Billy Gardell Featured in ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation’ Season Premiere
‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ star renovates best friend’s mother’s home in Pittsburgh

Billy Gardell, star of Bob Hearts Abishola, is featured in the season two opener of Secret Celebrity Renovation, on CBS Friday, July 29. Gardell returns to his Pittsburgh hometown to renovate the home of his best friend’s mother.
Rob Mariano, known as Boston Rob on Survivor, has joined the show as home improvement contractor. Gardell takes Mariano to his late father’s local bar, where Mariano surprises Gardell with a special dedication to his dad.
Mariano was a celebrity guest on the first season.
Nischelle Turner hosts Secret Celebrity Renovation, which sees famous people work out a surprise home renovation for someone who played a significant role in their upbringing. Sabrina Soto is in the design team too.
Pop star Debbie Gibson is on the August 5 episode, as she ventures to Long Island to surprise her manager with a home renovation. “Debbie’s time in Long Island becomes an emotional journey as she visits many of the people and places from her childhood that helped shape her into the person she is today,” CBS teases.
The show also streams on Paramount Plus. The season was initially set to start July 22 but was pushed back a week.
Other guests this season include Utkarsh Ambudkar of CBS comedy Ghosts, former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal, singer Nicole Scherzinger, actress Annaleigh Ashford, NBA star Devin Booker, reality TV personality Kandi Burruss, ice skater Nathan Chen and NFL star Aaron Donald. ■
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Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.