She said yes! Ty Pennington announced on Wednesday, July 28, that he is engaged to his partner, Kellee Merrell.
Pennington, 56, shared a snap of the couple’s hands — with Merrell, 33, sporting a large teardrop-shaped diamond bauble — via Instagram. The Ty Breaker star captioned the still, “It’s the ‘yes’ for me…”
Several of the Trading Spaces alum’s former costars chimed in, sharing their wishes and congratulations for the happy couple.
“👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU MY FRIEND,” designer Genevieve Gorder commented. “Cannot wait to meet her. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
Designer Sabrina Soto, who teamed up with Pennington on Ty Breaker, was equally overjoyed to hear the news. “What!!?? What!?! Yeah!!!!! Omg!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I’m so happy for you both,” she wrote.
Joanie Sprague, Vern Yip and HGTV also chimed in with their congratulations for the pair.
Merrell, a social media manager from Vancouver, first met the contractor in 2010 before they reconnected in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, Pennington has often shared sweet snaps of the two of them on his Instagram page.
For the Vancouver native’s birthday in June 2021, the Ty Breaker host shared a heartfelt tribute.
“Thank you …Universe …for creating this amazing human… who somehow tolerates me …even tho I’m beginning to look like papa smurf after a Willie Nelson concert #HBD #thankyou #canada #luckyman #gemini,” he wrote at the time, alongside a selfie of the pair on a hike.
While the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition alum has often remained mum about his personal life, he opened up professional shortcomings in August 2020 via Instagram after being passed over as host of the Extreme Makeover revival.
“Let’s face it, it’s been a tough year for everyone,” Pennington wrote at the time. “If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, alone and scared about what’s coming next, know this. … A LOT can change in a year…. seriously! Now, losing a job is NOWHERE near losing everything but this much is true: exactly one year ago, I was asked to return to a job that I had done successfully – for almost a decade. This time around though, my position was given to someone else.”
He continued, “Not gonna lie, my ego took a huge punch to the gut. It stung. And it left me SO confused. I began doubting my talent, my experience and my overall belief in myself. But the job was never about me! … Honestly, it WAS and always will be, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
Instead of hosting, Pennington appeared on the HGTV revival as a special guest before finding a new gig on the network’s Battle on the Beach and Ty Breaker.
“To put a happy ending on this sad little narcissistic story…. saying yes to a lesser job made me remember to appreciate those bigger jobs when you get them,” he continued in the post. “Fast forward to one year later, I’m working on a new show that I helped create. … So please, be patient. Have faith. Something good is coming – just give it time. Believe in yourself; you deserve to be as good as you KNOW you can be.”
