She walked a catwalk on a hit TV show, but now former fashion model Joanie Sprague renovates fishing and hunting camps.

Sprague, formerly of Patterson Township, joins forces with New Brighton designer/maker/influencer Christy Miller on a new Outdoor Channel show, "Renovation Hunters."

Sprague and Miller travel to Nebraska this week to tape the first three "Renovation Hunters" episodes, which air nationally in 2023 on Outdoor Channel (Channel 270 on the Comcast network in Beaver.)

Members of the TV show's three-woman, three-man cast, headed by Hal Shaffer from Outdoor Channel's "Drop Zone," will roll up their sleeves and renovate camps and outdoorsy cabins.

For the Nebraska location, "Joanie and I will mainly be working on the bedroom," said Miller, owner of Oak Hill Millworks, a New Brighton company focused on laser-made goods and DIY content creation on YouTube and Instagram. "We've already begun talking about what we're going to paint, and what we're going to build."

Sprague, a carpenter on TLC's 2018 reboot of "Trading Spaces" and DIY Network's "Run My Renovation," said, "I'm super-stoked. This is really cool and different."

Unlike traditional TV home renovation shows, "This is not so much about being pretty; it's about functionality," Sprague said. "These cabin owners say, 'We need a place to put our boots, and hang our laundry, and gut the animals and cook, and maybe have a home whiskey bar.'"

Unlike many home renovation programs, "Renovation Hunters" will devote three episodes per location − not a one-and-done − giving viewers a broader realm of as-you-go practical tips.

"The mindset is not so much about fine furnishings that are really expensive, but an overhaul of a space that's kind of an attainable renovation," Miller said. "So that makes the show more relatable."

Several camps throughout the country already are scheduled for a "Renovation Hunters" spruce up, though there's still time to submit a request if you've got a worthy camp. Request forms are at outdoorchannel.com/content/renovationhunters/459762

Miller and Sprague hope a western Pennsylvania camp gets chosen, maybe in northern deer-hunting territory like Tionesta.

In that case, Miller, a wife and mother to Logan, 9, and Abigail, 5, practically could commute from New Brighton.

Sprague lives in California, but periodically returns to the Beaver Valley to check in on relatives and savor favorite haunts like D&G Pizza in Beaver Falls.

Miller didn't realize her new partner and Instagram friend Sprague hailed from a neighboring town, across the Beaver River, until she saw Sprague post about her love for Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes.

Miller views Sprague as an established TV celebrity, dating to 2006, when Sprague finished as the runner-up on UPN's popular "America's Next Top Model." With her natural modeling skills, calm temperament and quick-learning abilities, Sprague (then using her maiden name Dodds) seemed destined to win, but "ANTM's" famed host Tyra Banks surprised viewers by choosing another champion.

Sprague spring-boarded from "Next Top Model" to a career modeling abroad, but soon found a steadier TV gig on DIY's "Run My Renovation," making use of her trained carpentry skills. Ever since her tomboy-ish childhood ― when she helped her father with renovation projects ― she's had a keen interest in do-it-yourself home improvements.

Sprague's two-year run on the since-canceled "Trading Spaces" helped her establish a side business where she does renovations.

"Local commissions, like closet installs," she said.

More:Ex-Patterson Township model brings tool belt to 'Trading Spaces'

More:Ex-Patterson Township resident returns for more TV tool time

Sprague has become more active in as a social media influencer and in content creation, areas where Miller quickly and unexpectedly found success.

Married for 11 years to her Geneva College sweetheart, Miller had worked as a registered nurse, until she felt a growing urge to pursue more creative endeavors.

"I needed to scratch that artistic itch," she said.

Buoyed by a TED talk on daring to chase bold dreams, she bought a $19,500 laser, taught herself graphic design, and started etching logos into custom promotional products, like drinking glasses, cutting boards and keychains. Finding bulk and wholesale clients nationwide, her Oak Hill Millworks business, named for her New Brighton neighborhood, quickly grew.

Miller began snapping photos and filming behind-the-scenes promotional footage of her craftwork, then branched out to videos showing her and her husband renovating their mud room and staining their deck.

"It quickly became a way for me to also share the journey as a whole − setting up my workspace, learning new tools, balancing motherhood and maker life; tips and tricks to help others on their journeys, and just life as a hand's-on person," she said.

Those posts, at her Instagram handle @oakhillmillworks, reached a large and immediate audience. Though not a fan of the term "social media influencer," the results of her videos began to make Miller wonder, "Am I accidentally becoming one of those?"

Through social media, she befriended influencer @lazyguydiy, who has 24,000 Instagram followers. He had heard about plans for Outdoor Channel's "Renovation Hunters" and recommended Miller apply.

She did, "and it kind of snowballed from there."

As an influencer and experienced home renovator, "I guess I checked both boxes," she said.

Producers of "Renovation Hunters" also asked her if she likes to hunt and fish.

"I told them I enjoy fishing a lot, but I don't get to do it often, and I do love being outdoors, for sure."

Just wait until Outdoor Channel viewers get a double-dose of western Pennsylvania female power.

"I think that's going to be really inspiring and awesome," Sprague said.

"It's going to be a blast," Miller said.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.