Bristol and Aubrey Marunde are about to learn exactly how famous “Flip or Flop” can make a couple.
The “Flip or Flop Vegas” stars tell TheWrap that they’re not worried about the HGTV spotlight, however, despite how it probably played a part in Tarek and Christina El Moussa’s recent highly public breakup. Their newfound fame from being on the cable channel certainly didn’t help, at least.
“Well, Aubrey and I talked about that,” Bristol, a contractor and professional mixed martial artist, told TheWrap. “Our focus really was mostly on the logistics and the construction of it. We really enjoy what we do: I love doing construction and she loves the design. For us, this was a great opportunity to share what we do — day in and day out — with other people that love it too.”
“As for getting famous with the show — we’re fine with that,” he continued. “It absolutely comes with this whole experience. We’re ready for it.”
“Aubrey and I are solid. We’ve been business partners for a long time,” Bristol stressed. “We communicate well. Like anything in life, marriage is difficult — whether you’re doing a show or not.”
They’re also solid on the business front. The Marundes have never lost money on a house flip, Aubrey said. Of course, there have been those times when the duo poured their hearts into a project and walked away with just 10 grand — but those are hopefully few and far-between going forward, because the future for these two will be televised.
One main difference between “Flip or Flip” and its “Vegas” spinoff is how hands-on the husband host is. In this case, Bristol says he ordinarily does “100 percent of the work,” whereas realtor Tarek tends to just help with demo or set some tile, sub-contracting out the lion’s share of the work. That’s not a knock on Tarek — being a TV star is busy work– even Bristol can no longer rely on his old ways.
“We had to bring on some guys because we had to finish houses so fast for the show,” he told us.
Similar to the El Moussa’s setup, Aubrey handles all the design in this partnership. And she likes to bring a bit of the Las Vegas casinos to her flip properties — sometimes literally.
The blackjack houses out there are always doing big remodels, so Aubrey likes to salvage their scraps at a fraction of the original materials’ cost. She especially goes for any crystals and lighting — so don’t expect safe, neutral presentations out of her.
“My big thing is color,” Aubrey told us. “I love color and the Vegas glam.”
She also digs the affordable area, where houses range from about $95,000 to $500,000. Re-read that line again, Los Angeles market — we didn’t forget a zero.
Plus, “The cool thing about Vegas is everything is within 30 minutes,” Aubrey explained, talking about golf, gambling, and even some good, old-fashioned suburbia.
A half-hour is exactly how much time it’ll take for viewers to get through an episode of “Flip or Flop Vegas,” which debuts tonight at 9/8c on HGTV.
Oh, and watch your snarky comments on Twitter, guys. Bristol, who got his jaw broken by “a punch at a bad angle” in the cage a year and-a-half ago, tells us he’s still “very active” in MMA and is “gonna get a big fight this summer.” Reader, you don’t want that to be you.