the Cast
While similar series usually infer that the crew acquires the property when buying the house, with this show the format is a bit different. First, as hinted in the show’s name, they only purchase the actual house and not the underlying land. Then, after refurbishing and redecorating the house, the crew puts it up for an auction, hoping to sell it for the biggest profit and beat the other team. Another exciting element that sets this show apart from numerous other renovating series, is that the potential buyers at the auction are not allowed to enter the refurbished house; instead, they can view it only from the outside. While paying for the house, they also have to factor in the costs of moving house from the initial location to the renovation site.
#Designer #Demo All new episode of #TexasFlipNMove tonight on the @DIYNetwork • #GarysGirls #TexasFlipAndMove #DIY pic.twitter.com/8ViqU0C32j
— Texas Flip N Move (@TexasFlipnMove) December 8, 2017
Similar to other reality series, the cast often changes, and various members join or exit for various reasons. Initially, the show featured three crews; The Snow Sisters (Donna Snow Landers and Toni Snow Barksdale), The Lone Wolf (Randy Martin and Bleu Pride), and The Young Guns ( Cody and Suzi Slay). The show also featured auctioneer Myers Jackson, construction foreman Steven Goode, and Donna’s father, Daddy Snow, who occasionally appeared on the show. The Young Guns departed from the show after the third season, and several others joined the interesting competition, including Gary’s Girls (Gary Snow’s four daughters), Garry and Jerry, Paige and Raf, and Casey Hester and Catrina Kidd.
Was “Texas Flip N Move” canceled?
In 2020, it was announced that the Essential Media Group, the producer behind various reality series, including “Texas Flip N Move,” completed the buyout of the collapsed Canadian content/production company Kew Media Group. The CEO of the Essential Media Group released the statement saying: ‘I am gutted by the collapse of Kew. They’re good people, and there is nothing to celebrate here, but we will take this moment to buy back, consolidate our resources and rebuild. With its solid production and development slate, there is a bright future for Essential Media.”
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The story behind this acquisition is that Kew Media Group first bought Essential Media for $21million in 2018. However, according to online sources, the owners of the Kew Media Group were in over their heads with this purchase. It spawned financial troubles, which eventually caused the company to go under. Furthermore, after Discovery rebranded the network from DIY to Magnolia, the company changed the creative direction. Essential Media was hit and eventually lost vital series such as “Texas Flip N Move”, and focused on other types of series, including “Ghost Loop” on Travel Channel.
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Scandals and Controversy
In 2018, one of the show’s regulars, Toni Snow, and the network attracted backlash for the anti-Semitic comment he made in an episode when bargaining over the price of a house. Initially, several media outlets such as The New York Post, reported on the inappropriate term he used. The fans quickly hopped on the bandwagon to share their disapproval and shock after the network chose to air it. In the episode entitled “Snow Sister’s School Bus Flip,” Toni and Donna purchased a $300 school bus and converted it into a home after spending $27,000 on renovation. The Snow’s sister’s initial price was $36,000, and a client who had set his eyes on the bus accepted it. Given that the client did not even try to haggle over the price, Toni said: “You’re not even gonna bicker a little bit…Jew us down?” and Donna added: “You’re not even gonna blink an eye?”
After the backlash, the network addressed the incident and apologized. The official statement reads: “On a recent episode of “Texas Flip N Move”, an inappropriate comment unfortunately made it past our team. We were made aware of the issue shortly after it aired, and immediately pulled the episode to edit it for future broadcast. We apologize unreservedly for any offense caused.”
Toni, who has a huge fanbase, also offered his sincere apologies. She wrote on the official Snow’s Sisters media platform: “I am deeply sorry that in a recent episode of Texas Flip N Move I used a negative phrase that was a hurtful stereotype about members of the Jewish community. The comment was insensitive and inappropriate, and I sincerely regret using any words that have the power to hurt anybody.”
The DIY Network has apologized for an anti-Semitic remark made by "Texas Flip N Move" host Toni Snow https://t.co/yvfy5hbJA5 pic.twitter.com/LgHk341W31
— CNN (@CNN) January 17, 2018
Given the severity of the situation, the fans began fearing that the Snow Sisters might be fired from the show due to Toni’s comment. This theory was further reinforced after the series didn’t air on the usual schedule on Friday night following this controversial incident. However, the Snow Sisters team weren’t fired, and the show returned two weeks later.
Paint Violations on the Show
In 2021, the production company behind “Texas Flip N Move” was sued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the alleged violation of federal regulation meant to reduce the dangers of lead-based paint during renovations. In some of their show’s episodes, the crews violated the Toxic Substances Control Act’s Lead Renovation Repair and Painting Rule (RRP Rule) while doing renovations for compensation without the EPA renovation firm certificate. In addition, they failed to comply with several practice standards required for the safe handling and disposal of lead-based paint.
After the agency and the production company reached a settlement, Acting Regional Administrator David Gray said: “Renovating older homes comes with the responsibility of safeguarding residents from exposure to dust from lead-base. Through this settlement, Texas Flip N Move is ensuring the safety of their renovation work and educating the public about exposure to lead-based paint.”
Lead-based paint exposure is a serious matter, and can cause elevated blood levels in children as they are the most vulnerable to its effects, as they are actively developing, so can absorb more lead than adults, which affects their brains and nervous system. Long-term exposure can cause irreversible and life-long health issues.
