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CNN Live Today

Interview With Paige Davis

Aired October 09, 2003 - 11:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Crank up your power tools, "Trading Spaces" is back for a fourth season of renovation surprises on TLC. Home owners -- of course, everybody knows how it goes. You move into your neighbor's house, you strip, rip and you redo a room. And they get a $1,000 budget and plenty of expert help from the off-the-wall crew of designers and carpenters.
And leading this whole wacky group of home owners and designers is none other than Paige Davis. She is the cheerleader for the makeover madness on TLC. And she has a new book called "Paige by Paige." Great name, by the way.

PAIGE DAVIS, "TRADING SPACES": Thank you.

KAGAN: Basically if Paige Davis was keeping a diary and you wanted to read Paige's diary, you can. You just buy the book called "Paige by Paige." And she is here with us right now. Pleasure to meet you.

DAVIS: Hi, Daryn. Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you too, It's great to be here in Atlanta, our new sponsor's home, Home Depot.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: We got two episodes going on here in Atlanta. So a lot going on.

KAGAN: You're a busy lady. And we are lucky to get a couple minute's time with you.

DAVIS: I'm thrilled.

KAGAN: I want to go back a couple years. You had a great career going as an actress and doing your thing. You get this call to do this show.

DAVIS: No, I begged to do the show.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: I just thought that "Trading Spaces" sounded like the biggest kick in the pants I ever heard of. It would be a great chance for me to cut my chops in television. I had been doing all theater.

It has been the biggest kick in the pants ever. When I hold the book, which is just a journal of last season, and I read where I've been and what I've done, and all the incredible experiences I've gotten being a part of this hit show, it blows my mind. My life is unbelievably magical.

KAGAN: People are freaky about this show. Crazy nuts.

DAVIS: It is crazy. And we've gone crazy. We just did the $100,000 episode.

KAGAN: That's was last weekend. And it will air...

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: ... on TLC on Saturday night, 8:00 to 10:00. And it was so much fun. It was a dream come true for two of our designers, Doug and Laurie, who really got to strut their stuff. The viewers got to see what our designers could really do when they weren't strapped by the $1,000 budget.

KAGAN: The designers knew ahead of time you were going to go nuts with the budget. But this is the part where you're explaining to the home owners are thrilled that they getting a $1,000 room.

DAVIS: They were interviewed thinking it was only $1,000. We had to lie so much to all these people. When we finally released this information to them during the key swap, when we swapped keys...

KAGAN: I don't think they got it right away.

DAVIS: I don't think so either. But when they finally picked up on it, and the realized what was happening, everybody started to cry including our producer Natalie Feldman, who really had to lie to these people for over a week. It was a such a release and relief and it was a really great experience.

KAGAN: And if people didn't see it, it's on TLC this weekend.

DAVIS: Yes, Saturday night.

KAGAN: Now, getting back to the book, you do take us behind the scenes. I will say I'm an avid watcher of your show. Sometimes I'm a little skeptical. It's all so happy.

DAVIS: We do have unhappy, you know, reactions in the end sometimes. It's very rare, which, of course that's an extremely rewarding part of my job. I see tears of joy every day.

KAGAN: You make people happy.

DAVIS: We ran a whole night of they hated it. So they're out there. And our designs are unconventional to say the least.

KAGAN: Give me your personal take. Do you ever then go look, whether it's Hilde or Doug or any of the other designers, and you're like oh, my God?

DAVIS: They always pull it out in the end. That's the thing. Even the episodes where they hated it, if you look at them, they're not even our most bizarre designs. It's not hay on the walls, straw all over the walls, it's not a Pullman car. It's brown or a fireplace facade. There's just no telling.

KAGAN: People do like being pushed and they do like thinking outside the box.

DAVIS: I think that's what our designers do the best. You might not put straw or hay on your walls. And you probably shouldn't. But if you see somebody do that and just be so wacky and so bold as to say, darn it, I'm going to do it, it makes you think outside the box to maybe do something you never would have thought of on your own.

KAGAN: People do look at your show and try things in their own homes.

DAVIS: We hope so.

KAGAN: Now like we said this is kind of going nuts because there's also now "Trading Spaces Family." It was a little too much for your schedule so they had to get...

DAVIS: There's another host, named Joe Farrell. It's all the same designers and carpenters on the show. But there's another host. They do 60 episodes a season also. Then there's "Trading Spaces: Boys Versus Girls" which airs on Discovery Kids on NBC. That's every Saturday morning. I believe.

I mean it really has gone crazy. But the thing is, Daryn, is that amidst all of this, like this book and then there's the "Trading Spaces Behind the Scenes" "Make it Yours" and color and all these different things, there's so much mayhem and popularity and phenomena surrounding the show. But we're still out there two days at a time redoing the rooms.

I hope when people read "Paige by Paige" they take that in and realize it's a tribute to the cast who I respect and admire and also our amazing crew of producers and cameramen and soundmen and P.A.s, everybody who are out there really, day by day, making the show happen.

KAGAN: Very good. It's all about people loving being home, ironic for a woman who rarely gets to be home.

DAVIS: Never home.

KAGAN: There's that. I understand that. Good luck with the book and the new season. Please stop by next time you're in town.

DAVIS: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Paige Davis and the book is called "Paige by Paige."

