HGTV star and Canadian construction legend Mike Holmes appears to have had a pretty good life. After an impoverished childhood when, according to Maclean’s, he lived on a diet of Kraft Dinner and hot dogs, he has since launched a home renovation empire worth more than you might think through his HGTV celebrity status. Plucked out of obscurity while consulting for a television studio, Holmes would go from the sideline to the spotlight, starring in over a dozen HGTV shows. Starting with “Holmes on Homes” in 2003, he went on to host “Holmes Inspection,” “Holmes Makes It Right,” and “Mike’s Ultimate Garage.” Most recently, he’s headed up “Holmes Family Rescue,” which he co-hosts with his son Mike Holmes Jr. and his daughter Sherry Holmes, with his current partner Anna Zappia preferring to stay off camera.
However, he hasn’t had a smooth ride the whole way. Holmes has had to rebuild his life in the face of tragedy more than once. Be it family or professional difficulty, he has had a lot of reasons to not be the cheerful and reassuring face that audiences have grown to trust on TV. From financial losses to losses in trust to losing loved ones, he’s had to endure a lot of tragedy in life. And though it might go against his father’s’ childhood lesson to do things right the first time, he has made a career out of rebuilding, which he’s carried over into his personal life, too. It seems adversity has only made him stronger.
His daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor
Given that many of Mike Holmes’ HGTV shows are a family affair, the news that his daughter, Sherry Holmes, had a brain tumor was especially devastating. Mike had only begun his television career in 2001, when, the following year, Sherry’s complaints of frequent headaches resulted in the diagnosis of a golf ball-sized brain tumor. As a result, she found herself undergoing surgery within a week. While the Holmes family didn’t speak much about the treatment at the time, the surgery went smoothly, and judging by her vibrant on-screen rapport with her dad in the years since, she’s doing just fine.
Due to her experience, the father and daughter duo began working together to fight back against the terrible disease that nearly destroyed their lives. Mike and Sherry support the Meagan Bebenek Foundation, whose goal, according to their LinkedIn page, is to “harness the power of community to raise awareness and funds for paediatric brain tumour research in order to provide hope, and improve outcomes for affected children and their families.” Mike has personally put in the hours with the non-profit alongside Sherry, posting a picture on Instagram of the two of them wearing Megan Bebenek Foundation shirts in a hardware store. They captioned the photo: “We are proud to support the amazing Megan Bebenek Foundation. They have done incredible work to offer support to children and families affected by brain tumours.”
Mike Holmes lost both his parents at young ages
Mike Holmes has always felt he owed much of his career to his father, which makes it even more sad that his dad, Jim Holmes, passed away when he was only 55 years old. Mike posted a touching photo to memorialize his dad and also let fans know exactly who was responsible for all of Mike’s home renovation brilliance. Writing on Facebook, he said of his father: “By putting a hammer into my hands, he was getting me started on the path that would decide my entire life. But at the time, I was just making memories with my dad.”
While Mike had many pleasant memories with Jim, there were definitely tough times for the family. An economic downtown in the late 1990s resulted in the home renovation market tanking, forcing his father to lay off most of the employees who worked for his renovation firm, and almost going bankrupt in the process. The ensuing pressure on the family destroyed Jim’s marriage to Mike’s mother, Shirley Holmes, with the two eventually separating. It served as a sad precursor to Mike’s own divorce many years later, which would impact his relationship with his own children.
Months after his parents’ divorce, Holmes solemnly recounted to Maclean’s that further tragedy struck. “My dad went down to the basement one night, missed the top step, fell down the stairs and broke his neck,” he recalled. That accident killed him instantly. If that wasn’t sad enough, a few years later, at the age of 56, Shirley died from a heart condition. The sudden loss of both of his parents made Mike doubtful about his own lifespan, saying, “Even when I was younger, I said that I’d never make it to 60.” Thankfully, Mike crossed that threshold in August 2023.
One of his best on-camera friends drowned
Death would revisit Mike Holmes years later when Craig Lowe, one of his best friends and a frequent guest on Holmes’ HGTV shows, tragically died in a scuba diving incident in 2014. Holmes was hit hard by Lowe’s death, writing on Facebook, “I have been working with Craig since day one of ‘Holmes On Homes.’ He was a generous, dedicated and talented man who was always willing to lend a hand. My heart goes out to his wife and his daughters, he will be greatly missed.” Just one year prior, Lowe and Holmes took their working relationship to the next level, with Lowe helping Holmes launch the Holmes Referred Contractors program — a service aimed at referring contractors that they approved of. However, the program was discontinued in 2014.
Lowe was an accomplished painter who, according to Holmes, “was on the very first show and he has painted almost every single home on the show.” He went on to sing praises of Lowe’s abilities and his openness to not just doing the job, but showing others how to do it too, which made him such a warm presence on camera. “He’s got a big heart; he wants to help other people, he wants to educate other people, so he was really good in front of the camera. Everyone loved the guy,” he said (via The Holmes Spot). Lowe loved scuba diving, and despite the danger, Holmes said he wished he would’ve gone with him at least once.
The most trusted man in Canada is the target of scams
In 2010, as Mike Holmes’ star was on the rise, Reader’s Digest selected him as one of the most trusted men in Canada, writing, “His straight-forward approach to fix the mistakes from botched renovations is a refreshing sight for many, and brings a sense of security that people appreciate.” Unfortunately, it appears that scammers have used the honorary title to try and con Holmes’ fans out of their hard-earned money. Several different operations have used his name and busy, ever-expanding business empire to try to sell all sorts of fake products, even fake home renovations.
A CBC article reported how scammers used The Holmes Group’s open calls for casting their shows as a means to lure in individuals who are looking to spend money on home renovations. For one hopeful applicant, it all started when she left a comment on Holmes’ Facebook page, with the CBC reporting her saying, “Hello Mike! Need a LOT of help on Six Nations Ontario, my old farmhouse needs help!” The scammers then pretended to be one of Holmes’s associates and asked for thousands of dollars. On his podcast “Holmes on Homes,” he revealed that one of the scamming rings was recently outed, and out of all of the celebrities that they impersonated to steal people’s cash, they loved to use him especially. “They kept using me. They really kept using me because I think people believe what I say,” he lamented.
Holmes was hit with an 8 million dollar lawsuit
In another knock to Mike Holmes’ and his trusted brand of home remodeling, he was hit with an $8 million lawsuit by Tarian in 2021. The company, which was formed to look after home buyers in Ontario, claimed that Holmes endorsed the purchase of housess that were made with major structural problems and other defects. The real rub is that Holmes claimed in his endorsement that members of his Make It Right team had personally inspected the homes and approved of them. The problems were apparently so bad that demolition of the houses was a better choice than renovation for some of the properties. Needless to say, it was not a good look for the TV personality.
In a statement issued following the filing of the lawsuit, Holmes hit back, saying (via CBC): “We do not deny we advertised our inspection services along with recommended material upgrades for the homes, however… If we are not contracted and given access to construction or construction information, we are unable to assist in verifying, or identifying any potential problems with, any installations.” However, when homeowners asked for him to stick to his promise and fix the problems, they allegedly did not hear back. It’s a sad recent development for a man who has endured a lot. However, if Holmes wants to continue to be known as the HGTV star who “makes it right,” then he might want to think about getting the team back together to do some crisis PR remodeling.
