Find Out Who Wins Tonight!
It’s Sunday, and that means we’re announcing the grand prize winner of the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway! Be sure to watch the live HGTV television special tonight at 9pm ET/6pm PT to see who’s moving to the Florida Keys. And remember, we’re also giving away a special prize to a home viewer: a trip for two to the Florida Keys.
Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm for the 2008 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway and for all of your comments on the live winner giveaway. We have received thousands of comments and we greatly value your opinions. In the interests of time and space, we have had to turn off the comment feature for this thread. Be sure and come back Wednesday when we will have a new video with Stephanie answering some of the questions you submitted in an earlier blog post.
Thank you!
HGTV DREAM HOME AND MORE
- HGTV Dream Home Central »
- Official Rules: HGTV Dream Home Live Giveaway Home Viewer Drawing
- HGTV Dream Home 2008 Online Tour
- Share Photos/Videos of the Florida Keys »
- The Shore at Islamorada: Site of HGTV Dream Home 2008 »
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THOUGHT THIS WAS A BLOG SITE FOR GUESSING THE CLUE TO WHERE THE NEW HOME IS GOING TO BE BUILT.
NOT FOR THE SORE LOSERS, WHINERS, BEGGARS.
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO WORKING HARD FOR WHAT YOU HAVE LIKE OUR FOREFATHERS DID??????
JEALOUSEY WILL GET YOU NO WHERE.
FCOLE: please post a tidbit of a clue. bored with all the negative blogs.
I’m glad to hear that some of the comments have been removed. These people are the reason why we here in Iowa schools have to teach anti-bullying lessons in our classrooms. Children are learning bullying at home from their parents! No one has the right to threaten someone else. Everyone who sent something negative certainly doesn’t deserve to win the prize!
Okay, first off….love HGTV. That being said, I think we can all agree that this will go down with “Milli Vinilli” and “Ashley Simpson’s lip singing”
Wasn’t last years reveal “conveniently” in a restaurant with all of his friends and family around? I don’t think it’s been “live” for a few years now.
I have posted like 6 times in last 2 days and nothing I posted went through! whats up with that? Mine was nicer than most!
How the Grand Prize Winner will be Determined:
Grand Prize Drawing: The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received during the entire Sweepstakes Period on or about February 28, 2008 by Ritway, Inc., an independent judging organization (“Sweepstakes Administrator”). The odds of winning the Grand Prize depends upon on the number of eligible entries received for the entire Sweepstakes Period.
Congrats to the winner, I know after my hundreds of entries that it was a HUGE dissappointment for me not to win, but I truelly hope that this amazing house goes to someone who truelly deserves such an amazing place. After saying that I can’t help but comment on how anti-clamactic last night show was with the responce of the winner. Are the winners ever supprised or are they always told they are winning so that they can have a lil’ get-together arranged. With that in mind I am not sure the veiwer-ship would be that strong to know that if you don’t hear from HGTV prior to the date of the announcement then you probably didn’t win. I’m just saying because for the past 2 years the winners have seemed very unimpressed that they had won AND neither one of them were watching HGTV at the time when they came rushing in with balloons. I realize probably no one will read this but just in case… Congrats again, and if you are looking to sell keep me posted. And best of luck to the winner.
You should all be ashamed of yourselves, who are you to judge this woman. You are not her and do not know what she was thinking or feeling. Maybe she was nervous to be on tv, I’m sure most people would be nervous and uncomfortable. I’m sure she is very thankful and happy. God has blessed her for a reason. She is probably a wonderful woman and her family deserves this more than any of you who have written such negatives remarks. Those of you who have taken the time to write such negative things about someone who God has chosen to bless with a wonderful prize should take a look in the mirror before you pass your judgement on others you don’t even know. Congratulations Stephanie and family.
My earlier comment didnt get posted either…about 7-8 pm EST this a.m.
Anyways, maybe HGTV could pick three finalists before the drawing, have all 3 go to one location (the Dream home location?) and hold the final televised drawing there! Have a second prize winner pick the final winner?? The second prize winner could be the one to stay at a local resort or something. Just an idea!
Congratulations to the winner!! =0 And to all the "bitter" people that are ranting on an on about this lady that won — SHUT UP! You sound like a bunch of 3yr olds whining about how you didn't get the ice cream.
