14 Vacation Photos From The Stars Of HGTV That Bring The Heat

Some HGTV stars get to film their shows at popular vacation locations, making it easy for them to take a break from flipping properties, slip on their flip-flops, and hit the beach. Then there are the renovators who have to constantly travel like they're going on vacation — only to find a ton of hard labor awaiting them at their destination.

"Home in a Heartbeat" star Galey Alix knows firsthand just how much work goes into HGTV's incredible home transformations. For viewers, they can often watch a single episode of a show and follow an entire project from start to finish. However, Alix spends three days on each of her renovations. "It takes a very long time to film a show," she said in an HGTV Q&A. So yeah, the members of the network's talented arsenal of interior designers, contractors, realtors, and renovation gurus definitely deserve some downtime to unwind.

Many HGTV hosts opt to remain active on social media during their vacations, allowing their fans to see where they go when they want to get away from paint fumes and sawdust plumes. The network's photogenic stars also build on their popularity by showing off how hot they look after ditching the power sander for some sand between their toes.

"Windy City Rehab" star Alison Victoria celebrated turning 42 in 2022 with a destination birthday party. While she didn't divulge where that destination was when she shared a carousel of photos on Instagram, the images showcased the scenic views of sapphire water and mountainous shoreline that her guests enjoyed from their yacht. For the occasion, Victoria rocked a black bikini embellished with gold beads and paired it with a netted skirt.

Victoria's guests included another HGTV personality who spends a lot of time around water: Her "Battle on the Beach" co-star Taniya Nayak. She surprised the smiling birthday girl with a smooch on the cheek as they posed together.

As the HGTV Instagram page pointed out, Ty Pennington's job really is beach. But during a trip to Tulum, Handyman Ken ditched the red Speedo that he rocked in those hilarious "Baywatch"-themed "Battle on the Beach" promos. Proving that green really is his color, Pennington stripped down to his birthday suit and used a pair of giant leaves to keep his vacation pic PG-rated.

On Instagram, Pennington revealed that the inspo for his cheeky pose was one of model Emily Ratajkowski's revealing Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue photos. He shared the post in celebration of Earth Day, and he was clearly doing his part for the environment by choosing no fashion over fast fashion.

When "Good Bones" star Mina Starsiak Hawk jetted off to Palm Springs in May 2023, she was actually there to work. But the mother of two confessed to extending her stay for a day because she was in serious need of some R&R. "I'm sure I'll get heeellllla mom guilt," she wrote.

During her quickie vacay, Starsiak Hawk spent some time poolside with former "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Gretchen Rossi and her boo, Slade Smiley. "So fun to hang out with you!" Rossi wrote in response to an Instagram photo of the random twosome posing together. Starsiak Hawk described their different swimwear styles as "regular glam" and "housewives glam."

During a romantic getaway in Cabo San Lucas, "Christina on the Coast" star Christina Hall and her husband, Joshua Hall, left no doubt in the minds of fellow vacationers that they're a couple. In a photo taken at the Chileno Bay Resort, the spouses are sporting matching swimwear. They weren't shy about their choice to dress as twinsies, either, opting for a neon tropical print that looks like a total '80s throwback. 

Christina revealed that she and Josh were in Mexico to celebrate her birthday with some of her closest friends. "It's a blessing how much all my long-time friends love Josh and how much he loves them," she gushed.

"Vacation House Rules" star Scott McGillivray doesn't play by the rules when it comes to water sports. The Canadian contractor — who was once named People's "Sexy Man of the Week" — told House Digest that his favorite vacation homes to renovate are lakefront properties, so it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise that he loves being in the water (or, rather, on top of it) during his downtime.

McGillivray can slalom water ski by balancing on a single ski with one foot in front of the other. As you can see, he's even demonstrated how he can keep gliding across the water after letting go of the tow rope handle.

In April 2023, "Married to Real Estate" stars Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson took a break from helping Atlanta residents create their dream homes and headed to Bali for an amorous escape. While there, they stood beneath a waterfall and posed for a photo that looked like a perfume ad.

Jackson shared some relationship advice along with the image. "Keep it fun, spontaneous and sexy. Continue to date each other," he captioned the proof that he practices what he preaches.

According to Sherrod, Jackson has officially achieved HGTV sex symbol status. "My husband has a 'Golden Girls' fan club in Florida," she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Over-65 women just adore him."

