10 Things You Likely Didn’t Know About Cheryl Hickey

We all know and love Cheryl as one of the hosts of Entertainment Tonight Canada, but now she’s expanding her skills to HGTV Canada. Considering her natural ability to connect with people though, it’s not surprising that this was an immediate fit. “I’m just doing what feels right,” she says. “It’s hard not to be so invested in these families. When I took this job on I knew that I was going to have a lot of feelings about these people and to start caring about them and to want the best for them. It was just incredibly powerful to get to know these people and to understand their journeys. I think what we have done and continue to do is really powerful.”

Watch the premiere episode of Family Home Overhaul online now!

Cheryl may be busy on the career front, but she’s also super busy on the home front. There’s no other way to describe the mom of a 10-year-old, a seven-year-old, a three-year-old Goldendoodle and an eight-week-old Bernedoodle. “My world changed the moment that [my kids] came into my world,” she says. “They make things more colourful, more interesting. I learn more because of them.”

Cheryl reveals that when her family got their first dog, Murphy, three years ago, Murphy was “an emotional girl.” For that reason they knew that another dog was always in the cards. Enter Buddy, Murphy’s new buddy. (Get it?) While Cheryl doesn’t consider the pup a COVID dog since he was planned, the silver lining in their household is that the timing has definitely worked out for the family. “We realized with all of this, all of us being home, now would be a perfect time to train a puppy,” she explains.

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Cheryl reveals that watching this series and the incredible families being featured may lead to side effects like wanting to help others. And she should know-she’s been doing it for a good part of her life. So what are some of her go-to charities and organizations? “Food Banks Canada is doing some of the most incredible work keeping food on the table for families right now,” she reveals. “Everyone has the right to have a good meal and feel secure in that. I have also been a supporter of SickKids Hospital since I came to Toronto over 20 years ago. The work they do is magical… Also Habitat for Humanity-the work they do is also so powerful. I could go on and on, there are so many, but anywhere you can help families I think it’s really important.”

Family Home Overhaul Stars Share Their Most Inspiring Charities and Non-Profits.

Ask Cheryl how she’d describe her home design style, and you can almost picture what an evening at her house looks like. “I’m going to set it up like this,” she reveals. “We have two small children and two dogs, which means big furniture, not a lot of carpets right now. It’s function comfort. It’s big comfort. That’s really what our house design is right now.” That said, Cheryl is also the first to admit that what the HGTV Canada stars manage to pull off for the families on this series is “spectacular.” She even took a few ideas for herself.

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There are tons of cool perks to being a host on an entertainment show, like a wicked wardrobe, access to stylists, and you know, hobnobbing with celebrities. But for Cheryl there’s always been one thing that stands out above all of that, and that’s her co-workers. “It’s the people,” she gushes. During COVID, Cheryl is shooting her spots on Entertainment from her backyard. “I miss so much. We all miss so much. But yeah, we have a really great group of people.”

Related: Eight Ways to Practice Self-Care During COVID-19.

Cheryl and her husband had planned on doing some renovations this year, but then COVID-19 hit, those plans were pushed back. Still, she felt like she really needed to do something about all of those unsightly spots in her kitchen. So she grabbed some white paint and a bunch of brushes for her family, and everyone got to work. “So that was me being handy,” she laughs. “Listen, we all did it together. The kids were impressed at how great it looked in the end. It’s spot-treating!”

Related: 9 Easy DIY Projects From HGTV Canada Stars That’ll Make Your Home Look Expensive on a Budget

Being the co-host of a national show and the host of a new HGTV series (while also being a mother-of-two training a pup in the middle of a pandemic) seems like enough to keep anyone busy, Cheryl has somehow found time to do more. Cheryl also launched her new business, Cheryl’s Home & Family, earlier this year. “My mom and I had been creating products since I was little-we had an invention book and we used to write down all of our ideas,” she says. “In my twenties I made a promise to myself that one day I would launch a company and I would create some of the products I had been dreaming about. So that’s what I’m doing.”

That invention book we mentioned was so instrumental to Cheryl growing up that she wants other kids to have the same experience. So, she created an invention book for kids based off of what she and her mom used to do. “We’re going to release that book hopefully within the next year,” she reveals. “It’s a small workbook for children to get them to think about entrepreneurial ideas and how to develop their ideas.” Well we couldn’t think of a better mentor.

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Would you ask a parent to name their favourite child? Probably not. That seems to be how Cheryl feels about trying to answer which HGTV show is her favourite. “How dare you,” she laughs at the thought of even trying to do so. “I can’t. Listen, I can’t have a favourite, I love them all. They’re all different. And it’s not just the shows, it’s the people… All of it is spectacular and it’s been great to watch during the pandemic. I feel like that has been a place where we can all go and just, you know, relax a little bit.” Heck yes.