KUDOS:
1.) Stephanie & family – Congratulations!
2.) HGTV – Last night’s show proved once again that the winner is truly chosen at random. Rather than get angry, viewers should get excited about the next contest. Everyone has the same chance of winning! (i.e, HGTV isn’t going out there and handpicking “storybook” winners.)
3.) Monica Pedersen – Nice job with your pieces from the Dream Home! I’ve said it before; you need your own show. Doing what? Anything!!
3.) Stephanie’s baby. Nice blue eyes! You were reaching for the microphone, and they should have given you a chance to say something!
4.) Lauren Lake – Nice job under difficult circumstances.
5.) Dream Home executive, builder and designers – it was another truly DREAM home.
Raspberries:
1.) HGTV viewers! OK, so we lost the contest. No need to be mean. Its time to move on. Really. We had a better chance of being struck by a meteorite than winning the Dream home!
2.) HGTV viewers! (Yes, we deserve TWO raspberries for our behavior!) Lets keep our perspective, people!
Wow! My husband and I were very surprised with the reaction of the winner, but the anger and jealousy that has been displayed here is even more amazing. I realize some of us were practically jumping out of our skin hoping it would be us, so the minimal show of emotion may seem almost unforgivable. Lets remember that it is a RANDOM drawing that has nothing to do with race, color, social status, or location in the U.S. This is supposed to be something that is fun and we all have an equal chance of winning and dreaming. As for myself, I will start getting excited for the 2009 house!! Thank you HGTV for giving us this chance to win a truly spectacular prize.
I like turtles….
I can’t believe the disgusting comments that have been made on this site. I know Stephanie to be a very quiet, shy, intelligent, warm, caring woman. If the tables were turned and some of you who are making these remarks had won, I wonder how you would have handled the situation. It’s always easy to sit back and make remarks after the fact.
God doesn’t give away houses silly people. HGTV does!
Well only 1 person could win. Oh well. I wonder how much advance notice they give people. It’s obviously far from being a surprise. How many could have actually afforded the several hundred thousand $ tax bill to move there? It would have been a nice $1.?? million dollars to have after selling the place, though. I think all winners end up that route. I would liked to have won, but I’m glad to at least see what looks like a nice family did.
I’m just one member of the viewing audience, but I want to offer my sincere apologies to both HGTV and the family who, judging from the unkind statements on this blog, were unfortunate enough to win the 2008 Dream Home.
A little thought should make it clear to most people that it’s only considerate of HGTV to in some way notify the winner (or at least their family) before showing up at their home. (How many of us could honestly deal with having a camera crew show up and walk in the door.)
And as for the winner, if her family had, at the last minute thrown together a very suspicious celebration requiring her to clean the whole house and host a party, and then a (however pre-arranged with the family) stranger came racing into the room with a camera crew in tow asking her to verify her identity, she has every right to be thrown for a loop. She might well have wondered who these people were and what would happen to her if she admitted her identity; she might even have wondered if she was “the” Stephanie Deeds that they were looking for.
And after it registered with Stephanie that she’d won the 2008 Dream House package, it’s very possible that the Contest Rules were racing through her mind and she was wondering how (and if) she was going to be able to claim her prize.
The bloggers keep making a big deal of stating that the person is winning a prize package worth 2.2 million dollars, as though the person has somehow won the answer to a lifetime’s needs. But the bloggers need to read the rules; the “Winner” has to “Pay Out a Lot of Money”.
I don’t know about the other participants in the contest, but I’d be willing to pay an entrance fee to the contest in the future if it would assure that the winner of the contest was actually able to enjoy just being a winner.
I think HGTV deserves credit! This giveaway was certainly not staged, and had to be random. My faith is restored. You win some, you lose some, but come on, people, have some understanding. A random caller won the Florida vacation, and a random entry wins the big beautiful house. It is the only fair way to handle it, win or lose.
