Delaware family of 6 finds bigger home on upcoming HGTV 'House Hunters' episode

The upcoming Delaware episode of HGTV's "House Hunters" Monday night very easily could have been made eight years ago, but on a smaller scale.

Back then, Michelle Mallard-Reaves and husband Robert Reaves were in talks with the reality television show to document their house hunt, which eventually landed them and their two children in a $160,000 three-bedroom home in Bear with the help of Newark-based real state agent Oliver Millwood II.

A time crunch made it impossible for HGTV's cameras to capture their search back then in 2016.

But that was then and this is now.

The couple and their now four children are happily living in the Middletown-area home they found last summer, again with the help of Millwood, the namesake of The Millwood Team at Keller Williams Realty.

This time around, they wanted a home with at least four bedrooms and were willing to spend up to $560,000. And they also wanted "House Hunters" to be there.

It all came together in August when HGTV tracked the couple and Millwood as they scoured the Middletown area for the perfect home for the growing family.

At the time, Mallard-Reaves was eight months pregnant with their fourth child, Christopher, who was born about a month after filming. He joined Ivanna, 15, and Alexandria, 10, and Robert "Bob," 5, filling out the family of six.

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In fact, the name of the episode, which airs Monday at 10:06 p.m. on HGTV, is "Baby Makes Six in Delaware."

Usually, when someone is about to make their first appearance on national television like this, they are curious about how they'll look on screen. Not Mallard-Reeves.

"I'm not looking forward to how I'm going to look because I was eight months pregnant," the Bear native says with a laugh, noting she gave birth to Christopher only a few weeks after filming ― in her car before she could get to the front door of the birth center, no less.

The former Christiana High School teacher and current stay-at-home mother has experience in the film and television world, previously working for a time as a production assistant, talent assistant and more. So she had a good idea of what the experience would be like.

Her husband, on the other hand, had no clue. "I just knew I had to show up on this day at this time wearing these colors," says Reaves, who grew up in New Castle and works as executive director for a human services company.

As for Millwood, it was a whole new experience as well.

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You would think he would have felt some pressure. Not only does he know the couple through church ― New Castle's Seeds of Greatness ― but also was charged with finding the family the perfect home with cameras following and a national television audience eventually watching.

He says he actually felt the pressure before he even saw a camera. That's because he was once pre-interviewed for a "House Hunters" episode years ago and wasn't selected.

"So I really didn't want to drop the ball for them, but everything went really well," says the 20-year real estate agent.

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So how big of a house did they buy? For how much? And where? Well, those answers won't come until Monday night due to a nondisclosure agreement the network has participants sign.

It's not the first time a Delaware home buyer has been featured on the program, now in its 25th season.

In fact, it was just this past summer when Wilmington's Alyssa Tarantino found a $310,00 townhome in the city's Triangle neighborhood near Salesianum School with "House Hunters" on hand. A few years earlier in 2019, Brandywine Hundred couple and "House Hunter" fans Matt and Jessica Farina also had an episode revolving around their search.

As for Delaware's upcoming star turn on the program, the couple says they will watch the episode in their new home surrounded by family and friends, even though it airs deep into the night on a Monday. And, yes, they're letting Ivanna and Alexandria stay up past their bedtime to see the once-in-a-lifetime TV moment live.

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: HGTV 'House Hunters' helps Delaware family of 6 find bigger home