"Design Star" 3 recaplet (Ep. 6): We're all doomed

No sooner do we lose half of Team Gay than we get a new, secret member in the person of cop-by-day, designer-by-night Mikey V. So Team Gay is back up to full force for the scariest challenge of them all, the 24-hour kitchen makeover.

Last season Team Gay member Sparkle Josh, facing the dreaded kitchen challenge

Keep in mind that no previous Design Star team has ever finished its kitchen challenge. However, no Design Star team has ever attempted its kitchen challenge with two Team Gay members, either. Did it make the difference?

Yes, if you mean, "Did they finish?" As to the rest, therein lies the story.

We began with this, a basic 70s kitchen/dining area with dark paneling, outdated appliances, and tired surfaces.

The kitchen, before

Tragically, Tracee won the draw and was made team leader, to the clearly expressed dismay of, well, everyone else. I may possibly have screamed at the television. She made up a nicely graphed plan of action, negotiated a great deal on new countertops, and then went shopping for what turned out to be pretty much the entire 24-hour period they had for the makeover.

Sparkle remembering kitchen challenge hell; "I'd rather makeover an outhouse," he said.

As one of last season's members of Team Gay, Sparkle Josh, commented, shopping is a very important part of design, certainly his favorite part. I sympathize with this, truly I do, but seeing her trying to decide what color pot holders to buy while Mikey V was kicking the old counters out with his feet didn't exactly endear her to me.

Mikey V gets physical

Before she left, we had two moments of drama. One was poor Trish, who had to have the EMTs come and cut her wedding ring off after she injured her finger, and the second was Matt's absolute refusal to consider tiling the kitchen's backsplash. Tile, he said, is what doomed both previous teams.

Matt Locke says no, no, a thousand times no to tile.

Matt was right, but Mikey V wanted tile, and said as long as Tracee got it back before 2:30 or 3 PM, he'd do it. Otherwise, no way.

So our intrepid team hammered, sawed, demo'd, installed, laughed, talked, chatted with the camera, and sweated while Tracee shopped.

The team taking a break.

Clive stopped by and seemed perplexed at Tracee's absence, and noticed that the team was adhering to her plan of action, but she certainly wasn't. I was actually surprised they didn't throw her under the bus more forcefully than they did at that point. Maybe it was edited out; I know I couldn't have resisted.

Where the heck is Tracee?

When they finished (remember, a Design Star first!) the kitchen didn't suck. There was no backsplash and there was no color (two things the owners had specifically requested), and there was also no pizazz, but it was complete and it was worlds better than it started out.

The kitchen, after.

Before standing in front of the judges, the contestants filmed hosting spots, revealing the details of the kitchen makeover. Trish walked away with that one, hands down.

Trish, the one to beat when it comes to hosting skills.

I gave second place to Matt, and the judges liked him as well, but they may have thought Jennifer had the edge. That's not just my Matt love showing; I also really like Jenn and think her personality comes across very well on the screen, but her hosting segment didn't wow me.

Matt getting into the hosting groove and proving Mikey V isn't the only one with arms.

Now for the good news: Tracee was aufed for her abysmal lack of leadership, her weak hosting segment, and for trying to blame Trish's finger injury (which was resolved in 20 minutes) for the lack of a backsplash. Buh bye, Tracee. Her exit interview was just what I'd have expected: she cried, said everyone back home loved her, and these people were all just useless and ignorant. The blame game always rebounds on ya, Trace. Now you know.

And now the bad news: this was a double elimination round, and due to his weak hosting segment, Mikey V got aufed, too, leaving Team Gay down to just Matt once again.

Matt and Mikey V say goodbye.

It's been a bad week for Mikey V (who did not respond to several requests from AfterElton.com for an interview, although HGTV did attempt to set one up). Rumors of his having appeared in gay adult films in the past are being openly discussed in a number of places, including the HGTV Design Star message boards. There's no denying he was nervous in his hosting segment, but there's also no denying he has a great presence on camera and a lot of talent. Also, nice arms, yo.

Mikey V has left the building.

Now we're down to the final three, and they'll be back next week to do what looks like makeovers on their families' homes ... although if this season has demonstrated anything, it's that the previews often lie.

The final three: Jennifer, Matt, and Trish