‘Celebrity IOU’ Viewers Claim the Show Is ‘Fake’ After Noticing This in Rob Lowe Episode

Alyssa Norwin February 6, 2025, 10:24 am

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Rob Lowe with his assistant Carol on Celebrity IOU — HGTV

The Season 9 premiere of Celebrity IOU definitely had fans talking. The episode featured Rob Lowe teaming up with Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott to renovate the home of his longtime friend and assistant, Carol, but seeing the footage had some viewers convinced that the premise of the show is “fake.”

“Firstly, the whole premise of this show is that it is a surprise. The person doesn’t know they have been chosen and the brothers and celebrity showing up is a big surprise. Well, when they were opening all her cabinets and drawers they were all cleaned out already,” one person in the HGTV Reddit forum wrote.

Several others chimed in to agree. “I had the exact same reaction to the empty kitchen – production really missed the boat on that! It was very clear that every drawer and cabinet had been pre emptied!” another person wrote, while someone else added, “I came here to see if anyone else noticed the empty drawers and cabinets too! #1 reason I now know it’s all fake. I don’t know anyone who has even one empty drawer.”

Celebrity IOU features celebrities saying thanks to a loved one by surprising them with a home renovation, but fans are not so sure about the “surprise” aspect after seeing this new episode. “Her house was suspiciously spotless [when they showed up],” another viewer wrote. Someone else said, “It’s so incredibly fake and phony. All of it!”

Rob Lowe on Celebrity IOU with Drew and Jonathan Scott

HGTV

Lowe was heavily involved in the renovation for Carol and made sure to give the Scott brothers his input about the renovation. In fact, there was even a slight disagreement at one point when Jonathan asked whether a blanket on the sofa should be straight or gathered.

“We’re not doing any of that,” Lowe told him. “We’re going to fold it, and we’re going to place it on top. There’s no tucking like it’s a bed!” Drew jumped in and jokingly added, “It’s not called a tuck [blanket], Jonathan! It’s called a throw!”