People… you are green with envy!! Just bless the winner and get over it. Yes, you would have jumped and screamed but she did not… who cares? If they are paying too much taxes for the house, who cares? They are the ones with the burden of a big house and taxes. I entered everyday but my plans were to sell the house ASAP because I have too much debt. But I did not win so thanks God that I work and I have to do like any other mortal: keep working until I win something. But I have seen envious people here wishin her this or that. C’mon, grow up… Reality is that she won… even when she has a beautiful house already, she has been blessed with another that probably she would sell it. It was just a drawing… they pick randomly, they don’t see color or race. I can imagine if the winner would have been hispanic or black, OMG!! You all would have a fit cursing HGTV and the like…
some of the comments in here are ridiculous towards the winner. Stop being such poor losers. Granted she didn’t have the reaction we all expected, maybe it wasn’t the “live” show we all expected, but stop whining about not winning. The contest is fair. You entered it just like she did. Just because she maybe has a nicer house than you doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve to win a contest she entered just as fairly as you did. Grow up. If you cant take reality maybe you better not play the games. I would of been jumping up and down myself if I would of won but I didn’t and thats okay..Someone has to win and I congratulate Stephanie and her family..enjoy your new home..It’s beautiful!!
Happy Monday evening! I missed the program last night (unforeseen tornados hit my state over the weekend.) I am fine but many peops homes are not. I just this moment viewed the video of the winner(s). Congratulations! FCOLE: WILL ANOTHER CLUE BE POSTED TOMORROW? THANK YOU!
LOL!! I have read so many of these comments and I have NEVER laughed so much!! I cannot believe some of the comments!! I wonder if HGTV is taking NOTES on the E-mail addresses of all of these comments for next years Dream house!
I have watched HGTV since its first broadcast and have never entered the dream home contest until this year. Enjoyed getting prepared for the possibility of winning and fine with the outcome. Congratulations to the winners! I’ve had many opportunities in my life. One was to be financially broke, another opportunity was to have a little extra money after I paid my debts, and yet another to experience wealth. They all came with responsibility. Everyone likes to dream, rich, poor, middle class, black, white, short, tall ,fat or thin. My family and I enjoyed pretending to be the winners. Kind of like window shopping, that can be fun too! HGTV thank you for your generosity and allowing us to experience the thrill of excitement.
HGTV….
Just to let you know not all of us are angry about the show..
I can’t believe all the hateful post I am reading.If someone just walked into my house and said “Hi you just won a 2.2 million dollar home” I think I would go into shock, did you see the couple that won 270 million….same thing!! they said they are in shock and it still had not hit them yet.
I am not sure why all the “Haters”feel they deserve the dream home.
Why do they deserve it?
Please post why you think you should have won.
Or you can send your feel sorry for me tape to “Extreme Home makeover”
Mean people suck…not the winner, but all of you who had something negative to say. Don’t assume she was ungrateful.
Congratulations Ms. Dee. on your new HGTV Dream Home.
The winners didn’t really win anything. If you read on line about previous winners – they had to pay over $600,000 in taxes! Some win. Oh and for those of you who feel you are under privleged for whatever reason get off the pity party that you deserve more than anyone else there is no such thing as “entitlement”. This is a RANDOM drawing! Maybe you should do something to help yourself instead of expecting things to be given to you because of your situation.
HGTV, You didn’t fool anyone in to thinking that the winner just found out they won that prize. Everyone in that house stood around like they knew about it hours or days in advance. Please, next year have it actually be a surprize. Don’t tell the people who won that your coming. You will have a much better climax to your show.
seems like 90 % of the posts on here look like the ones they meant to filter? How hateful and hurtful some of the remarks are. I am happy for the winner. She was graceful and lovely and she has a beautiful family. CAONGRATULATIONS!
Yes, it was a disappointing reveal, but let’s give the woman a bit of slack. Not everyone jumps up and down like a maniac, especially if they are shy and they realize that everyone is watching them on national TV. Maybe she has been up since the wee hours of the morning with her wee ones and is tuckered out that late at night. I think the whole scratching the head and tucking hair behind the ears was a nervous reaction to all the attention and being on TV. Best of luck to her, and good luck to the rest of us next year!
Geeeeeeeeez! I entered over 200 times (used a lot of post cards); entered every day from a library computer on vacation. Got up 20 times during the show to look out the window. Dreamt I won and tried to scream but it wouldn’t come out. Right before Lauren got there, I even put on make up and brushed my teeth again. Then, she went to Iowa!! Are you sure its legit? I mean, that winner said “what’s that” when she looked at the big dream house placard and had no clue. Whatever!! I had March 16th on my calendar marked the whole time the contest ran! ! !
