With the end of another season on “Rock the Block,” longtime HGTV star Ty Pennington has found himself back in the crosshairs of fierce debates over the show’s judging process, home appraisals, and winners.
Michel Smith Boyd and Alison Victoria were the season six champions over fellow “RTB” veterans Jonathan and Jordan Knight, and first-time contestants Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama and Chelesa and Cole DeBoer.
As soon as HGTV premiered the season finale on May 26, 2025, fans had lots of opinions about the results. Many viewers on social media turned to Pennington, the show’s perennial host, to complain about and question the judging process. So he began to share some of them in his Instagram Stories, pleading with people to take up their issues with the network instead.
Ty Pennington Tells ‘Rock the Block’ Fans ‘I’m Just the Host’
As in past seasons of “Rock the Block,” four duos of HGTV stars had six weeks to renovate identical, newly constructed homes on the same cul-de-sac, completing challenges every week that were judged by other HGTV stars. In the end, three independent appraisers assessed the values of each home, with the team that added the most value named the winners.
All four homes started with a value of $750,000, and each team was given a total of $250,000 for renovations and decor. In the end, Pennington and guest judge Jonathan Scott revealed that Boyd and Victoria added the most value, with their home appraised at $1.4 million. Pennington noted that their home value was just $35,000 more than the second-place team’s home, but didn’t reveal which team that was.
On May 27, Pennington posted several screenshots of exchanges he’d had with fans questioning him about the results, including viewers who thought it was unfair that Boyd and Victoria added a living space in their backyard using a renovated storage container.
One of comments Pennington featured was from a viewer who told him, “Thank you for another great season! Next season, please do not allow containers and RV’s for extra spaces…focus solely on the house to get a true appraisal.”
Over that screenshot, Pennington told his followers, “if you have any criticism, ideas, thoughts, feelings 😆 I encourage you to leave them on @hgtv’s page bc they genuinely see/listen to your suggestions! That’s why we had blind judging this season 🙌”
At the bottom of the screenshot, Pennington wrote, “I’m just the host 🙈🤷🏻♂️”
Ty Pennington Says He’s Never Told the Final Value of Each ‘Rock the Block’ Home
Many fans on social media have insisted the competition was rigged to ensure Victoria got a win during her third time on the show. The victory also made Boyd, who won season four with designer Anthony Elle, the show’s first-ever two-time champion.
Pennington shared a screenshot of an exchange he had with one fan who wrote to him, “All a set up for Allison to win from@start HORRIBLE home, WE ARE DONE NO MORE ! Rookies both had BETTER homes !”
He replied to the person, “please stop yelling at me 😲 I’m just the host. Please go over to the HGTV page to express your rage 😂”
Above another exchange he captured and shared, Pennington wrote, “For everyone asking 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻”
Below, it showed a viewer comment that said, “@thetypennington thanks for a great season. What were the values of the other three homes?”
The screenshot showed that Pennington replied, “they never actually tell me! Every year they only tell me who the winner is and what the price difference between the top two are. Perhaps they don’t trust me with that information? 😂”
This is not the first time Pennington has been the focus of fans’ dismay over “RTB” results. He also had to remind fans in the spring of 2024 that he was “just the host” when many complained about the season five winners, twin sisters Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis.
In a bright spot since the show’s season finale, Pennington also shared on May 29 that “RTB” won the Critics Choice Award for Best Lifestyle Show: Home and Garden.
He wrote, “Whoop!! Well this is certainly a nice way to cap off the season 😄🙌🏼 Congrats to everyone involved and big thanks to @hgtv & @bigtablemedia for letting me be a part of the magic 🙏🏼”
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HGTV’s Ty Pennington Addresses Upset ‘Rock the Block’ Fans: ‘Please Stop Yelling at Me’