Holmes is acknowledged as an extraordinary craftsman and accomplished master builder. His reality TV shows Holmes Inspection, Holmes on Homes, and his latest Holmes Makes It Right air in multiple countries worldwide. His first passion was contracting, and he focused all of his energy towards becoming a master in his industry. In 2010, Reader's Digest named him the second most widely trusted person in Canada. He has received numerous awards for his successful work.

Background

Michael James Holmes was born on August 3, 1963, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Growing up in a blue-collar, working-class family, Holmes described his childhood as "inferior but content" in a modest three-bedroom home with his parents Shirley and Jim. Tired of not having his own space, Holmes took it upon himself to renovate his closet into a bedroom, marking the earliest building project he completed in his life. In a television interview, Holmes credited his father for inspiring him at an early age to dive headfirst into craftsmanship: "In my eyes, he was Superman. I talk about my dad all the time. Sometimes I get the feeling I talk about him too much. But he is the inspiration behind what I do for sure. My mom was my perfect friend, and my dad was my buddy, and they brought me up the right way."

While Holmes described his dad as a "tough guy with a heart of gold," he noted that his mother was "an intelligent woman who was ahead of her time." She taught her children sex education from a very young age when doing so was considered taboo, and wasn't shy about teaching them real issues they would have to deal with in the real world.

Personal Life

At the young age of 19, Mike married his first wife, Alexandra Lorex. After the marriage, he began his career as a full-time contractor and that same year started his first contracting company with 13 employees. At the age of 21, he became the father of a sweet little daughter named Amanda. Later, he started his own renovation company and, due to the extra income they were earning, Mike and his wife decided to have more children. They had a daughter named Sherry and a son named Mike Holmes Jr. After they got old enough, Mike Jr. and Sherry ended up working with Mike's regular work crew on his show Holmes Inspection, while Amanda worked in his office doing administrative duties. Mike was very proud that his children had followed in his footsteps.

After two decades in his career, Mike was the successful owner of two companies. However, the economic recession hit the construction industry and, as expected, did not spare Mike's business. He went bankrupt and even reached a point where he considered selling his business, feeling like a burden on his family. This financial stress caused his marriage to crumble and, at the age of 30, Mike was forced to sell his car and was eventually separated from his wife. A month after the split, Mike's father died at the early age of 55 due to an accident while walking down a narrow staircase without a handrail. Mike has not been married since the divorce, but he does not hide his relationship with his girlfriend, Anna Zapia, a showroom model, even though they are not legally married. Mike and Anna live in a mansion in Georgetown and have many exotic pets, including a polar bear, a cobra, and an iguana named Pippa.