"That's something I'll never forget" - Holmes Family Rescue star Mike recalls how he started His very first show

Holmes Family Rescue returned to HGTV with season 3 on June 4, 2025. Mike Holmes, along with his daughter Sherry and son Michael Jr., came back to help homeowners recover from botched construction jobs and finally get the safe, quality homes they deserve.

On June 26, 2025, Mike uploaded a video on his YouTube channel featuring himself alongside his kids and opened up about how he started his very first show, Holmes on Homes, before it premiered on HGTV in 2003.

Mike recalled that it was September 11th, 2001, the day of the 9/11 incident. He shared that, on the day after he had handed over his pilot VHS tape to the HGTV producers, the first plane had crashed over the World Center building.

At first, he was confused about what was happening, but when the second plane hit, he knew it was something far more serious. He said it became a day he would never forget.

"I was at HGTV Studios and I handed the tape in and a plane hit the tower and everyone was freaking out. Like not at first. At first it was like, "How can a plane hit the tower?" And then all of a sudden the second plane hits the tower and I was like, "Okay, this is no television show". That's something I'll never forget," he shared.

---

Holmes Family Rescue star cast recalls how Mike became a TV star

In his YouTube video, Mike accompanied his daughter Sherry and son Michael Jr. as they discussed how Mike went from a usual contractor to a TV star.

Mike recalled that before pitching Holmes on Homes to the producers, he recorded a videotape of the concept and made several copies to share with his close friends and family.

The Holmes Family Rescue lead handed the VHS tape to the HGTV producers on the day of the 9/11 incident. He recalled being very confused and stated that it became the day he would never forget in his life.

Michael Jr. chimed in, sharing that when he first saw the recorded VHS tape in 2001, it made him believe that his dad had already become a TV star, even though the show hadn't been aired yet.

"I remember you bringing it home and before you even submitted it. You got the footage, we all watched it together, and you were walking through a subdivision. And it was all like, you know, foundations," he shared.

The Holmes Family Rescue star continued:

"There were some homes that were all framed, and you're talking about horror stories, and you're walking through, and I remember thinking, "My dad's a contractor, but like now, he's in my mind a TV star". And it hadn't even happened before he was."

Later in the video, Sherry asked Mike to talk about his first spark that got him into the television show, pointing out how he wasn't aspiring to be on TV and had different intentions.

The Holmes Family Rescue lead responded that it was "a total accident." He recalled that it started when someone from HGTV was looking for a contractor to work behind the scenes on some of their shows, and they called him.

After asking about the salary he would get, Mike wandered around the building before telling the producers that he would join, provided that he was allowed to run his company without any interruption.

"Next thing you know, you know, there's executive TV guys coming down because they're seeing things behind the scenes and I'm telling Yan, "No, you can't say that. No, don't do that. Do this." And I'm telling him what he needs to be saying because what he was truly saying was incorrect. So, that was the beginning of it," he added.

While working behind the scenes on the HGTV sets, the Holmes Family Rescue star was later called a meeting with one of the executive producers, who asked him to build a custom home.

After a back-and-forth discussion, their conversation took a turn, and the executive producers asked Mike for "pilot right away."

---

Holmes Family Rescue season 3 episodes premiere every Wednesday on HGTV.