I don’t think they should say it is a surprise when they have already notified them of the win. If they just walked into my house like they did and I didn’t know you can bet they would be staring down the barrel of my shotgun!
Also they may check people out but I don’t think they are only giving it to people who are white. That is the craziest thing I ever heard of.
The winner also did not look like she was rich as some have implied. My house looks better and I am definitely not rich by any means.
Congratulations Stephanie. I am very happy for you and your family for being the lucky winners. The house is great and I am sure you will enjoy it as most of us would. You have a lovely and beautiful family and wonderful friends. HGTV, thank you for all the great shows. I am a long time viewer and every show inspires me. The HGTV Dream Home is a great idea, and I look forward to the HGTV Green House, and more. All the best to Stephanie, family and friends. If you ever want to share the house, my family would love to indulge. Happy Trails…
I am embarrassed by all the bashing that is happening in this blog. I actually know Stephanie and was not surprised by her reaction she is a shy quite young woman. BY her scratching her head and crying showed me that she was grateful and very surprised. So for those of you that bashed her shame on you. “Cant judge a book by its cover”. Think before you speak because you never know who is watching, this time it was someone that knew her.
Thanks HGTV I think that you did pick a GOOD person with a good heart.
Diane
OK! THE bashings over, and shame on you to cast the first stone.I can’t wait for another contest. I must get to sleep,if only I won then you would see someone whowhoooooooooo Oh til next year, dreams!!!!! (Remember loose lips sink ships)Oh wait the cabin ,green home etc, etc!!!!!! in a few days back to games with the2009 home. I hope it’s in the area that stays warm all the time.
Yes, the Dream Home winner’s reaction seemed very odd, last night, because of the big hype and anticipation that the show gave, but after re-watching the clip, I can see she is very overwhelmed. None of us really know how we would react at that very moment! Don’t judge her too harshly. It is possible that she did already know she won. Most contests that I have entered, ask for an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability and publicity form to be sent back within a certain number of days before you are officially the winner. They may have to do that before they can officially announce the winner on TV. We don’t know all the behind the scene things that go on. After all, this is TV. Even reality TV is not all REAL! For all we know, she was with lawyers all day and all the production people and was already aware of all the red tape involved with winning a big prize! By the time she was on TV, the high of winning was already over and she was drained of emotion. I would rather see an honest reaction than for her to ACT! Most people don’t like being in front of a camera and put on the spot. I think she looked more scared than unappreciative, after all, her life is about to change. Just the fact that last years winner didn’t seem too excited either makes me think there is more involved in this than we realize. I do like the idea of picking 3 people, give them a trip to the dream house and each pick a key to see who’s opens the house door. Cash prizes to the 2nd and 3rd place. Thanks HGTV for the dream…I wonder how I would react!
I agree that the comments on this blog had really turned bitter and jealous for a while and I am glad to see more people with the courage to go a different direction. I also agree that the reaction of the winner was not what I would have hoped for or what I expected. However, she’s a real person, not an actress and as someone else said, she was probably nervous as hell. It was probably pretty late for a mother of two young-ins as well. Some people freeze up when they are nervous and tired.
I doubt that HGTV completely surprised everyone in the house due to the opening of the door without knocking (could risk being shot, bitten by a dog, etc), and the Sunday night party, but I also found the host to be extremely loud, and where Stephanie felt under expressive, I found the host to be over-the-top expressive in an annoying way. By contrast, it was a weird dance between the two. If someone burst into my house without knocking and carried on at that volume I would be annoyed too.
All in all I think the show was a good example of the risks you take with live Television. We have become so accustom to phony “reality” TV shows that we expect life to really mimic them. The reactions we see on reality shows are the best versions of multiple tapings. People are expecting to see something exciting during those makeover reveals, for instance. Last night was a live, one take affair.
We also forget that not everybody reacts in an over-the-top fashion. Judging from Stephanie’s tears I think she was plenty moved and plenty grateful.
CONGRATULATIONS STEPHANIE AND FAMILY!! Enjoy your new home. I know I will next year!!
FCOLE: Where’s the new clues?!?!!?
