Saturday nights on TLC just got more colorful with the newly updated While You Were Out. Hosted by Ananda Lewis, the design series features an all-star cast comprised of designers from both TLC and HGTV. With a budget of $10,000 per room, each set of designers and carpenters will design one room in neighboring houses after the home owner sends their significant other on a weekend getaway. The ultimate surprise reveal culminates each episode upon their return. One home will include TLC designers and the other, HGTV designers. While You Were Out will air simultaneously on TLC and HGTV!

Vibrant personality Ananda Lewis is a TV host and social activist. The Howard University graduate’s first job as an on air host was Teen Summit on BET, earning the program an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Youth Series because of Ananda's interview of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ananda next became MTV’s first African American woman VJ. Lewis's style was recognized for bringing live celebrity interviewing to a new level on two daily MTV shows: Total Request Live and The Hot Zone.

Her syndicated talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show, targeted women between the ages of 18 and 34 and addressed important issues such as domestic violence and breast cancer, and continues to run in syndication around the globe. Ananda became a correspondent for the nightly entertainment program The Insider and has numerous television as well as movie credits to her name.

In the early 2000’s, Ananda made a conscious decision to step away from the camera in order to dedicate herself to caring for her ailing grandmother during the final two years of her life. In 2008, she pursued her true passion for building and earned an AS in Carpentry, honing her skills in furniture artistry and construction. In 2017 she hosted Change My Space on HGTV, began the non-profit Love Builds to help single moms and the elderly with home renovations and necessary improvements at no cost, and is currently in the planning stages for her passion project of building innovative housing communities for single moms and their children. Ananda’s first priority, and favorite job EVER, remains being a doting mother to her 7 year old son.