Paige Davis: The Perkiest Host on TV

[Meredith Quill]

Your Paige Topic!

[Ananayel]

She's back!

This is great, since it just wouldn't be the same without her.

[Kemper]

Any news on her personally?  She looks great in that picture.  I think she was married...?

[AZChristian]

Last I heard, she was still married to Patrick Page, whom she married on "A Wedding Story" on TLC.  Yes, if she took his last name, she'd be Paige Page.

[SVNBob]

On 7/23/2017 at 4:44 PM, AZChristian said:

Yes, if she took his last name, she'd be Paige Page.

Actually, Paige is her middle name.  Her first name is Mindy.  So she's legally Mindy Paige Davis Page, or MPDP as she was referred to back on TWoP.  (And I personally pronounce it for the lols as Mippy-Dippy.)

Edited July 25, 2017 by SVNBob

[theschnauzers]

Paige is/was the "heart" of Trading Spaces, so I thought if TLC was serious about this revival, I knew they would have to sign her back. The showrunners can always get new designers and carpenters (which may well be the case as many of those folks have moved on career-wise), but they definitely had to get Paige back.

[Willowsmom]

The show went on without her  for some time. Any host would do,

[starri]

On 7/21/2017 at 1:06 PM, Ananayel said:

She's back!

I've been using that GIF a lot recently.

[FormerMod-a1]

6 hours ago, Willowsmom said:

The show went on without her  for some time. Any host would do,

The show did go on without her, but I was surprised at how much less I liked it.  I liked her, so I thought the same thing, but my enjoyment did go down and I watched less frequently.  So I'm glad she's back,

[threebluestars]

I felt the same way about House Hunters losing Suzanne Whang as host. Somehow she made the show a lot more enjoyable to watch even though you could argue a host wasn't necessary.

[starri]

I mean, the fact that when the show got sold to a new production company, the first thing that happened was her rehiring, that's gotta mean she's part of the appeal.

I mean, she was honestly to me, at least.

[txvoodoo]

20 hours ago, Willowsmom said:

The show went on without her  for some time. Any host would do,

Not for very long.

[Maverick]

The show was already in decline when they booted Paige and went hostless.   The Family Edition expansion hurt the quality of the mothership, which was already suffering from overexposure.  They were cranking out too many episodes (and trying to artificially create their next "Crying Pam" moment) to try to cash in on the success.  I think dropping Paige was a cost-cutting measure as the ratings began to contract.  The death kneel was when they started introducing lame gimmicks like the blind date episode in a desperate bid to keep the show going.  By the time it went off the air it was almost a relief.  Since the show has been off the air for close to a decade with only sporadic reruns at best, I think a reboot that emulates the early years (which it sounds like they're trying to do with bringing back Paige) could be successful.  

[Asp Burger]

Everything Maverick said.

I don't have anything against Mippy-Dippy, but I didn't think she was crucial or she made the show. I think it benefited from having a host to narrate, bridge segments, conduct debriefings with the designers, and lead people in to look at the finished rooms, but a lot of people could have done as well as she did with the job. In fact, beyond the bare necessities I just named, I could have done with less of her cutesy shtick while the work was being done, like her dinner-theater portrayals of "panicking because time is running short and the [whatever] hasn't even been sanded."  

I personally preferred Alex...not that I thought she was irreplaceable either.  

MPDP was most interesting when she was genuinely exasperated or annoyed and wasn't suppressing it. She appeared to have zero use for Kia, and there were times when she would say cutting things to Ty, Hildi, or Doug as well. Or the occasional homeowner.  

[Jaded]

I was glad when Paige was booted or left the first time. Her attitude had changed and she was driving me crazy. When she came back later on she wasn't as annoying anymore. So I hope the second time around Paige comes back for her third go at hosting TS.

[PradaKitty]

I far preferred the first year of Trading Spaces - without Paige Davis.  She is a stage trained actress and has never learned to tone things down for the small screen.

[Maharincess]

@PradaKitty, I preferred season one too. I really liked Alex McCleod, Alex was much less perky and I liked that, Paige was just too much.  Plus I thought Alex was gorgeous, she was definitely on the top of my "if I swung that way" list. 

[PradaKitty]

Yep, Maharincess, I think they made a bad move when they hired Paige the camera hog.  The drama should be about the decorating, not the host!  Alex was really pretty. Paige,,, not so much.

