By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
LAS VEGAS — The latest venture for Bristol Marunde, a 2000 Sequim High graduate and mixed martial artist, seems to be a hit.
Executives with the channel HGTV announced June 5 that Marunde and his wife Aubrey’s show, “Flip or Flop Vegas,” a 30-minute home improvement show, had been renewed for a second season.
Aubrey said Tuesday via email that they “are excited to start filming season two.”
“As of now it looks as though production will start in the first week of August,” she said.
The show premiered at 9 p.m. April 6 on HGTV and 11 episodes have aired for season one, with repeat airings of the season scheduled at various times in the weeks to come. Season two is expected to be 16 episodes, Aubrey said.
The Marundes’ show is the first of five “Flip or Flop” spin-offs including shows based in Atlanta; Fort Worth, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; and Chicago.
Each episode focuses on the couple purchasing a dilapidated home in Las Vegas, renovating it and selling it, also called flipping.
Aubrey said she’s actively looking and making offers on properties now and she needs to secure four homes by the end of July for season two.
Last July, the Marundes debuted in the show “High Stakes Flippers” on HGTV and it got good ratings, the couple said in a March interview. Eventually, it became the first episode for “Flip or Flop Vegas.”
Aubrey said their goal with the show is to present more of the design and construction process while having their hands in the entirety of each project.
A news release from the HGTV’s media network, Scripps Networks Interactive, says the show has attracted 12.5 million viewers since its premiere.
“Bristol and Aubrey have clearly resonated with fans of house flipping,” said John Feld, senior vice president of programming for HGTV.
“When you blend the Marundes’ business savvy and fun chemistry with an electric city like Las Vegas, you’ve got a winner.”
Going into season two, Aubrey said they plan to handle their time better.
“It was difficult learning how to manage our time between construction, real estate and filming,” she said. “We have a better idea now how involved the production crew is on our already hectic construction sites.”
The home improvement show isn’t Bristol’s first venture into television. He first fought in the show “The Ultimate Fighter” but said he wasn’t interested in doing reality TV or being away from his family again.
However, he garnered interest from production companies after sharing housing projects on Instagram, which led to a deal with High Noon Entertainment.
Marunde spent his middle and high school years in Sequim, and the couple bought a home here in 2012. They visit a few times a year for mixed martial arts fights that Bristol promotes at Clearwater Casino Resort in Suquamish.
Read more about “Flip or Flop Vegas” at www.HGTV.com, and find the couple on Instagram at @AubreyMarunde and @BristolMarunde.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
