David Bromstad’s been subject to some wild rumors since he achieved HGTV stardom. On one hand, there are some aspects of Bromstad’s life that seem almost too serendipitous to be believable. His childhood ambition to work for Disney was the first step on a career path that led him to TV fame. After Bromstad majored in illustration at the Ringling College of Art & Design, he went on to create artistic installations for Disney theme parks. Unfortunately, the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks caused him to lose his job. Bromstad stumbled into design to avoid bankruptcy, parlaying his whimsical style into designing kids’ rooms. As a lark, a friend encouraged him to try out for HGTV’s “Design Star.” Bromstad was not only cast — he won the competition. “I’m completely shocked and surprised that I won the challenge over all these amazing designers and architects,” Bromstad recalled to Entertainment Weekly six years after his win.

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Despite how unbelievable some of the real facts of his life are, Bromstad still faces many rumors surrounding his family, his love life, and his off-camera habits. In many ways, it’s surprising this conjecture endures since Bromstad’s on-camera persona is super candid. “I’m not an actor, so whatever you see on TV is pretty much how I am,” Bromstad explained to Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. Let’s take a deeper dive and separate the truth from the fiction.

David Bromstad’s HGTV career has been going strong since 2006. Over time, audiences have witnessed the evolution of his personal style. Bromstad’s changing look may be part of the reason for the internet rumor that Bromstad has a twin brother. In 2019, Bromstad posted ten-year challenge photos on Instagram, highlighting the ways he’d changed over the decade. Between the addition of facial hair and multiple tattoos, it’s conceivable that one might think the pics represent two different people. After all, his fellow HGTV stars, “Property Brothers” Drew and Jonathan Scott, are actual twins, so why not David?

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However, this rumor has been debunked. While he doesn’t have a twin, Bromstad does have three siblings. He has two older sisters, Dynelle Helgeson and Dyonne Danielson, and an older brother, Dean Bromstad. However, Dean and David definitely aren’t twins, as some individuals have claimed. In addition, the two brothers don’t look that much alike, whether it’s in vintage pics from their childhood or more recent photos. While a silly selfie from 2015 demonstrates that the brothers do make similar funny faces, the family member Dean is most closely twinning with is their dad, Richard Bromstad. Dean even has blue eyes like Richard. In contrast, David seems to take after his mom’s side of the family. He and Diane Bromstad both share the same dark hair and brown eyes.

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After his victory on “Design Star,” David Bromstad continued his HGTV stardom with shows of his own, like “Color Splash” and “My Lottery Dream Home.” There’s a definite correlation between “Color Splash” and Bromstad. His enthusiasm for color is evident in both his design projects and in Bromstad’s fun, eccentric personal style. That being said, some people might jump to the conclusion that “My Lottery Dream Home” indicates Bromstad is a fan of playing the lottery.

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However, any connections between Bromstad and the lottery are rumors since he doesn’t play the lotto. “I won ‘Design Star’ and that was my lottery. I’m generally not a very lucky person,” Bromstad explained to The Wrap. “It’s hard for me to spend $30 on a scratcher, or $20, or even $10 on a few scratchers.” Instead, the HGTV star prefers to put his money into favored hobbies and other enduring purchases, like tattoos.

If anything, the gamble for Bromstad was hosting “My Lottery Dream Home.” The show encountered some casting challenges in the early days, and it took a while to secure a fan base. In addition, Bromstad’s participation was a bit of a leap. “I was still in my contract with HGTV and design shows had just died,” Bromstad informed The List. When the network offered him the hosting job, he accepted to fill his schedule. “I was like, ‘Sure, I have literally nothing else to do,'” Bromstad recalled. The show’s success could be seen as another way he won the lottery. 

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The relationship between David Bromstad and his former partner, Jeffrey Glasko, involved the HGTV star’s TV career, as well as his personal life. Bromstad and Glasko got together in 2004 before Bromstad’s fame began. During their relationship, Glasko also made major career changes, pivoting from a role in law enforcement to becoming Chief Operating Officer of David Bromstad LLC.

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Glasko and Bromstad split in 2015. To make matters worse, Glasko made damaging claims and sued his ex. “On or about 2010, [Da­vid] began using funds shared with [Jeffrey] to pay for illicit drugs and prostitutes resulting in a loss of trust and confidence,” Glasko alleged in legal documents (via In Touch). Bromstad asserted the claims were false. Fortunately for the HGTV star, the presiding judge didn’t buy into the rumors either, and the case was tossed out of court.

Intriguingly, Glasko’s LinkedIn profile has conflicting information about whether he’s still involved with Bromstad’s company. While his profile and list of experience on the platform continue to tout his COO role, an attached 2017 resume indicates Glasko left Bromstad’s company in 2015, transitioning into a real estate role. To further muddy the situation, a Facebook poster named Jeffrey Glasko, who may or may not be his former partner, reposted Bromstad’s 2020 birthday post to his own timeline, proclaiming, “Every year I hope and pray you get everything you deserve. And SB you deserve more than you could ever imagine.” It’s hard to tell facts from fiction in this situation, but it seems the judge didn’t find any legal base for Glasko’s wild claims.

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After all the trauma of his split with Jeffrey Glasko, David Bromstad has mostly kept his love life private. In 2019, he mentioned his relationship status when talking about his future plans. “I would love to have kids myself, but I need a boyfriend first,” Bromstad informed The Minnesota Star Tribune. “Being single has served its purpose. I’m ready to settle down.” In February 2025, internet rumors circulated that Bromstad was married to Nicolas Martin. There’s no evidence to support this assertion, and videos alluding to photos of Bromstad and his supposed significant other didn’t show any of the purported pics, weakening these claims. 

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It’s possible the gossip evolved from a January 2025 HGTV Instagram post of Bromstad captioned “New year, new husband.” However, listeners to the accompanying video clip will note that Bromstad sounds like he’s still looking for love. “I don’t need a husband; I simply just want one,” Bromstad proclaims in the post. “Someone who has a private jet would be ideal.”

Even so, the HGTV star has also gushed about the benefits of being single. In 2021, Bromstad talked about purchasing a home by himself, and he was all about the freedom this opportunity provided. “This is the first time in my entire life that I’ll be able to flex my own creative muscles,” Bromstad declared to Realtor.com. “With all my other houses, I had a partner, so there was always a second opinion. Now, I have no second opinion.”

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Some of David Bromstad’s most notable features are his tattoos, and the HGTV star definitely wouldn’t look the same without them. Bromstad has steadily added to his body art over the years, to the chagrin of some viewers. “[What] has David Bromstad done to his body,” wrote one poster on DC Urban Moms and Dads. “The tattoos make me think he isn’t ok in the head.”

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Bromstad himself may have contributed to the idea of a questionable relationship with tattoos. In a 2019 Instagram post, he used the phrase “my tattoo addiction.” Others picked up this wording and disseminated it on social media. However, Bromstad’s behavior indicates that he’s using this word in an informal, nonclinical way to express his love of body art.

Bromstad has set clear boundaries, putting time and thought into his tattoos. “I don’t really count by tattoo number, I prefer to go by percentage of my body covered, and I’m at, I would say 35%,” the HGTV star informed Watermark Online in October 2024. In an interview with Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co., Bromstad noted that his goal was 40% tattoo coverage. This approach allows Bromstad to enhance existing designs, like his “limited edition” tattoo, which developed an elaborate background design around the text. In addition, Bromstad chooses meaningful tattoos that reflect important facets of his life, like pride and his love of Disney and Mickey Mouse.

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