Mina Starsiak-Hawk Gets Real About Why She Walked Away From ‘Good Bones’ – And Why She Returned to HGTV for ‘Rock the Block’
Mina Starsiak-Hawk never thought she’d be a TV star. Together with her mom, Karen Laine, she’d built a business renovating old homes in Indianapolis. Then, HGTV came calling. In 2016, Good Bones premiered, and suddenly she became one of the network’s most recognizable faces.
On the outside, everything was going great. But beneath the surface, she was feeling the pressure of running a business, filming her show, and managing complicated relationships with friends and family with whom she also worked. Eventually, she realized she had to walk away.
‘Good Bones’ ended because of ‘interpersonal issues’
Good Bones ended in October 2023. Now, more than two years later, Starsiak-Hawk is opening up about that difficult decision to hit pause on her TV career.
‘I loved, loved doing the show. I would still be doing the show if it weren’t for the interpersonal issues like with my family and friends. That’s kind of disappointing,” she said on the April 30 episode of fellow HGTV alum Alison Victoria’s Pap Smear Podcast.
Over time, Starsiak-Hawk’s relationship with people she loved and worked with became strained. It started to affect her health.
“I didn’t end the show because I didn’t want to do the show,” she said. “I ended the show because I could not mentally and emotionally handle the relationships. It was affecting me physically. I was having stomach issues. Just all kinds of stuff.”
“I had to go to physical therapy for six months because my jaw wouldn’t open far enough to eat because I carried so much stress,” she added.
Pulling the plug on Good Bones was the right choice. But once she quit, she was at loose ends.
“I didn’t really know how to slow down,” she said, adding, “It messed with me … I kind of spiraled.”
Mina Starsiak-Hawk returned to HGTV for new season of ‘Rock the Block’
While Starsiak-Hawk had a successful career on HGTV, it wasn’t enough to allow her to quit working, despite what some people might have though. (Her former friend and co-star Cory Miller publicly slammed her for putting the rest of the show’s cast out of work while walking away with millions, but she says her wealth has been greatly exaggerated.)
Rising home prices and a competitive real estate market made it financially risky to buy and renovate homes. And when she tried to branch out into doing more design-based work, she hit another snag: Prospective clients wanted her to work for free. So, for the past two years, Starsiak-Hawk has focused on maintaining her portfolio of rental properties, often stepping up to do basic maintenance and upkeep. It’s been a necessary reset, she said.
But after a break, she realized she was ready for a new challenge. She’s competing on this season of Rock the Block, which is currently airing on HGTV.
“It is [good to be back],” she said. “I never meant to be on TV. I don’t know most of us did necessarily. But I really like it. I think I’m good at it. And it’s fun.”
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