[Wings]

I liked Paige a lot. I enjoyed the entire thing, horrors and all.  If I would have ever agreed to be on it (would not have happened) no one but Vern would be allowed to touch my house. 

I am hoping the new incarnation will have a bigger budget and good design.  I cannot see this working for under 5k per room and survive more than one season. Things are different now.  

[readster]

I had no problem with Paige, because she was fun. Alex was professional, but really when I look at both Alex and Paige. Paige wins out by several reasons from stage presence to being energetic. Alex was just a plain host, that had been scene time and time on shows like that back in the early 2000s. Did she go overboard at times? Oh yes, but when we didn't see her for the last couple of seasons, it just didn't feel right. 

[thosme]

Watching the reunion, I  hated all of Paige's plastic surgery until I realized I was watching  the host.

[Wings]

Her new hair do is not attractive.  She is beautiful so you would think she would look good in any style but not the case.  I didn't like her old cut on some of the old seasons either.  It was cute at first but it morphed into an exaggeration of itself with those winged sides. 

[chitowngirl]

Her hair needs more volume. Just not straightening would help a lot. That stick straight hair parted down the middle is rarely flattering on anyone. The bangs broke it up at least. That said, she looks good!

[Mountainair]

I thought she looked good as well. I was always envious of her original run body. I don't mind the cut of her hair now but I think the color is too dark. 

[amitville]

I thought Paige looked wonderful current yet trendy and still has her million dollar smile

[JocelynCavanaugh]

Paige is a staple of classic TS but I just never liked her and I still don't. I'm not a fan of cutesy, elfin types with unflattering hair. She's not horrible or anything but her schtick is just way too much for my taste. It also makes me uncomfortable how she always holds the homeowners' hands and arms and clings to them like they're intimate relatives. If I were on the show (LOL never) I would have to ask her not to touch me.

Tanya Memme on Sell This House! did a slightly better job, IMO, at being cartoonish and bridging the segments without making me roll my eyes as much. She also seemed to learn a little about home improvement as the show went along, rather than being a wide-eyed baby duckling at every new project. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by JocelynCavanaugh

[FormerMod-a1]

22 hours ago, Jaded said:

I had become so sick of Paige during the first run of this show that by the time they booted her as host I was perfectly fine with TS being hostless. When they brought her back for the last season of that run I guess to try and boost ratings it didn't work. Paige was borderline annoying during the first season of this reboot and now with this 2nd season she's worse in some ways then she was originally years ago. Especially the way she's been reassuring and seeming giving pep-talks to Hildi about how good her rooms have been. 🤨

20 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I never liked Paige.    I actually really liked Alex McLeod, the woman that was the first season host, and was ticked when they booted her and replaced her with Paige.   

13 hours ago, DVDFreaker said:

I never liked McLeod, I thought she was a very boring host, at least Paige has lots of energy

10 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I was a bigger fan of Alex too. I think Paige has too much forced perkiness. But she was hired in the era of perky perkiness when morning newscasters were taking tons of adderall and chewing nicotine gum just to force that perkiness.

During the original run, I remember getting a little tired of Paige so I was looking forward to the hostless episodes.  However, I was surprised to find I felt like something was missing with the hostless eps and missed Paige so I was glad when she came back.  This time around she isn't bothering me at all.  Not sure why.  That said, I also really liked Alex, too.

[absolutelyido]

Someone needs to tell Paige that she's wearing a microphone so doesn't need to shout all the time.

[Mabinogia]

Was she originally a stage performer? Because she's constantly playing to the cheap seats which, on TV, equals, loud, obnoxious and cartoonish. I constantly want to tell her to use her inside voice. 

Her perky doesn't seem natural. She seems more like a circus barker to me. She's pushy and annoying and way too over the top. She takes the used car salesman approach to hosting. 

[SVNBob]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

Was she originally a stage performer?

Yes she was.  As is her husband, which is how I believe they met.  They were both in the same production of the stage musical of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  He played Lumiere, the candelabra.  And she was the feather-duster he mainly flirted with.

(He also played Scar in The Lion King musical, which led to a great joke I heard about.  There's a scene in The Lion King where Scar has Zazu entertain him by singing songs.  On at least one occasion, the performer for Zazu sang "Be Our Guest" as a nod to Page's previous role.)

[RedbirdNelly]

I don't hate Page but I do find her annoying at times. If I had my wish she would (a) dial it back a bit; and (b) drop fake worries about time etc. I wish the producers would make it more documentary like and just have her be a stand in for the audience at home by giving us honest reactions to things.