The company agreed to pay civil penalties and ensure compliance with the RRP Rule in future renovation projects. In addition, they also agreed to do some projects to educate children on the detrimental effects of lead-based paint, the importance of following established practices, and employing a certified renovator, including banners on existing episodes of “Texas Flip N Move”
What happened to Cody and Suzi Slay from “The Young Guns”?
Original cast members Suzi and Cody became very popular during the first three seasons, for their goofy personalities and working dynamics. However, they didn’t returned for the fourth season, which sparked theories from fans who wanted to get to the bottom of their departure. Even though the show continued and grow in popularity despite the frequent cast changes, their exit caused a lot of backlash. Their fans on Twitter created a Change.org petition to get the two back on the show. Unfortunately their efforts were in vain, and the petition was closed.
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As expected, several of their fans commented and reached out to them on their social media, asking about the show and whether they chose to depart. Cody replied: ‘Not exactly, creative differences”. Rumors were floating around on the internet that they departed due to contract disputes, or behind-the-scenes disagreements, as the two wanted more screen time. The network never revealed any information or even addressed their exit, so nothing could be stated with certainty. However, Cody was asked on Twitter to explain what he meant by ‘creative differences,’ and he replied: ‘It means we cannot agree on behind-the-scenes stuff, so we had to agree to disagree.” Although numerous fans wanted to keep them on the show, there were some fans who were actually glad that they left, one of whom wrote: ‘I’m watching some episodes from the first season, and thank goodness they got rid of the ‘The Young Guns.’ They just didn’t fit with everyone else. The folks they have on there now are much more pleasant to watch.”
After they left the show, the two stopped flipping houses, and decided to focus on their Texas Wild Hog Salon in Fort Worth. One of the customers described the salon as a place with “Friendly staff… great drinks and great conversation.”
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Suzi Slay was arrested
As various media outlets called her, the dashing blonde had locked horns with the law enforcement in the past. According to online sources, in April 2003 she had been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The court papers read: ‘Slay did then and there intentionally and knowingly possess a controlled substance, namely hydrocodone of less than twenty-eight grams, including any adulterants and diluents.’ After pleading guilty to the charges, she received 12 months of community service and a $700 fine. Why an incident so far in the past was even raised is strange – perhaps ‘any publicity is good publicity’, but it had no apparent effect on the series’ popularity.
Drama in Donna’s Life
If you watched the show, that chances are that you are familiar with Donna and her then-marriage to Marshall Landers. She mentions her husband and their seemingly perfect relationship in several episodes, and even shared heartwarming captions about him on social media. However, in 2017, the former reality star shocked the public after filing for divorce following 24 years of marriage. According to court documents, she requested a temporary restraining order against Marshall, and asked that her husband be forcibly removed from their home. Donna cited “conflict of personalities” as the reason for the divorce, but insisted that they would be able to divide their property together. The court papers also listed that she had some property aside from their community estate, and wanted to ensure that her soon-to-be ex-husband wasn’t entitled to any of these.
The judge in the case sided with Donna, and based on the ruling, her husband “was given two days to remove his property from their residence.” Marshall then filed a countersuit against Donna to get her to pay his attorney, as Marshal was “not in control of sufficient community assets to pay attorney’s fees and anticipated expenses.”
After he was removed from their house and collected his possessions accompanied by a police officer, it seemed that Marshall had nowhere to go, as his only property was a white Ford F-250 pickup truck.
When the news of their divorce broke, many believed that Donna was a victim of domestic violence, considering she sought a restraining order against him. In addition, she was photographed by a media outlet at the courthouse with a cast on her right hand, which many took to confirm the domestic violence allegations. However, Donna never spoke out about these issues, and Marshal was never charged for domestic violence or any other crime.
I wanted to share a little something that happened New Year's Eve with me, most of you guessed right, but so many have been asking so here is a video recap!
Thank you Rick Irving for the amazing pictures and video your son Dusty did for us.https://t.co/QQhuQFfIQL— Snow Sisters Texas (@SnowSistersTX) January 14, 2022
Is “Texas Flip N Move” fake?
A common question that all reality series deal with, is whether it’s scripted or not, and “Texas Flip N Move” is no different. Since the show aired, several cast members were asked on their social media about the show, including Snow Sisters, who received tons of messages every day. In a 2017 interview, Toni and Donna talked about the messages, saying that fans often ask them ‘how long it takes to memorize a script so funny”.
They both claimed that there was no script, Toni saying: “We are what we are on TV. We know how to cut a piece of wood, we know how to measure, we know how to do things like that, but we also kid around and be ourselves, in and out of the reality part.”
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Furthermore, the two were so unassuming, that when the then- DIY producers initially reached out asking them to join the series, they thought it was a prank; Donna explained: ‘I just went right along with it. I was being nice to him, as I was raised to be respectful, and answered all his questions. I start questioning, ‘Well, you know, if this is a competitor pulling a prank, boy, they’re really taking it to the hills.”
Another important detail about the show is that every one of the members is a seasoned and skilled flipper and contractor, who had been in the business numerous years before the show even started. For example, Casey Hester is the owner of the family company Hester House Moving founded in 1962 by his grandfather.
The popularity of the series is undoubted, so its return to the screen isn’t impossible, but given the attitude of the producers, would seem to be unlikely – as to ‘why’?, your guess is as good as ours.
