It's Jillian Harris in a hard hat! The former Bachelorette recently traveled to Slaughterville, Okla., where she pitched in with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to rebuild the home of Brian and Audra Skaggs, whose 2-year-old son, Jhett, has a weakened immune system after receiving a heart transplant. His health is at risk due to the deterioration of the family's moldy, rotting and termite-infested home, which is why the Extreme team was brought in to help.
"The Skaggs reminded me of 'my kind of ," Jillian says. "They love country music, campfires, family."
Jillian's expertise as an interior designer certainly came in handy, but she says she also benefited from the experience. "After catapulting into the public eye, getting my heart broken, traveling the world, then falling in love, getting engaged, all while traveling the world again, and then dealing with a public media storm, I was frazzled," Jillian says. "I missed the 'regular,' spunky energetic Jilly, and worried if she would ever come back ... But after my experience with the Skaggs and the Extreme team, she came back! As cliché as it sounds, it brought me back to me. My fiancé Ed Swiderski noticed a change in me, as did family and friends. It really inspired me -- it was the true definition of a profound experience."
And one that left her in tears: "The entire process brought me to tears," she says, "happy tears, grateful tears and tears of hope."
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs Sunday (8 p.m. EST) on ABC.
Russell Cook/ABC
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