Albie Mushaney From 'House Hunters Ho Ho Home' Is the "World’s Strongest Santa"

For more than two decades, fans have been tuning in to House Hunters to watch people tour properties as they go through the challenging process of purchasing a home.

While the popular HGTV series is often quite serious in nature, there's a limited spin-off series that will surely put viewers in the holiday spirit: House Hunters Ho Ho Home.

Like the original series before it, House Hunters Ho Ho Home follows prospective buyers as they look at homes — except the real estate agent is wearing a Santa Claus suit during the showings.

Oregon agent Albie Mushaney is the one in the suit, and he's hoping to spread some holiday magic to get homebuyers their dream properties on the HGTV limited series.

Albie's approach is very unique, but it isn't the first time he's donned a Santa suit for the network. Keep reading to find out where you've seen Albie before, and to learn more about his personal life (hint: he dresses as Father Christmas all year long).

The real estate agent was born and raised in Salem, Ore., which explains why he's so passionate about finding people their forever homes in the area. Unlike the real Santa Claus, who cares for all of the children of the world but who has no biological children, Albie is a father of five. He shares four sons and one daughter (who is named Hope) with his wife, Jesse.

Jesse often dresses as Mrs. Claus alongside Albie. While some people who dress up as Santa wear a fake beard, Albie's facial hair is all natural — meaning, he just needs the Santa suit to pull the whole look together.

Though he is now happily married, Albie went through a trying divorce in the '90s that left him homeless. During this time, he first became passionate about fitness, but he later took a 15-year hiatus from training once he began having kids.

When he's not taking clients on house tours or wearing the big red suit, Albie is often competing in bodybuilding competitions. After Albie and his wife welcomed their fifth child, the HGTV personality wanted to make a lifestyle change.

"When my youngest was born, I realized, at 400 pounds, I need to make some changes," Albie shared in his first HGTV series, You'll Be Home for Christmas. "So, I started working out. Five years ago, I began competing at Strongman. Now, I'm the world's strongest Santa."

Now, Albie trains four nights a week with a few pals to stay in tiptop shape for his strength competitions.

Back in 2020, Albie took to his Instagram page to detail his background, and to discuss his passion for fitness.

"I'm a real estate agent. Now, being in the Strongman community has been an incredible blessing. It's a lot of work; the athletes do some incredible feats of strength way beyond the human imagination should allow. So many of these huge feats of strength go unnoticed by the general public, but fans of Strongman are some of the most loyal fans there are," he shared. "People who just eat, drink, sleep Strongman. I've been blessed to gain such a following — a lot of times it's the beard." 

Albie said that combining his passions for fitness and for Christmas helped him to get the attention of HGTV.

"Some people noticed me and thought that I'd be good for a television show — from being in real estate, and being a Santa and a Strongman. It was just a natural fit to put me in front of the camera..." he said. "I just smiled for the camera, and I was me..."

Though I'll Be Home for Christmas didn't return to HGTV for the 2021 holiday season, Albie is back on the network with House Hunters Ho Ho Home.

All five episodes of House Hunters Ho Ho Home are available to stream on Discovery Plus now. The series will air on HGTV beginning on Dec. 13 at 10 p.m. ET.