Don Summers and Doris Jolicoeur of Professional Reality will be on HGTV’s Caribbean Life Apr. 27 at 8 p.m. The real estate couple spent three days filming the reality TV show in St. Lucia, a Caribbean island they plan to make their home when they retire.
– Submitted Photo
by Stephen Dafoe
Morinville – Set your PVRs. A well-known real estate couple will be appearing on your TV screen later this month. Don Summers and Doris Jolicoeur of Professional Reality will be on HGTV’s Caribbean Life Apr. 27 at 8 p.m.
The couple recently did three full days of filming in St. Lucia to create the 30-minute program. “It’s tracking our pursuit of a property down in St. Lucia,” Don Summers said of the show’s topic, adding he and Jolicoeur started the process last November on a trip with a fellow realtor. “The show kind of recapitulates some of that. There might be a difference between reality TV and reality. They might not always be the same thing.” Basically it’s us looking at three different homes on the show and pursuing one of them.”
Summers said when the opportunity came to be part of the show he did not need much prodding since he is always happy to return to the island. But the experience of being behind the cameras made the island trip a little different. Though treated like gold by the producer and his staff, the normally reserved Summers found going a little over the top was the order of the day when the cameras were on. “I think I’m generally a pretty laid back and reserved guy, but you made a commitment, you step out of your comfort zone and you see where you end up,” he said. “I have no idea what it’s going to look like on TV but they said they’re very happy with the results.”
Like Summers, his partner Doris Jolicoeur found the TV experience a little different from their professional life. “It was too much work,” Jolicoeur said with a laugh. “I totally respect actors now.” The realtor went on to say she would frequently have to say her lines over again because she would forget to add the phrase “US dollars,” preferring to express real estate prices as 240 or 250 as they do in their day-to-day life.
Wonderful island
Summers and Jolicoeur are both big fans of the island they filmed the show on and are looking to spend even more time there. “It’s a beautiful island,” Summers said. “That’s where we’re looking to retire. It’s a low cost of living and wonderful, wonderful people. They really like people. They’re down-to-earth people.”
Jolicoeur agrees. “Every Friday night they have a thing called a Jump Party,” she said of the community of Gros Islet where they stayed. “They shut the town down and get out these huge speakers. They blare the music and there are people on the side of the street cooking food. Every age is there. You’ll be getting gas and be invited.
Summers and Jolicoeur now have properties on MLS in St. Lucia and will be buying a property themselves to rent out on a short- or long-term basis until they retire there one day. Both realtors said the opportunity is great for investors looking to buy rental property.
