Thankfully, producers don’t aim to do much manipulating on this show. All of the individuals who appear on the house hunting series are actual lottery winners, an element that nearly sunk the entire project before it had a chance to air.

TV exec Mike Krupat claimed his team had a hell of a time trying to recruit people in the beginning due to the unique nature of the program. "Lottery winners don't really need the exposure and they don't need the money to participate," he explained to Mediaweek in 2017. "We reached out to close to 1,000 lottery winners." 

Host David Bromstad also remembers how difficult the early days of the series were. "It took a year for each of the first two episodes just to cast," he recalled to The Wrap in 2018. "So it was a lot of being on hold — 'Oooh, we have one! Oops, sorry, we don’t.'"

Season 1 ultimately changed a lot of skeptic’s minds. "Once other winners saw the show and how it was about wish fulfillment and making people's dreams become a reality, people were more willing to take part," Mike shared.