Doug Wilson Trades Up

Although interior designer Doug Wilson is the bad guy of Trading Spaces, he'll don a white hat for his role as host (and de facto grief counselor) of Movin' Up, an in-the-works TLC series in which families revisit their old homes after new owners have redecorated. Is the notoriously touchy character really prepared to get touchy-feely? "I've been in the industry for years, so I've been holding [clients'] hands forever!" he tells TV Guide Online with a laugh. "Trading Spaces was really the only forum where I didn't have to hold hands!

"I'm looking forward to being a host," he adds. "I worked hard for four years [on TLC's flagship program], so it's nice to get the pat on the back and the chance to move on, move up and do other things."

That said, when pressed, Wilson admits that not everything he'll be doing in his new capacity will be all that... well, new. "I'm not going to try and stir the pot too much; I'm an observer who's there [for the reveals] to help the [participants] hopefully feel comfortable enough to voice their true feelings," he insists, then confesses, "On the other hand, I'm not going to say, 'Yes, I'm a big fan of floral prints on every surface in a room!'"

However Machiavellian the mischief-maker's antics turn out to be, the show still promises to deliver high drama. After all, who wouldn't be taken aback to see someone else living in their living room? "The changes the new homeowners made might [involve] something that was dear to the previous owner, that they would never have thought anybody would change, because in their minds, it was the best thing that anybody's ever done in the world," Wilson explains. "So we'll really be diving into the emotional and psychological, as well as [matters of] taste and how we differ so much in America."