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 9, 2003 - 11:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Crank up your power tools, "Trading Spaces" is back for a fourth season of renovation surprises on TLC. Home owners -- of course, everybody knows how it goes. You move into your neighbor's house, you strip, rip and you redo a room. And they get a $1,000 budget and plenty of expert help from the off-the-wall crew of designers and carpenters.
And leading this whole wacky group of home owners and designers is none other than Paige Davis. She is the cheerleader for the makeover madness on TLC. And she has a new book called "Paige by Paige." Great name, by the way.

PAIGE DAVIS, "TRADING SPACES": Thank you.

KAGAN: Basically if Paige Davis was keeping a diary and you wanted to read Paige's diary, you can. You just buy the book called "Paige by Paige." And she is here with us right now. Pleasure to meet you.

DAVIS: Hi, Daryn. Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you too, It's great to be here in Atlanta, our new sponsor's home, Home Depot.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: We got two episodes going on here in Atlanta. So a lot going on.

KAGAN: You're a busy lady. And we are lucky to get a couple minute's time with you.

DAVIS: I'm thrilled.

KAGAN: I want to go back a couple years. You had a great career going as an actress and doing your thing. You get this call to do this show.

DAVIS: No, I begged to do the show.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: I just thought that "Trading Spaces" sounded like the biggest kick in the pants I ever heard of. It would be a great chance for me to cut my chops in television. I had been doing all theater.

It has been the biggest kick in the pants ever. When I hold the book, which is just a journal of last season, and I read where I've been and what I've done, and all the incredible experiences I've gotten being a part of this hit show, it blows my mind. My life is unbelievably magical.

KAGAN: People are freaky about this show. Crazy nuts.

DAVIS: It is crazy. And we've gone crazy. We just did the $100,000 episode.

KAGAN: That's was last weekend. And it will air...

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: ... on TLC on Saturday night, 8:00 to 10:00. And it was so much fun. It was a dream come true for two of our designers, Doug and Laurie, who really got to strut their stuff. The viewers got to see what our designers could really do when they weren't strapped by the $1,000 budget.

KAGAN: The designers knew ahead of time you were going to go nuts with the budget. But this is the part where you're explaining to the home owners are thrilled that they getting a $1,000 room.

DAVIS: They were interviewed thinking it was only $1,000. We had to lie so much to all these people. When we finally released this information to them during the key swap, when we swapped keys...

KAGAN: I don't think they got it right away.

DAVIS: I don't think so either. But when they finally picked up on it, and the realized what was happening, everybody started to cry including our producer Natalie Feldman, who really had to lie to these people for over a week. It was a such a release and relief and it was a really great experience.

KAGAN: And if people didn't see it, it's on TLC this weekend.

DAVIS: Yes, Saturday night.

KAGAN: Now, getting back to the book, you do take us behind the scenes. I will say I'm an avid watcher of your show. Sometimes I'm a little skeptical. It's all so happy.

DAVIS: We do have unhappy, you know, reactions in the end sometimes. It's very rare, which, of course that's an extremely rewarding part of my job. I see tears of joy every day.

KAGAN: You make people happy.

DAVIS: We ran a whole night of they hated it. So they're out there. And our designs are unconventional to say the least.

KAGAN: Give me your personal take. Do you ever then go look, whether it's Hilde or Doug or any of the other designers, and you're like oh, my God?

DAVIS: They always pull it out in the end. That's the thing. Even the episodes where they hated it, if you look at them, they're not even our most bizarre designs. It's not hay on the walls, straw all over the walls, it's not a Pullman car. It's brown or a fireplace facade. There's just no telling.

KAGAN: People do like being pushed and they do like thinking outside the box.

DAVIS: I think that's what our designers do the best. You might not put straw or hay on your walls. And you probably shouldn't. But if you see somebody do that and just be so wacky and so bold as to say, darn it, I'm going to do it, it makes you think outside the box to maybe do something you never would have thought of on your own.

KAGAN: People do look at your show and try things in their own homes.

DAVIS: We hope so.

KAGAN: Now like we said this is kind of going nuts because there's also now "Trading Spaces Family." It was a little too much for your schedule so they had to get...

DAVIS: There's another host, named Joe Farrell. It's all the same designers and carpenters on the show. But there's another host. They do 60 episodes a season also. Then there's "Trading Spaces: Boys Versus Girls" which airs on Discovery Kids on NBC. That's every Saturday morning. I believe.

I mean it really has gone crazy. But the thing is, Daryn, is that amidst all of this, like this book and then there's the "Trading Spaces Behind the Scenes" "Make it Yours" and color and all these different things, there's so much mayhem and popularity and phenomena surrounding the show. But we're still out there two days at a time redoing the rooms.

I hope when people read "Paige by Paige" they take that in and realize it's a tribute to the cast who I respect and admire and also our amazing crew of producers and cameramen and soundmen and P.A.s, everybody who are out there really, day by day, making the show happen.

KAGAN: Very good. It's all about people loving being home, ironic for a woman who rarely gets to be home.

DAVIS: Never home.

KAGAN: There's that. I understand that. Good luck with the book and the new season. Please stop by next time you're in town.

DAVIS: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Paige Davis and the book is called "Paige by Paige."

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com