SAME CRY BABYS EVERY YEAR. IF I DON’T WIN, SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM.YES, WE ALL MISSED JOAN THIS YEAR AND HOPE SHE’S BACK NEXT YEAR. I’M “SCRATCHING” MY HEAD WONDERING WHY YOU FEEL MORE QUALIFIED TO WIN MORE THAN EVERYONE.FOR THOSE WHO WANT THE 3 DOORS BACK, I CAN TELL YOU WHERE TO STICK THE KEY. GROW UP. THIS IS WHY THE WORLD IS THE WAY IT IS. WE NEED MORE PRISON’S FOR THE LIKES OF YOU. GO BUY A LOTTO AND CALL THE STATE TO MAKE A COMPLAINT.
maybe she was just totally stunned and did not know what to think or how to react. Some people are more reserved in their emotions She did have tears in her eyes. Give her a break!
OK everyone, Yes the winner may have been shocked and taken by surprise by a stranger walking into her home with her small children there, so let’s give her a break. I’m in need of a nice home too and I am a person of color, but even I understand the concept of random drawings, they are just that, RANDOM and yes people who don’t need it seem to win, not true 2006 winner, those are the CHANCES we take. It’s like the lottery, THOSE ARE THE ODDS. We all had fun playing, praying, and wishing. God Bless and try again next year.
I want to say congratulations to the winner although she was “speechless” I would have been jumping up & down screaming and thanking Jesus, but I did not win. I was disappointed in the overall show. I just did not like the format of it and I don’t have any ides either. Who just walks in to someone’s home with out them coming to the door? That was unrealistic! If you are going to surprise someone just surprise them. I would have rather seen a real surprise on tape then a fake one live. 2009—Hollywood—-
OK, is the 09 dream house in California? I thought it was Vegas. O well, I really like the HGTV Green Home and the style is great.Can’t wait to win that one.
I live in South Florida and frequent Islamorada. I hope I run into these guys somewhere, although they’ll probably sell the place and never leave Iowa.
I read a suggestion for the HGTV format in the message board that I liked. Instead of focusing on televising the so called surprise announcement, why not televise winner’s weekend when they are shown the house for the first time. You can even treat them to some local sites/attractions (like you showed Jack doing) and televise parts of that. I think that would make for much better TV. You can opt to show the surprise moment if it looks decent (but please notify winner at a decent hour, not too early or late), but stop the setups. They just don’t work.
I’ll admit that watching the grand finale with my kids was disappointing 1. because I didn’t win and 2. because of Stephanie’s reaction (or lack there of). I too would have been jumping around and screaming. However, in analyzing her reaction and replaying the video, how many of us know a shy, VERY conservative, doesn’t show emotion easy and is like a deer in headlights and doesn’t like “being on stage?” Probably all of us do. She was crying and wiping tears at least. So, she’s good at holding back emotions probably all her life and even though we all want her to react in such a different way — jumping, screaming, excitement, it is probably painful and scary for her to respond that way. Give her a slight break. Read her body language and take a class in psych.101 and maybe you’ll understand her at bit better. Yes, I was totally bummed out and hit the tv off as quickly as possible, but give her a break.
CONGRATULATIONS STEPHANIE!! DON’T LET ALL THESE MEAN SPIRITED SORE LOSERS GET YOU DOWN. I WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MANY, MANY HAPPY YEARS WITH YOUR NEW HOME!!
Good Morning!
I’m going to start the day off with a guess….
Murrieta, California.
It’s sad to see the comments from people who “went to bed and cried” and “need this house for my disabled relative” or whatever the story may be. This is a game, a contest, a “dream.” To get caught up in it, plan your life around the very slim chance of winning, and then be thrown into depression over not being chosen– something not too mentally stable about that. The contest is not about who “deserves” it more or about what color the person is (a white person won last year so a black person should win this year, and so on). Each year’s Dream Home is gorgeous and something to wish for, but don’t obsess over it, folks! If it happens to you, it happens to you, simple as that. And don’t be so quick to judge people who are not actors or television personalities who find themselves thrust in front of a microphone wielded by a loud woman who has let herself into their house at night with a camera crew in tow. I can remember being up at night with babies, night after night, and feeling like a zombie. How this lady reacted at that moment is not indicative of whether she “deserved” this prize or not. It may have hit her how disrupted her life is going to be for the next year. Visiting the house, publicity shots, writing for the website, hiring an attorney and tax advisor, etc. These people won’t be able to keep the house any more than any of the other winners, and they now face an almost dead real estate market. Do you still lust after their “prize”?