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10 Things to Know About Jessie and Tina Rodriguez from Vintage Flip
HGTV's newest power couple spills all their renovation secrets. (Plus: Their wish-list BFFs, and what Tina always has in her purse.)
Jessie and Tina Rodriguez, HGTV’s newest husband-and-wife tag team, have a serious commitment to finding beauty within neglected vintage homes in Southern California. We first saw the Vintage Flip couple appear on an episode of Flip or Flop, where Jessie and Tarek partnered on a deal for a craftsman home in Santa Ana, California, and the two didn’t exactly see eye to eye.
“When Tarek asked me to be on the show, I was very excited,” Jessie said. “It was fun to see what he and Christina were doing daily. We had fun with me wanting to save the stuff and him wanting to do a more traditional remodel.”
Jessie and Tina’s dedication to saving and restoring vintage homes resonated and eventually led to the conception of Vintage Flip, their first real on-camera experience.
“I get asked all of the time if filming is hard,” Tina said. “The honest answer is, yes! There are times when Jessie and I do not agree on a design and it becomes awkward with people around. We are both so passionate that it is hard to not voice what we want for these homes. So we do it and just have to ignore the cameras!”
What else goes on behind the scenes in the lives of this Claremont couple running a reno business, filming a show and raising two kids? Here are 10 more things you should know about Jessie and Tina.
They met during their freshman year in college while rushing Greek life.
Jessie: My fraternity made all the new recruits walk the sorority girls from their nightly events to their cars. A few weeks later I saw her at another event, and when they announced her, I screamed so loud and obnoxiously. I wanted everyone there to know I was interested in her, and it worked. I asked her out, and we dated all through undergraduate and graduate school, then I asked her to marry me.
Tina: We made eye contact, and that was that! (But it did take him one whole month to call me.) I still cannot believe we are only 33 and have been together almost half of our lives.
Jessie studied up for their wedding in the Catholic Church.
Jessie: I was madly in love with her from the beginning, so there was no question in my mind I wanted to marry her. She was a devout Catholic, and I was only baptized Catholic, so I decided to go to the adult Catechism classes so that we could get married in the church because it was so important to her.
Tina was a marriage and family therapist before she started designing homes.
Tina: I was in private practice before I took a leave of absence to work with Jess. This is a job I can see myself going back to after my kids are in college. I loved this job! Meeting so many types of people and them trusting me with things they had never told a soul was so special to me.
They go on two date nights every week.
Jessie: Tina’s grandmother told us to make sure we always make each other No. 1, even if we have kids, that making time for each other will make us better in all parts of our marriage and as parents. So we have taken that advice seriously and make sure we make time for each other.
Tina: This is so important to us because we can actually talk, complete a sentence and maybe even have time to give a compliment or two!
Jessie went to school for architecture before getting into the mortgage and real estate industries.
Jessie: My dream was to become an architect. Life took me the long way around, but it seems I got to my dream. I may not have the technical education of an architect nor know how to draw plans, but now I design based on my vision and the architect puts my thoughts on paper. I am almost to my ultimate dream of becoming a home builder. I want to create communities and neighborhoods.
Tina had (short-lived) Hollywood-sized aspirations as a child.
Tina: I had thought I could be an actress at the age of 11 until I realized I was horrible. My parents took me on countless auditions. I never got a single gig!
They have always lived together in — and they really REALLY love — Claremont, California.
Jessie: It’s one of the few cities in SoCal where you can walk to restaurants, bars and shops. The buildings are older and have such unique architecture. When people think of California, they don’t think of a city like we have. I could not imagine living anywhere else.
Tina: Claremont is such a special city. It reminds me of a city that would be on the East Coast. There are so many trees and older buildings. Living in California, this is an anomaly!
Tina always has candy in her purse.
Tina: I have found it to be a great secret weapon. Every day is about surviving as a mom, and I feel like the odds are in my favor with candy.
Their guest spot on Flip or Flop didn’t go as smoothly as it may have looked.
Tina: I had just had my youngest son, Mason, and basically filmed that sleeping with my eyes open. I remember trying to squeeze in my pre-pregnancy black pants for filming, ripped them, but was too tired to change. I FILMED WITH RIPPED PANTS AND DID NOT CARE. Looking back that was probably a bad decision.
Jessie REALLY wants to be friends with these two celebrities.
Jessie: Justin Timberlake and Mark Wahlberg are on my BFF list. They seem like such down-to-earth and cool guys, and they both are big golfers. I have been telling Tina for years, “When I make it big someday, I will be friends with Mark and JT.” She laughs at me, but in a very loving way.
