Ty Pennington Has Been Vocal About His Usage of Prescription ADHD Drugs

It seems like there's a famous personality or "star" for pretty much any and every demographic, activity, hobby, vocation, and field. From paranormal investigating, to makeup tutorials, to home makeovers — there's truly a show for everything. And while the latter space has its fair share of stars, there are some that are more easily recognizable than others. Ty Pennington definitely falls into the "very recognizable" group, but he's had some career ups and downs that include hit shows, some cancellations, and a DUI arrest where drugs were found in his possession.

Adult ADHD isn't a disorder that's often spoken of, and the reality TV personality wanted to help shed light on the fact that there are tons of people — himself included — who struggle with it. Ty worked with Shire pharmaceuticals to establish a scholarship for students with ADHD at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta (located in his hometown). The $10,000 scholarship was announced around the same time Vyvanse debuted.

One of Ty's earliest credits in television was on America's Funniest Home Videos where he was a part of "A Look at Home Improvement Mishaps." In 2003, he was the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Ty's also been the host of several shows in addition to Extreme Makeover, some of which were more successful than others. He was the host of On the Menu, a TNT food-travel program that lasted one season. He then had another food-centric program, American Diner Revival that lasted a bit longer: 22 episodes.

And, of course, Ty was a carpenter on Trading Spaces, with the majority of his appearances occurring in the early 2000s (before his tenure with Extreme Makeover).

Probably the biggest "gaffe" of Ty's professional TV career was the ill-fated show The Revolution which was a morning show that featured a panel of high-profile reality TV show hosts.

The premise of the series was one of self-betterment and attaining a better life by attacking different facets of living: physical fitness, mental health, style, and one's environment. It featured Ty, Tim Gunn, Harley Pasternak, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, and Dr. Tiffanie Davis. The idea was that with their powers combined, they would help people realize better lives for themselves and teach the viewers at home something they could implement in their own situations.

However, the show didn't last very long — something that, according to Tim Gunn in an interview with USA Today, wasn't surprising: "That show almost killed me. To be perfectly honest, it was a matter of too many cooks in the kitchen — too many ABC executives with too many different points of view."

Tim went on to say that when the show was canceled, he was the only one of the show's five hosts who were happy that it was over: "When they announced we were canceled, I was the only of the five hosts who was doing the happy dance around the studio."

Ty has kept busy with a lot of ventures, however. He has a new HGTV show called Ty Breaker, where he tries to convince a family to stay in a home and renovate it instead of moving out to a new location.

Pulling families away from the reno route will be fellow HGTV stars including Alison Victoria, Grace Mitchell, and Sabrina Soto, who are trying to get folks to sign on the dotted line for a new house. Ty said of his new program: "I am so happy to be back in my element on Ty Breaker— helping people to not only love their space but showing them how to live in it. We’ll address challenges that families face every day, but we’ll mix it up with friendly competition from my super-talented friends. You’ll see us having a lot of fun and creating killer designs!" as per HGTV.

In addition to being on TV, he's also launched his own line of outdoor furniture through Sears, and in 2014m he started a community building initiative to help local landmarks get the restoration they need from people who live in the vicinity.

Ty hopes that the grass-roots movement would help teach valuable skills for people and introduce new job opportunities in communities where that was previously thought to be impossible.