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It’s Chris Ruppell’s profession to help his customers to keep a secret.

But when the local hidden door manufacturer was picked back in the Spring to be featured on the season premiere of HGTV show “Lil Jon Wants to Do What?,” he found out just how hard it can be to keep a secret.

“It was back in April when the show’s producer reached out and asked if we would be interested in priming some doors ‘Lil John Wants to Do What?’ and asked if we wanted to build three doors,” Rupell said. “It was difficult not to talk about it. That’s so hard to sit on for months and not be able to tell our supporters.”

Hide-A-Way Doors is a family-owned and operated business based in Morristown that provides homeowners all over the nation with unique hidden doors used to create a secret room.

The company offers customers several types of hidden doors serving different needs around the home or office.

Recently, the first episode of season 2 of Lil John’s show, which aired on July 10, featured Chris Rupell, owner, and his team installing hidden doors in a home.

The show takes viewers on a journey with DJ Lil Jon and expert builder Anitra Mecadon as the pair share unconventional renovation ideas that seem impossible to execute.

The team was invited to build the doors and also install them on site, something they normally don’t do.

“We came down and did it ourselves and we usually don’t do that but we did it because we thought it would be great for the show,” he said.

As the team arrived on set, Rupell was shocked to see how real it all was.

“Leading up to this situation you let your mind wander and form opinions and we didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “When you watch reality shows you have an opinion that the show was scripted so I was expecting to be told what to say and where to stand and when we got there they basically gave us the freedom to do our thing.”

“None of us knew what to do or say but we just did our thing like how we usually do. When Lil Jon came up the stairs and viewed the doors he was so shocked and he was already very animated so we really didn’t have to go out of our way to highlight our craft.”

However, it wasn’t smooth sailing at first. With an off level wall the team had to work around the problem.

“When we started to get to work we realized one of the walls wasn’t leveled properly, which makes it nearly impossible to install a door,” Rupell said. “We struggled to get the door to operate properly. It was also hot and dark so we were worried when the cameras came upstairs.”

“But after watching the episode we were so proud of what we accomplished and were proud of our work.”

Rupell said that the show was a great experience overall and hopefully one that his business can benefit from.

“I was so excited to be invited and it was a great experience,” he said. “It was a great exposure for us and we hope it will benefit the shop.

“The one door they show is the first one we did. My son was able to talk to Lil John more than me and he stopped and talked with him a bit. When he came up stairs and saw the doors you know he’s very animated so he was shocked.”

Although the store made its HGTV debut, it almost starred in its own show on the same channel.

“We came close to getting a reality show on HGTV,” Rupell said. “We went through the motions and did everything to prepare for the show, but when the producer pitched it to the channel all the time slots at the time were filled, so we couldn’t move forward with the show.

“Although it was sad that we didn’t get to move forward with the channel it helped us in the long run since that’s how Lil Jon’s team found us.”

With the exposure from the episode the company plans to continue to grow and improve its products.

“We’re always changing and making things better,” Rupell said. “The showroom has changed and we have swapped out some of the older doors.

“We have changed the production to make it faster and more productive. We have a lot of exciting things coming soon.”

The best way to keep up with the company or for more information visit its website or Facebook page for updates on the company.

“We invite anyone local to come by and visit our shop and see the doors in person. We would love to meet you and share our story.”

Hide-A-Way Doors is located at 325 S Sugar Hollow Road in Morristown.