Jack McBrayer Agreed to Host ‘Zillow Gone Wild’ Under 1 Condition & We LOVE Him For It

As Jack McBrayer returns for season two of HGTV’s runaway hit “Zillow Gone Wild” on July 18, 2025, the comedic actor and zany host has revealed that when the network asked him to star on the show, he had one adorable condition: he didn’t want to make fun of anybody’s wild and crazy house.

“I was like, ‘Hey, I’m not the comedian who’s like, you know, snarky or going to tear you down or or embarrass you or anything,'” he recalled telling HGTV during an interview with Too Fab. “And they’re like, ‘Perfect. We want this to be positive and exploratory and celebratory.”

But they also had one rule for him: no peeking ahead of time.

Jack McBrayer Says He Knows People ‘Roll Their Eyes’ at His Unbridled Enthusiasm

The first season of “Zillow Gone Wild” premiered in May 2024, hosted by McBrayer, who rose to fame on the hit NBC sitcom “30 Rock.” The show is inspired by the hugely popular “Zillow Gone Wild” Instagram account, which features some of the weirdest and wildest homes on the market for its nearly two million followers.

McBrayer goes into each house sight unseen and is often blown away, giddy as a schoolkid, about what he finds — and is genuinely interested in what made the homeowner buy or transform their house to be so unique. He told TooFab he realizes he may come across as a “living cartoon character.”

“I’m not going to lie, I know people, like, roll their eyes and think I’m just like saccharine sweet,” McBrayer told TooFab, “but my whole thing is like, it doesn’t feel good to me to wake up angry. It doesn’t feel good to me to make anyone else feel bad. And one thing I loved about stepping into improvisation as, you know, like my career, inherently it is all about teamwork and collaboration — an ensemble. Taking care of your partner, making your partner look better than you. I like that.”

Just like the houses and people he showcases on “Zillow Gone Wild,” he loves to highlight and celebrate his friends who are doing cool things.

“I’m just at an age and a stage in my career (where) I don’t need attention,” McBrayer told Too Fab. “I don’t need that stuff. It’s fun for me to root for my buddies. It’s fun for me to celebrate anyone with a passion, anyone with direction and motivation. Like, let’s see more of that. Let’s do for it. Go for it. Go be the best version of that that you can do. That feels good to me.”

Jack McBrayer Isn’t Allowed to Look At Homes Ahead of ‘Zillow Gone Wild’ Filming

“I kind of like just having the curiosity of a kid going into these houses,” he told Too Fab. “And I mean, sometimes you can’t help it. You’re like, ‘Oh, dude, you slide in your house!’ Or you know, like, ‘Whoa, everything is pink!'”

McBrayer can authentically react on-camera to each odd house he sees because he has no idea what he’s walking into. Before the show aired in 2024, he told the New York Post, “My only assignment was to not look at the Instagram page, because they wanted me to see (each house) and catch that reaction on camera. So, if someone gives you an assignment of ‘No homework,’ you say yes!”

The comedian told Too Fab that the same rule was in place for season two, explaining, “The producers are pretty insistent that I do not do any homework because they want to capture those reactions live on camera, which is super great. I really do just like being surprised, too. So, I kind of enjoy that part of it.”

“Zillow Gone Wild” season two premieres on July 18 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, and will air each Friday night at the same time.