Ty Pennington, known for his boisterous TV personality on the hit show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, is moving on from sledge hammers and megaphones to a new daytime show for women, called “The Revolution.” The show is about helping women deal with an array of issues in their life, from health and fitness to the home environment – Ty’s speciality. He says it’s important to try something new and fresh in your home to get out of a rut, whether it’s buying new pillows or trying a new paint color. Changing little things in your environment can put you in a better mood and ultimately, enrich your life for the better.
While promoting the new show, Ty was asked about his battle with ADHD, and how it’s affected his own confidence, relationship, and overall way of life:
“My mom was studying to be a child psychologist and she went to my elementary school to test the worst kid they had. They were like, “Mrs. Pennington, you really don’t want to know who that is.” They let her observe me through a window and within 20 minutes I stripped naked, wore my desk around and swung on the blinds. I was just a complete distraction to all the other students.
Back then, they didn’t even know what to call it. They put me on antihistamines to try and make me drowsy. They tried everything. It certainly affected my confidence and my belief in myself. When everyone’s afraid you’re going to hurt yourself from just mowing the lawn, you start to believe them. Once I figured out I was pretty decent at art and people were interested in hiring me, I realized I had a skill besides injuring myself.
What’s kind of funny is that I ended up working with power tools to pay my way through art school and still have all my digits.”
Pennington clarified that ADHD is more than just about being hyper:
“Hyperactivity is just one aspect of ADHD. There’s distractibility and there’s impulsivity. I was the type of kid who would jump off a building — not only would I get a rush from it, people might laugh and think it was cool. I’m that kid and you don’t really grow out of it.”
When asked if ADHD has affected his relationships:
“Well, I would imagine, yeah! I think, absolutely, it affects so much. It affects the way you communicate. Not only that, but if you can’t pay attention to someone who’s trying to tell you something and then you forget that they even said it, they think that you may not even care. Imagine what that’s like with not only your relationships at home, but at work.”
Tune in to “The Revolution” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ABC.Just don’t expect to see him with a megaphone!
