Truth about Trading Spaces: Leslie’s home makeover was so vile it still haunts her. Now she reveals dark secret of show… and what happened when the cameras left

When Leslie Hoover went on legendary TV makeover show ‘Trading Spaces’ she had no idea the results of her neighbors’ work would still haunt her 20 years later.

The 2000s TLC show took two sets of neighbors, paired them up with a designer and carpenter and gave them $1,000 and two days to transform a room in their neighbor’s home.

The show was known for its extreme and wacky makeovers with the finished products often leaving people stunned at the wild results. 

Hoover and April Kilstrom were two of the show’s most memorable participants when their bonkers makeover left walls covered in straw and a ceiling pink.

Clips from the 2001 episode still regularly go viral on TikTok all these years later, showing the couple entering the room with their eyes closed and commenting on how good it smelled. But once their eyes opened, they were not happy.

Kilstrom immediately gasped and swore, taking it all in. The first thing she noticed was the pink ceiling, a color they had specifically asked the redecorating team not to use.

Hoover was polite in her rejection of the space saying, ‘The wall is a little bit funky. I’m not sure about this straw here.’ 

Now, she’s tells the Daily Mail what she really wanted to say: ‘What the f***!’

Leslie Hoover (left) and April Kilstrom (right) were just two of the most viral victims to be subjected to designer Hildi Santo Tomás creativity on Trading Spaces

Neighbor Rhea Wisherop said she had no say in the designs: ‘I did not say, “I think my neighbor would like hay and straw on the wall”‘

‘Initially, I saw the room and I was completely floored,’ Hoover explained.

‘It was like a farm with hay. They did a really cr*p job on the house.’

She said she believes the show and its controversial designer, Hildi Santo Tomás, planned the bold makeover without taking into consideration any of their requests.

Hoover and Kilstrom were looking to have the room that was littered with toys and children’s items transformed into a more adult-friendly space.

‘[The design team] said what don’t you want and we said red and then we had the red shirts. And we said pink and we had a pink ceiling.’

‘They definitely had a plan,’ she said. ‘They had the pink ceiling already picked out.’

The couple went on the show with their neighbors from across the street as they thought it would be a fun activity for the friends to do, but Hoover told the Daily Mail she’d never do anything like it again. 

Trading Spaces was known for their zany makeovers, a standout being straw-covered walls

At the time Santo Tomás (pictured), who was known for out of the box ideas, stood by the makeover and said the straw on the walls was a ‘great idea’

‘The neighbors across the street, they wanted to be on the show so they asked us to do it. I didn’t think they’d let us do it because we’re a same-sex couple. So [they] contacted the show. But [casting] said yes.’

The neighbors that helped design the room told SFGate in 2002 that the incident completely ruined their friendship. 

‘We were going to have a Trading Spaces party and “reveal” our rooms to our friends. We’re not doing that,’ said Rhea Wisherop.

She said that, unlike how it looked on the show, the neighbors didn’t really have a say on the room design, the concepts were already imagined and the materials were already purchased.

‘The homeowners have no control,’ Wisherop said. ‘They want us to say what we like or not, but it’s all their concept.’

‘I did not say, “I think my neighbor would like hay and straw on the wall.”‘ But, Santo Tomás had them spreading glue and throwing straw nonetheless. 

Hoover said they quickly reconciled once they realized the neighbors played no role in the design choices. 

‘We trusted our neighbors and the [show] just completely did what they wanted,’ Hoover.

Among other memorable moments from the show was a beach cabana basement with real sand on the floor, a horror-themed kitchen (pictured) and a Prince themed room that turned out completely Prince-less

The hay wasn’t the only atrocity, Hoover and Kilstrom asked the show not to touch their mantle. But Santo Tomás and her team removed and replaced it with shoddy book cases. 

It took five adults 17 hours to undo the damage to the room. Hoover said they started as soon as production left.

At the time, Santo Tomás, who was known for out of the box ideas, stood by the makeover and said the straw on the walls was a ‘great idea’.

Santo Tomás told People in 2018, ‘I’ve always been different. I have always pushed my imagination and I was hoping through my creativity I could inspire others.

‘They just didn’t like it. I had seen it done in an ex-boyfriend’s living room and it was a cool finish. They had kids and they were worried they were going to eat the straw off the wall.’ 

Among other memorable moments from the show was a beach cabana basement with real sand on the floor, a horror-themed kitchen and a Prince themed room that turned out completely Prince-less.

As their tragic makeover has resurfaced online over the years, Hoover said she’s just glad to see that audiences feel the same way about the room that they did. 

They’ve since moved out of the home and the walls have long been reverted back to normal, but there’s one thing that has remained: Their daughter, now 25, still has a footstool from the makeover.