The Style Network's new show, Built, has audiences drooling over high-fashion male models who remodel homes. The boys of Built work for Hott and Handy a home design company run by owner by Shane Duffy. After doing handiwork a few years ago he started the business ,and now has offices in New York, L.A. and Miami.
Donny Ware is the jokester of the bunch and worked as a glass blower in Florida before he was discovered. He has modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch and Michael Kors, among others.
If you are looking for danger though look no further than Gage Cass, who has worked as a stuntman, even rappelling off of 30 Rock for a Spider-Man 3 promotion.
We caught up to the three at lunch while they were in Chicago filming the Steve Harvey Show.
Windy City Times: Hey, guys. First off, I need some work done on my house!
Donny Ware: We can travel, but we only fly first-class.
WCT: Well, since you are in town I need my kitchen fixed. Did you work in a glass factory?
Donny Ware: Yes, I did. If there were scratches in it I got to break it. I liked the way it shattered.
WCT: Did you meet through this show?
Shane Duffy: No, we have been friends for a long time. Donny and I met in Miami.
Donny Ware: We were so good at playing volleyball until the alcohol came out!
SD: We met at a model beach-volleyball tournament. We were at the same agency in Miami.
Gage Cass: I knew Shane from a couple of fashion shows we had put together.
WCT: So it is a small world.
SD: It is. The circle is pretty small but within that you see everyone at castings all the time. To actually be friends with someone from castings and photo shoots is hard. It is really difficult create relationships for models because everyone is off doing different things.
WCT: The female modeling world must be different than the male one.
GC: They stick together because they come from out of town.
Donny Ware: They start when they are 13 but guys start when they are 16 years old.
WCT: Then the male models last longer….
Donny Ware: We age better because we have thick skin.
WCT: How did everyone get on the show Built?
GC: We were all in the company working.
SD: What originally happened is I have a business partner and she was propositioned to do a show about her business. She didn't want to do a reality show so she told the production about me and my business Hott and Handy.
WCT: Why didn't they just call the show Hott and Handy?
Donny Ware: I know. If I were flipping through the channels I would stop on Hott and Handy.
SD: I own the name so they could have used it but they liked the play on words with Built, built guys building.
WCT: I read you are involved with Burning Man, Gage.
GC: I go every year. That is how I got my handyman skills because the rule is no spectators. You have to participate in some way. We designed something called Circus Maximus that is a 129-foot giant amphitheater. It is wood, chains, and monkey bars with hammocks. I learned how to do welding along the way. Shane overheard me talking about it at a casting and asked me to work for him at Hott and Handy.
SD: It is the perfect company for models because you are not booking jobs everyday. Whether you are repainting a wall of fixing a cabinet it is physical and you can touch it.
Donny Ware: We created it!
WCT: In the first episode you take out a spiral staircase out of Adina, your client's home.
SD: Logistically we couldn't fit things up there so we had to. The client's father had built the staircase so it was really sentimental to her. We wanted to preserve it. That is the thing with clients you are dealing with so many things.
GC: Adina talked to her purses and matched us up to each purse. I got Chanel.
WCT: They didn't show the purse matching on the episode.
Donny Ware: I wasn't happy with my purse! But I think mine was the most expensive one though.
WCT: Hilarious. Someone is very competitive.
GC: Mine was solid gold!
SD: Yeah, but it wasn't real gold, Gage.
GC: Mine was channel and she said, "Oh my God you did not say channel, it's Chanel!" I even did push-ups with Adina on my back.
WCT: Do you sometimes get that distracted on the job?
GC: We definitely do. We like to have fun first and foremost then get the job done.
SD: We bring a good atmosphere to the households.
GC: People miss us when we are gone. Even though we fixed a closet they will want their carpet redone.
SD: Repeat business!
Donny Ware: They even have us over for dinner.
WCT: What areas do you go to?
GC: The Tri-state area and New York.
WCT: Any tips for fixing up the house?
GC: Things I always tell people is to add dimmer switches and paint a room. That makes dramatic effects.
SD: Since it is wintertime right now, weatherizing a window by putting plastic over it saves with heating.
WCT: How has the experience been filming a reality show?
GC: Sometimes we shoot 14 hours a day. I am drained and that is just being around my friends. I don't know how the Real Housewives do it. I couldn't fight all day.
Donny Ware: I couldn't either. I would get depressed.
SD: There is no fighting but there is competition.
GC: If someone is getting too cocky then we take him down a notch!
WCT: Did you have any gay clients?
SD: Yes, Justin and Josh are scheduled to be on our final episode.
WCT: Were they high-maintenance?
GC: No, actually they were a lot of fun.
SD: They were my favorite clients.
GC: What they brought to the table as a whole was great. They had their grandmother in town.
Donny Ware: She reminded me of the lady in the Titanic! A sweet old thing, she said I was her favorite.
GC: That's why loved her.
Donny Ware: I was the pick of the litter. [Everyone laughs.]
SD: One of the guys worked at home so they made a pact between themselves to not interfere or flirt with the guys.
GC: But they would find reasons to come in and talk to us. There was a closet in one of the rooms that we were redoing. When I was smashing it, one of them came down and said, "I'm glad you are ripping down closets all across America!"
Built breaks down barriers Tuesdays on the Style Network. For more on the cast and information, visit www.stylenetwork.com .
