Leslie Segrete ( ; born February 28, 1975) is an American

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

, and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

personality. She is best known for her work on the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

show '' While You Were Out'', which concluded a four-year run in 2006. She also appeared as a designer on ''

Trading Spaces ''Trading Spaces'' is an hour-long American television reality program that originally aired from 2000 to 2008 on the cable channels TLC and Discovery Home. The format of the show was based on the BBC TV series '' Changing Rooms''. The first ...

'' and '' Ugliest House on the Block''. She currently co-hosts '' The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show'' with Tom Kraeutler. In 2014, she joined the television show '' Hotel Impossible'' as a designer.

Biography

Segrete was born in Bethpage, New York.Leslie Segrete at the Internet Movie Database.
Accessed April 29, 2011. She grew up interested in working with her hands, as her father was an architect and her mother a sewer and crafter.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, November 4, 2003. Accessed April 29, 2011. She studied set design at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

and graduated with a degree from the French Culinary Institute."Ripping Out and Remodeling; for Her, a Tool Belt’s Not a Prop".
The New York Times, December 23, 2007. Accessed April 29, 2011. She began her career as a stagehand and food arranger for ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' and as art designer for the ''Ricki Lake Show''."'Ugliest House' has Leslie Segrete pretty excited."
New York Daily News, January 3, 2008. Accessed April 29, 2011. She was the head set designer for the Oxygen Network when she joined the cast of ''While You Were Out'' after hearing from a friend that TLC was looking for a female carpenter to "fill in" on the show.

Current projects

Segrete currently writes monthly columns for two magazines, '' do!'' and '' House Beautiful.'' She also co-hosts (with Tom Kraeutler) a syndicated call-in

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

show on home improvement called '' The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show'' which, in 2013, was broadcast on 300 stations nationwide. In September 2008, Segrete hosted ''Going Green Long Island'', a PBS special about anti-global warming efforts on her native

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, airing on WLIW Channel 21. Most recently, Segrete is co-host of the A&E show ''$100 Makeover'', where she showcases her design expertise. Segrete joined the cast of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

's '' Hotel Impossible'' for its fourth season in 2014, serving as one of the program's designers.

References

External links

Official site

Bio page on The Money Pit site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Segrete, Leslie Living people American interior designers People from Long Island Hofstra University alumni 1975 births American talk radio hosts American women radio hosts American tailors American women interior designers 21st-century American women