After Popular HGTV Star Ty Pennington Was Hospitalized And Intubated, He Shared A Post About His Intense Week

Ty Pennington on Battle on the Beach
(Image credit: HGTV)

When it comes to the world of home improvement-based TV shows, there are few media personalities more well known than Ty Pennington. The beloved HGTV host has been entertaining audiences for years now and amassed a significant following. So many seemed to be taken aback by the news that he’d been hospitalized and intubated recently. Pennington confirmed the news himself and provided a detailed account of how he went “from the red carpet, to the ICU.” And all in all, it sounds like he had an intense week. 

Ty Pennington opened up about his medical ordeal by way of a lengthy post that was shared to Instagram. He included several photos, some of which show him lying in a hospital bed. In his caption, the 58-year-old star assured his followers that he’s “okay now” and “still recovering” following what he referred to as an “interesting” week. Pennington then recounted the sequence of events that led him to being admitted to the hospital, and his story began in earnest with the premiere of the 2023 new movie release Barbie

Sunday I hit the red carpet for @barbiethemovie , monday I flew to Colorado to start filming in Breckenridge and Tuesday morning I woke up at 4am and could barely breathe 😰Turns out, that sore throat Ive had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway. Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver.

This honestly sounds like a scary situation. A sore throat, on the surface, seems like such a minor ailment, but I can’t even imagine finding out that an abscess is the cause. On the more positive side, it’s good to know that the anamoly was discovered and that the former model was sent to the hospital shortly after. The star went on to provide more details about his stay, during which he underwent a surgical procedure: 

Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I was released from the ICU 🙌🏼 Thank you so much to all the amazing staff at St.Anthony’s in Lakewood, CO & Summit Health in Frisco for taking such great care of me 🙏🏼🙏🏼 A great reminder to LISTEN to your body when it’s telling you something 😳😅 #justhappytobehere

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we’re happy that Ty Pennington is still here. What’s also lovely to see is that he seems to be in good spirits despite everything. Early in his message, he even sweetly shouted out his Battle on the Beach co-stars for their recent victory. He also ended his story by mentioning an included photo of a humorous letter (which involves a speedo). 

Battle on the Beach is just one of the many shows that the entertainer has been a part of over the years. He rose to prominence as the lead host and designer on the acclaimed fix-it show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which was cancelled by ABC after 10 seasons in late 2011. (The alphabet network is actually planning to reboot the reality TV show now.)  In the years that followed, he made the move to HGTV, where he has headlined Ty Breaker, hosted Rock the Block and starred on BOTB

Plenty of fans are probably eager to see Ty Pennington get back to doing what he does best. More immediately though, what’s most important is that he gets the time he needs to completely recover after his rough-sounding medical bout. Here’s hoping his downtime is restful and that he’s able to get back to 100% in the necessary time.

Battle on the Beach can be streamed using a Max subscription, and classic episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are available by way of a Hulu subscription. Anyone looking for updates on upcoming premieres can take a look at the 2023 TV schedule.

Erik Swann
Senior Content Producer

Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. Covers superheroes, sci-fi, comedy, and almost anything else in film and TV. He eats more pizza than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.