HGTV Star Ty Pennington Calls Health Scare 1 of His ‘Best Experiences’

HGTV star Ty Pennington is sharing a new health update, 19 months after he underwent emergency surgery. Thankfully, he’s doing well now, but he’s reflecting on how the health scare impacted him.

Ty Pennington Reflects on His Emergency Surgery

In a February 2025 interview with Fox News Digital, Pennington shared that he’s now “in really good health.”

He also explained how the experience was eye-opening for him. “You find out who loves you because people message you and you’re like, ‘My God, it’s like you died,'” Pennington said.

The “Rock the Block” host continued, “And people finally message you and say, ‘My God, I forgot about how much I love you.'”

He added, “So it was one of the best experiences, honestly, because you realize how much you’re worth to other people and how much you would be missed.”

Pennington noted that he thinks “we should all go through something like that” because facing a life-threatening scare gives you perspective to “really appreciate the people that love you.”

He added, “Sometimes we take that for granted. And I think that’s also what a home is like, is like you forget how important that is to our lives. And when it’s gone, you know, sometimes we all take that for granted.”

Pennington shared, “I’m great. I honestly — you know, if you really want to get some great attention … almost die.”

Ty Pennington Detailed His 2023 Health Scare

In July 2023, Pennington took to Instagram to explain the health scare that required emergency surgery.

He attended the “Barbie” premiere on a Sunday and traveled to Colorado a day later to start filming. The following day, he said he “woke up at 4 a.m. and could barely breathe.”

“Turns out, that sore throat I’ve had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway,” he noted. “Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver. Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I as released from the ICU.”

Pennington said he was “in shock” about how it unfolded. “You know, it’s amazing. You get so much love, you know?” he told Fox News. “But, like, I had no idea, like, an abscess like that could even happen. So I was, like, in shock.”

He added, “I’m sure a few people out there were excited. ‘Does that mean we won’t hear his annoying voice anymore?’ But unfortunately, the voice did come back and I’m in really good health.”