Celebrity House Contractor of HGTV 'Love It or List It'

Eric Eremita | Biography

Founder of Clothing Brand, Thirteen

• By Anil Pradhan
• Update : January 19, 2022

---

Eric Eremita is a famous American reality TV star and professional contractor. He is best known among reality series fans from his appearance on Love It or List It (2014-2019).

Who is Eric Eremita?

Eric Eremita is a New York City-based general contractor born in Staten Island, New York, on 28 May 1968. 

Besides being a contractor, he is a reality TV personality, home designer, producer, director, and entrepreneur. He gained global fame as one of the main casts of the HGTV home renovation series Love It or List It. Furthermore, he is the founder and owner of the clothing line, Thirteen. He launched the brand in 2020, and he is seen regularly endorsing Thirteen on his Instagram handle @ericeremita. 

Read Also - Mike Glover - Green Beret, FieldCraft Survival

HGTV

Eremita began his reality TV journey as a contestant on the HGTV reality series Brother Vs. Brother Season 2 in 2014. He competed in the series as a contractor. Although he did not come out as a show winner, he was notably admired by the channel producers. In 2014, after completing Brother Vs. Brother, HGTV signed Eric for their home designing and renovating series Love It or List It.

Love It or List It is a reality television show where homeowners who are dissatisfied with their current residences consult an interior designer and a real estate agent, who give their homes a makeover while also hunting for other places.

He was offered the position of General Contractor in the show. The show has two celebrity hosts, Hilary Farr and David Visentin. Hilary is a home designer who designs clients' houses and convinces them to Love It. On the other hand, David is a real estate agent who persuades clients to sell their renovated house for a certain price. In the show, Eremita appeared as a member of Team Love It supporting Hilary Farr. He starred on the show from 2014 to 2019. During this period, he became part of around 70 episodes.

Eric previously stated that the most difficult aspect of working on Love It or List It was having to leave his three kids and wife for a long time. That's why, a few years ago, he shut down his businesses, Town & Country Design and Luxeric Design, to devote his full attention to HGTV.

However, Eremita left the show to focus on his upcoming TV projects similar to Love It or List It. According to a September 2020 report on Deadline, the project is named Homeboys. With this show, Eric seeks to help his clients achieve their dream homes.

'Homeboys'

The show follows two men (Eremita and his friend and his “right-hand man” Conrad Layton) as they remodel and renovate homes in the tri-state area including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The area is close to where the Eremita currently resides.

According to Italia Living, “The goal and vision of HOMEBOYS is to turn your current house into a true “Dream Home”. It’s more than just the walls that surround you. It’s cultural unity, love, giving back, embracing and bettering the surroundings of where you live–that is the movement and quest of HOMEBOYS.”

Eremita is also very proud of his project. “It’s showing unity and positivity. We’re going to do some great renovations and make you laugh. There’s no doom and gloom,” he said in an August 2020 interaction with Forbes.

Family Bio

The celebrity contractor married his wife Joanne Ligotti Eremita on 13 February 2000. The pair have not shared the details of their first meeting in the media. Eremita's wife Joanne is a stay-at-home mother. She proclaims herself as the 'domestic engineer' of the house, and she has labeled their house as 'Eremita's headquarters.' 

Moreover, on their 21 st marriage anniversary, Joanne captioned her Instagram post,

To my #FirstAndOnlyAmore Happy 21st Anniversary to us. The magic behind #13. I love you, & I love what we have created thanks to the good Lord. May God always guide us forever on life's crazy journey. #iLoveYou Eric!!

They are parents to three teenage kids. They have a daughter Mia 19 years old, and two sons, Eric Jr., 17 years in age, and Evan, 14 in age. On the occasion of Mia's 19th birthday, Eric shared that she was studying broadcasting, and it was only a matter of time before she would become a sportscaster on TV sports channels like ESPN and eSports.

Furthermore, in an interview with italianliving, Eremita explained that Joanne and his children were the top priority of his life. He also mentioned that they love to travel as a family and visit their ancestral Italy. 

My wife and children are my #1 priority! I travel a lot for work so when I’m home I love spending as much time with them. My wife Joanne is my BEST FRIEND, and that to me is one of the major keys to “our” success as a loving family....besides traveling for work, we love to travel as a family. Although the kids would love to go to Walt Disney Word & Universal Studios every year (Yes we love it also). We love to go on cruises and traveling to Europe is at the top of our list. We love every part and every region of Italy (and not because were Italian). Florence, Venice, Capri (my favorite) just to name a few–but Sicily will forever be in our hearts.

Contracted with Covid-19 

In 2020, Eremita was contracted to Covid-19. He was in a New York hospital for three weeks, two of which she spent on a ventilator. 

He had no underlying illnesses, but he developed a high fever, which progressed to dizziness and a loss of concentration. Thankfully, Eremita successfully beat the infectious disease in May 2020.

He even needed therapy to re-learn how to walk as the doctors told him he would find it difficult to walk. “They told me I would have a hard time walking again, but I proved them wrong. And I proved the whole situation wrong. The hospital actually calls me the miracle,” Eremita said in an August 2020 interview with Forbes.