The cousins are getting out from behind the kitchen island and taking their reno and design know-how to the rest of the house and even to the back yard. On HGTV Canada’s Kitchen Cousins, best-friends, business partners and real-life cousins, Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri, improved dozens of kitchens from drab to fab and secured a legion of fans along the way. The name of their New Jersey-based company, Brunelleschi Construction, belies the range of services they provide, from design concept to full renovation. Founded by Anthony’s father, it truly is a family business and the cousins bring that familial short-hand and humour to the small screen. Their HD-ready good looks – Anthony’s the boy next door and John is George Clooney-esque – don’t hurt either.
In their new show, Cousins on Call, the pressure is amped up as the guys help ordinary homeowners and superstars alike with projects throughout the home. John says it was time to step away from the stove.
“This is work that we’ve always been doing. With the business (Brunelleschi) we do projects at least twice as big as you’ll see on the show so, yeah, it’s a natural progression.”
While some shows centre on design and others are all swinging hammers and pounding nails, John says Cousins on Call has some of both.
“For us, design and construction go hand in hand. So our show is very different. We love home construction and everything that goes with it. We love the new technology, new materials and we love taking the ideas to the flipside and making them work.”
This time, the projects are more complex and the timelines are tighter. Cousins on Call renews the cousins’ friendship with Ellen Degeneres as the three TV stars team up to restore a New Jersey house that was all but destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. John says it was very satisfying to help people so close to home.
“We did an entire home makeover. The house was under five feet of water. Because they were first responders they left their own place and went to help others after Sandy. We redid that entire house in six days. We had crews, maybe 50 to 75 workers in total, running 24/7. ”
Another episode has them working with reality star Khloe Kardashian on a surprise home theatre for her husband but Anthony says it’s just ordinary families who gave them their best moments of the upcoming season.
“We redid an entire basement for a little boy, 4 years old, who had cancer. And he beat it. And this kid went on to create an organization called Cancer Stinks. So now he goes into hospitals and takes gifts to children who are fighting cancer. His Mom told us that more than anything, having that basement all done up for him made him very happy and that’s probably my favourite episode of the season.”
In the first episode of Cousins on Call, there’s a point when something they’ve promised to do might not turn out like they planned. Anthony says those human moments are important to him.
“I remember one of the first shoot days when something went wrong and the guy shut the camera off. We said why don’t we document that process and show that mistakes happen and we still get these people what they need? We think people are sick of the glossy and fake worlds on TV.”
Cousins on Call is by no means a chick show, but Anthony humbly acknowledges that he and his cousin have a healthy female fan base.
“We’re just stoked that we get to show off the designs that we do and we can flex some of that celebrity by giving back.
Cousins on Call airs Mondays at 10 pm on HGTV.