During a 2021 trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, "Property Brothers" star Drew Scott and his wife, Linda Phan, took advantage of their hotel's gorgeous indoor pool. But while a glistening Scott looked perfectly fit posing shirtless in his black-and-white polka-dot swim trunks, one of his body parts took a beating when he and two of his long-time friends posed behind a low wall overlooking the water.

Scott captioned his vacation slideshow, "In pic #2, one of us pulled a hammy, the other busted a toe, and another got a Charlie horse." Which injury the HGTV star got remains a mystery.

When "Help! I Wrecked My House" star Jasmine Roth vacationed in Greece with her husband in 2019, she sent out an S.O.S. to her employer. The emergency? HGTV needed to get busy searching for her replacement. "Sorry, @hgtv I might not come home," she quipped.

For a boat outing, Roth rocked a two-piece with a leopard-print top and solid black bottoms. "Does 'working' on our tan count as 'work'?" she wrote. But what impressed some of her Instagram followers were the results of her work on her washboard stomach. When she celebrated New Year's Eve on a beach in Key West almost four months later, her abs had been replaced by a baby bump.

In 2022, "Inside Out" co-host Carmine Sabatella reflected back on the beginning of his relationship with his husband, Ryan Delair, in the caption of a throwback vacation photo. In it, Sabatella and Delair are posing shirtless by a lake.

While Sabatella told HGTV that he prefers staycations over vacations these days, the picture was taken during a 2014 Big Bear adventure with Delair. "I like this photo so much because you can see the happiness in our faces," the interior designer wrote. "We were in love at the time, but neither of us had the courage to admit it." Four years later, they were ready to get hitched and start building their life together.

Here's a fun fact about Taniya Nayak: Even though she spends a lot of time around water on "Battle on the Beach," the Bostonite can't swim!

The lack of this skill hasn't stopped Nayak from vacationing in locales that require packing plenty of swimsuits. She's revealed that her favorite vacation was her 2019 trip to Greece, where a breathtaking ocean view provided the perfect backdrop for a bikini pic. Her swimsuit was color-coordinated with the islands' iconic whitewashed walls, and a pink hat protected her face from the blazing sun. "Battery is fully charged," she wrote. "It's been a long time since I went away and allowed myself to fully decompress and utterly rejuvenate."

In July 2022, "The High/Low Project" star Sabrina Soto informed her Instagram followers that she had just experienced what would be a low point for many people — the end of her engagement. (Her former fiancé is LeAnn Rimes' ex-husband Dean Sheremet.) But instead of sitting at home nursing her broken heart, she was out living her best life in Los Cabo. "I've never been more proud of myself," she wrote.

Soto's sister, Natasha Yusta, joined her on the Mexican getaway, and they did a little acro-yoga together on the beach. "Pointer sisters," Soto captioned a photo of the two women mirroring the same pose while lying in the sand.

"The Flipping El Moussas" star Heather Rae El Moussa looked happy as a clam while perched on a barside swing seat during a relaxing stay in Cabo. She was joined on the trip by her hubby and co-star, Tarek El Moussa. Unfortunately, the former Playboy model soon had to swap her bikini for a hospital gown. "Hard to believe less than 24 hours ago I was soaking in the sun by the water in Cabo, and now I'm laying in bed recovering from vocal chord surgery," she wrote.

Tarek vowed to take good care of the "Selling Sunset" star while she recuperated, presumably with visions of seaside sunsets dancing through her head. 

"Teen Mom 2" alum Chelsea Houska has used Instagram to chronicle her journey to becoming an HGTV star, revealing that she slid into the network's DMs to get the ball rolling. But the "Down Home Fab" host's IG grid is proof that she doesn't just work hard as a home renovator; she and her family also play hard.

In June 2023, Houska and her husband, Cole DeBoer (who is also her co-host) took their children to Siesta Key for a little fun in the sun. In response to a photo of the couple posing on the beach, one of Houska's Instagram followers wrote, "Ummmm how the hell have you had 4 kids???"

Before Galey Alix was digging heart-shaped holes on the beach with her "Bachelorette" beau Dale Moss, the "Home in a Heartbeat" star was making a name for herself as a successful content creator with a Wall Street career and some mad yoga skills.

During a 2017 trip to Florida's Anastasia Island, Alix and her sister performed some acro-yoga poses underneath a pier. In case you can't tell who's who in the photo above, that's Galey in the hat; the interior designer is rarely seen without it. In her HGTV Q&A, she explained this is because it helps her to not worry about her appearance and remain focused on her work.