Tim McClellan, the Durango resident and furniture designer who competed on HGTV’s “Ellen’s Design Challenge,” seemed to be taking his dismissal from the show in stride.
“There’s always next year,” McClellan said in a Facebook post where he was pictured drinking from a can on the show’s set.
McClellan made it to the final round and won for his furniture designs, but was later disqualified because his piece resembled another designer’s work too closely. The twist came in the show’s season finale.
Chip Wade, an HGTV host, took to Twitter to express his support for McClellan. “An amazing stand-up guy with great original designs – a pleasure to work with,” Wade said.
Viewer comments rolled in Tuesday, with fans of the show debating whether McClellan plagiarized the piece.
“The real question is: Did he know that a similar piece existed?” Mindy Cohen, of Houston, commented on The Durango Herald’s website via Facebook.
McClellan tweeted Monday that the show was “A most blessed and wonderful experience!”
McClellan owns Western Heritage Furniture in Jerome, Ariz., near Flagstaff. He did not respond to messages left on his cellphone Tuesday.
An HGTV spokeswoman also did not return a phone call and email message seeking comment.
In an HGTV promo, Ellen DeGeneres told viewers: “All I can say is the ending is very dramatic.”
McClellan had a big role in the show’s third episode, in which he had to build a table to complement a modern, swooping white chair. He came up with a wooden table divided into two large slabs separated by steel slab.
“Even though I’ve got a tough chair to work with, I’m feeling good,” he said in the episode.
cslothower@durangoherald.com