Photo:Keith Bynum/ Instagram
Keith Bynum/ Instagram
The fiancés have since transformed their neighborhood, brightening the area while mindfully maintaining its affordability. They’ve flipped dozens of homes, with Thomas spearheading the construction and carpentry efforts and Bynum using his creative eye to design interiors. Their friend and costar, realtorShea Hicks-Whitfield, lists their renovated properties and helps find the perfect buyers around the area.
Detroit has paid them back in kind.
The couple — who have been together for 10 years andengaged for five— moved to Michigan after learning of widespread revitalization efforts and found something even better: a community that welcomed them for who they are.
Bynum was specifically searching for the kind of acceptance and community he didn’t have back home in Texas, where he tells PEOPLE he’d endured years of homophobia in his personal and professional life.
“My family went sideways when I came out…I love the South, but family dynamic in the South is different,” Bynum shares. “I was looking to rebuild and [Detroit] was the perfect place to come and do that…It’s the kindest place I’ve ever lived, contrary to its reputation.”
Throughout the years, the co-founders ofNINE Design + Homesshare, the construction industry and the LGBTQ+ community haven’t always felt compatible.
Thomas – who also has a PhD in Physics – didn’t start working in the home development field until he met Bynum, but the native Texan has years of experience working in the construction world that didn’t always accept him.
“That was the number one thing I said when I left there,” Bynum recalls. “I was like, ‘One day I’m going to have a place and it will not matter. It will not matter what you are or who you are, nobody is going to feel like crap. That’s not fair.’”
Bynum has realized that dream in front of a national audience, and he and Thomas are using their platform to continue breaking down barriers.
“I think anybody that takes a step into a world that maybe stereotypically doesn’t belong to them, there’s going to be some eyebrows raised. There’s going to be some attention,” Bynum tells PEOPLE. “But I think the key to what we’ve tried to do is make sure that it’s for all the right reasons. It’s all the positive elements that we can get across. We tried to do our best in making sure that what we are conveying on the show is as authentic as we can be.”
Evan Thomas and Keith Bynum.Keith Bynum/ Instagram
With a few seasons ofBargain Blockunder their belt, Bynum and Thomas have become local celebrities in Detroit. The team of two says they’re often recognized around the neighborhood, receiving random hugs from neighbors, encouraging thumbs up and enthusiastic car honks. “There’s just been a lot of support. It’s been amazing,” says Bynum. “We’ve felt a lot of love.”
“You wouldn’t really go up to another person and tell them how they need to live. That’s not really something that is a Detroit thing,” Thomas explains.
On the latest installment ofBargain Block, the pair are leaning into authenticity more than ever before, especially in their representation of the city.
“Detroit really plays a much bigger character in this season,” Bynum notes. “We get to dive in more to Detroit and its amazing art and its music and it’s food — all the things that make Detroit so cool.”
source: people.com
