Last Friday, I had the opportunity to trail HGTV’s The Cousins, Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri, for a full day during their visit here in Singapore.
If you are unfamiliar with them, Anthony and John are real life cousins and stars of the upcoming reality home improvement show, “America’s Most Desperate Kitchens“, on HGTV:
The show, which will be premiering on Tuesday, 26 April, 9pm (SG) on HGTV (StarHub TV Channel 437), sees Anthony and John rescuing desperate homeowners across America who are in need of a major kitchen overhaul. In each episode, the cousins will choose one desperate kitchen from their viewers’ hilarious video submissions, then travel to their home to surprise the homeowners with a stunning transformation they will never forget.
America’s Most Desperate Kitchens is a follow-up to the cousins’ successful earlier series that include Kitchen Cousins, Cousins on Call and Cousins Undercover.
The cousins have many fans in Asia, particularly in the Philippines. I know because after I shared posts about them on Instagram, their fans started replying:
Following them around and interacting with the cousins, I can see why they are so popular with fans. The duo are larger than life characters who are fun, animated and loud. They gamely tried all kinds of local fares which we offered them and were bursting with energy throughout the whole day, even though they barely had any sleep after a long haul flight from America.
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We visited two HDB homes, coincidentally located in Toa Payoh where I live. The Cousins checked out the kitchens to have a feel on how our local kitchen layouts might be different from those in America. They were surprised by the absence of dishwashers from our kitchens and also the large convention ovens for grilling and baking, usually substituted with a handy microwave in time-starved Singapore homes.
I also attended a series of media interviews with them together at my old workplace, SPH News Centre, where we visited Kiss92FM and One FM 91.3 studios for recordings:
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In between the packed schedule, we managed to visit the iconic Marina Bay area:
I found out many of my female friends on social media were covet fans of The Cousins when they outed themselves, gushing over the pictures I shared of Anthony and John. As one female friend puts it, “what’s there not to like in a program featuring two hunky men working out in a kitchen to make it more beautiful for you?”
Indeed.
Except the jealous boyfriends and hubbies of course. Then again, I have male friends who are fans too, generally the home improvement enthusiasts who see themselves as equivalents or Anthony and John. Good move guys. That’s how you win the attention of the ladies these days.
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Curious to see The Cousins in action? From Tuesday 26 April, 9pm onwards, play the FULL Episode 1 premiere of America’s Most Desperate Kitchens on http://www.hgtv.asia/AMDK.
HGTV is available in Singapore on StarHub TV Channel 437 and is the first regional channel dedicated exclusively to the growing home and lifestyle category in Asia.
GIVEAWAY
We are giving away an autographed HGTV tee-shirt from The Cousins, Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri, to a lucky fan! For a chance to win, simply:
1. ‘Like’ the Alvinology Facebook page and follow @HGTVAsia on Instagram.
2. ‘Like’ and share this post on Facebook and tag at least three friends on your post who will like The Cousins. Make your post public so we can find it.
3. Tell us why you wish to win the autographed HGTV tee-shirt by commenting below or on our Facebook post.
Contest ends at 11.59 pm on 15 May 2016. The winner will be notified via Facebook, and must be able to collect the prize in Singapore.