The 'Rock the Block' host was hospitalized in July following emergency surgery to address an abscess in his throat.
Ty Pennington has a lot to celebrate and feels lucky that he's still here amid his scary hospitalization last year.
In July, the Rock the Block host revealed that he underwent emergency surgery after doctors found an abscess in the back of his throat. The post -- which came days after he attended the Barbie premiere -- was accompanied with a picture of him in a hospital bed hooked up to multiple machines.
"Turns out, that sore throat Ive had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway," he wrote at the time. "Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver. Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I was released from the ICU 🙌🏼."
After eight months, Pennington is filled with excitement as he gives ET an update on his health.
"I'm great," he tells Deidre Behar. "You know what's great is if you almost die, you get so much attention. It feels so nice to be that loved."
He jokes, "I'm planning another one... No, I'm kidding!"
Pennington says that he drove to the hospital at 4 o'clock in the morning with the intentions of getting a steroid to help whatever blockage was in his throat. However, he was quickly informed that he would have to be flown to the hospital in Denver, Colorado for an emergency surgery, which he calls "very dramatic."
According to the HGTV star, the next thing he knew he was waking up with tubes in his throat and someone close to him snapped the photos of him that he shared on his Instagram.
Pennington, 59, says that his near-death experience put things in perspective for him.
"It made me realize you just don't know when your timecard's gonna get pulled, so wake up, live every single day to the fullest," he says. "I mean that's why the 60s is gonna be like time to start doing everything and that's what I love about being part of these projects because I think we all want to make sure we've done things to be remembered."
Pennington has his eyes on other people giving it their all during the fifth season of HGTV's reality competition series, Rock the Block. Returning as the host, Pennington teases what's to come as some of HGTV's all-stars compete to have the best home renovation on the block, giving them the ultimate bragging rights.
"I think this season could be the greatest season ever because there's so much at stake because this is about pride and saying, 'I am a winner.' And when you've got four teams that are trying to prove themselves, there is nothing they're gonna hold back, and that's the kind of design, that's the kind of passion I love to see."
This season, Pennington says its not only about winning, but proving that they are the best of the best.
"What I love about this show as an artist -- we're all very competitive, but until you sort of compete against the top in your field, you can't really say you’re the best," he tells ET. "But these teams are knocking it out of the park, so if you win this, this basically says you are as good as it gets. I come from the same background, so whenever I can see people come from humble beginnings and then learn to show what they’re capable of, we all want to see that. I think that's why people tune in."
Rock the Block premieres Monday, March 5 on HGTV.
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