Frank Bielec, who appeared on every episode of Trading Spaces from 2000 to 2008, died at the age of 72 in Houston on Friday, May 15, after suffering a heart attack.
The designer’s costar Vern Yip confirmed his late friend’s death in a tribute via Instagram on Friday.
“Lovely Frank Bielec passed away today from complications following a heart attack. Funny, wise, nice, and talented, he always lent perspective and levity to every situation. Thank you for always being kind to me. I will miss you dearly friend,” Yip, 51, captioned a photo of himself and Bielec.
The Texas native’s other costars Carter Oosterhouse and Ty Pennington also honored him with memorials on social media.
“Lovely Frank Bielec passed away today from complications following a heart attack. I’m so, so saddened. Unbelievably funny, wise, nice, and talented, Frank always lent the right perspective, and needed levity, to every situation. Thank You for always being kind to me. Always. I will miss you dearly friend. The world is darker, and much less colorful today, without you in it,” Oosterhouse, 43, wrote via Instagram.
Pennington, 55, simply wrote via Twitter, “One of the best humans I’ve had the good fortune to call friend. You will be missed Frank.”
Bielec appeared on every episode of the original run of Trading Spaces from 2000 to 2008. The TLC series followed two sets of neighbors as they redecorated one room in each other’s houses in three days using an original budget of $1,000. The teams were paired up with a designer and a carpenter to help them with the task. The show kickstarted the reality show career of Pennington, who later hosted Extreme Makeover: Home Edition from 2003 to 2011.
Trading Spaces returned 10 years later in 2018 for a reboot, which is still airing on the Discovery Channel. Bielec appeared on 43 episodes of the new series as well as the franchise’s spin-offs, Trading Spaces: Family and Trading Spaces: Home Free.
Prior to becoming a designer, Bielec was an elementary school teacher and later a florist — a profession he held for 20 years, according to TMZ.
Bielec is survived by his wife, Judy, their son, Matt, and grandchildren Mason and Ava.