Yeah - the planet Awesome! Boo-ya!
Regarding the number of Gay couples on HGTV in all of their various shows - easy to answer: Gays are a large market for HGTV.
Not only is HGTV fully aware of it, you have to go online and “register” to get on these shows. My guess is that simply a high percentage of Gay couples go online and register and thus are selected more often.
I personally know of 5 Gay couples who have tried to get on the various shows - thus I have heard what you need to do to be selected. It is really a very complicated process and takes some serious commitment. And it seems everyone wants Candace Olson to re-do their rooms - good luck with that! Seems to be quite the waiting list, and you really have to fork out some cash for that one (although the design, workers and some minor things are free). Plus, often it can take a really long time to finish, so you have to be prepared to live without a kitchen for a few weeks or a month or so.
My guess is that they don’t use many (if at all) illegal alien workers. It would be quite the scandal, and would it be worth it to get that bad press, simply to save a few bucks? Believe me, not all Mexicans are illegal! At least here in Las Vegas, some of the very best landscaping companies have only Mexican workers and all are documented. (I know this, as our school was shopping around for some landscaping companies and checked into the backgrounds - every one that applied was fully legit!). Not that there are no illegal aliens working here - but just because you see a crew of Mexican/Hispanic guys working does not mean they are illegal.