Discovery+’s ‘Design Star: Next Gen’ Will Satisfy Those ‘Great British Baking Show’ Cravings

Design Star: Next Gen is the first new show in a while that I’ve gotten stupidly hyped for. The Discovery+ show might seem like nothing more than a modern reboot of an HGTV classic, but it’s become my favorite mid-week TV treat. Eight interior designers are tasked with dreaming up rooms that not only meet an exacting brief, but also encapsulate their own design aesthetic. Add a torturous social media component and you’ve got one of the most refreshingly fun reality competition shows in a spell.

Design Star: Next Gen somehow takes the best of classic reality TV and marries it to 2021. I’m obsessed and need everyone else watching this show with me on Wednesdays stat!

Design Star: Next Gen is inspired by HGTV Design Star, asking eight aspiring design stars — Tony Allgeier, Arianna Danielson, Chris Goddard, Carmeon Hamilton, Eli Hariton, Peti Lau, Marisa Molinaro, and Justin Q. Williams — to impress some of the biggest names in home design. Each contestant is given their own cabin-like space to remodel according to the week’s challenges. (The whole production was filmed in a closed, outdoor set that reminds one of the Bake-Off Bubble created for last year’s season of The Great British Baking Show.) However, there’s an added wrinkle to this competition. In addition to being fabulously innovative designers and camera-ready personalities, Design Star: Next Gen asks the competitors to nail social media. It adds a layer of stress to an already frenzied situation.

However the focus of the show isn’t social media, but good old fashioned reality TV personalities. Everyone has a specific viewpoint that’s guaranteed to either win you over or make you cringe. (No, I don’t want an office whiteboard that converts to a Studio 54 dancefloor, Peti, but I love you, nonetheless.) And everyone is…likable? Sweet Tony moonlights as Drag Queen Alora Chateau. Chris, the oldest contestant, is a mix of self-deprecating cracks and immense Southern charm. Sophisticated and cool Carmeon is exactly who I want to be when I grow up. It’s actually hard to see someone go because so far I want them all to win!

And what is the prize of Design Star: Next Gen? A cash prize of $50,000 cash and a “shot at their own show.” So $50,000 and a general meeting with the head of Discovery+. It’s almost so refreshingly low stakes that I feel like I’m watching a show from 2002!

Another charming throwback element? A judge who really can destroy a contestant’s hopes with one perfectly shady sentence. I’m not talking about sunny host Allison Holker Boss, Lauren Makk, or the revolving door of guest hosts, but Jonathan Adler. The famous interior designer is one of the best reality TV judges I’ve encountered in years. He brings with him name brand recognition, on-point advice, and fabulous bon mots.

New episodes of Design Star: Next Gen drop on Discovery+ every Wednesday and it’s become my mid-week post-work pick-me-up. It is exactly the kind of show that gets me out of my own brain and excited to see what the designers come up with. Design Star: Next Gen is the one Discovery+ original I’m begging you all to watch along with me!

Where to stream Design Star: Next Gen