Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Gala Opening

Editor: A big thank you to Marrin G. for agreeing to attend and cover this event for The Disney Blog

The town has gathered. Neighbors, friends and family are cheering. Only a bus and Ty Pennington stand in the way of a deserving family’s new dream home. Ty orchestrates the crowd as they chant “move . . . that . . . bus!” The family screams praises and scrambles through the doors to discover a palace resembling that of Cinderella. Cue explosive and triumphant music. Cue tears.

Addictive, emotional, and uplifting, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an ABC staple series. To celebrate the start of the beloved show’s ninth season and in support of The American Cancer Society, Hollywood Branded threw a fabulous premiere party in downtown Los Angeles. The event took place at the beautiful Vibiana, a retired cathedral and quite literally for the night, the Church of Disney.

The red carpet was lined with a motley crew of attendees. From Real Housewife Gretchen Rossi (whose beau Slade totally winked at me) to a nameless character dressed head-to-toe like Luna Lovegood, the people-watching at this party did not disappoint.

First up on the carpet were goofy brothers Kyle (That’s So Raven, Fishhooks) and Christopher Massey (Zoey 101) who kindly chatted up photographers and onlookers. After a sprinkling of soap stars, we met the shy Beverly Mitchell and very handsome Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, both of ABC Family’s The Secret Life of The American Teenager. Although there was no Ty Pennington to be seen, designers of the show, Michael Maloney and Jillian Harris laughed up a storm, clutching each other for photos before moving on to the delightful spread of sweet samples and glam swag.

I had originally thought the event would be more of a premiere screening than promotional product party, but enjoyed myself nevertheless. Once all guests had arrived, I moved inside to scout the happenings and snag a snack with my new friend from Glamour Magazine. We nibbled on premium chocolate freebies (MERCI Chocolates = yum) while observing the crowd wash down their Boston Market buffet plates with O.N.E Coconut Water.

Nearing the end of the night, KayCee Stroh (High School Musical 1, 2, &3) joined us in conversation about parents who make their children’s lives difficult by giving them names with silly spellings. We giggled about this for a few minutes, her husband complimented my purse and that was that. Only I could not stop singing the line “I like to pop and lock and jam and break” over and over again in my head. The first thing I did when I got home that night was dance around to clips of High School Musical with my roommates.

You can catch the evasive Ty Pennington and the rest of the new season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday nights at 7 p.m. on ABC. Just remember to stock up on tissues.