Vickery tells his side of backyard budget buster

By Vickie Schaffeld Holbrook
Special to the Argus Observer
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 3:17 PM PDT

Vale native Dan Vickery faced a close call following this backyard challenge on HGTV’s Design Star.

VALE — Design Star finalist and hometown hero Dan Vickery bared his chest twice in the HGTV reality show Design Star but narrowly escaped elimination after the backyard challenge that exceeded budget by $5,000.

The show’s editing — a 36-hour challenge, plus additional time for the elimination round cut to 43 minutes — painted the University of Oregon architecture graduate like the handsome, sexy villain.

But there’s much more to the story.

First, Dan whips off his shirt — twice — because it was so hot. Great eye candy for the viewers ...

"Dan has to take control of taking his shirt off and doin' what he does," Antonio told the camera, taking a direct shot at his stiffest competition, as he outlined what everyone was doing to finish the challenge.

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The whole overspent budget fiasco made it look like Dan messed up — even though we heard Torie and Antonio say $10,000 — but there's so much more to this story.

For starters, viewers could see that Torie tracked the $25,000 budget in her head. That’s just crazy stupid.

Here’s what really happened, according to Dan:

“There was, obviously, some big confusion about budget,” Dan said after the show aired. “Nothing was ever in writing. Once Torie and Lonni came back and we realized the issue, we went back to vinyl store and made some major cutbacks.

“The original pergola, at $10,648, was raised, with steps, had railings, built-in furniture and included a matching arbor along the far end of the pool. After all the cuts, the final cost was $5,500,” Vickery said. “That’s why I was laughing in the elimination room. I had made a huge mistake, but it was fixed and only $500 over budget. In the end, we were still somehow $5,000 over budget. I had nothing to do with any other costs, so the remainder of the overage was baffling to me.

“This was a huge issue that has been edited in a very twisted way,” he said. “I, however, gave them the rights to do what they wanted to with the footage when I signed that contract. I just always expected more from HGTV.”

In the end, the judges sent home the right person. Torie volunteered to lead the project but didn’t track the budget and didn’t act like a leader. Instead, she let Antonio take control.

The four finalists — Dan, Antonio, Lonni and Tori — had to create a 10,000-square-foot backyard oasis in 36 hours. They placed sod, poured concrete and bought furniture, including an outdoor kitchen and a child’s play set, and planted $4,000 in new plants. But the judges’ comments were just brutal. They picked it apart and then came back and dished out bunches of praise after the big reveal, and the clients loved their new back yard.

Next week: Here’s a peek at next week when three finalists become two for the finals on Sept. 13. Dan designs a baby nursery for actor Jason Priestley in this individual challenge. Antonio whips up a home office for comedian Kathy Griffin, and Lonni overhauls a guest bedroom for actress Tiffani Thiessen. With 30 hours of work time and a budget of $20,000, only two designers will survive to compete for a 50-50 chance at winning their own show on HGTV.