If Ryan Gosling can fall in love with a plastic sex doll, what happens when a pair of mannequins hook up? They may not be mannequins, precisely, but Chris Hyndman and Steven Sabados definitely lead an airbrushed, camera-ready existence. Since the couple left HGTV’s The Designer Guys in 2004, they have perfected their cheerful, carefully asexual routine as hosts of a makeover show (So Chic), another decor series (Design Rivals), and as spokesmen in coffee whitener and cosmetics commercials. In January, they launched Steven & Chris, their mid-afternoon CBC-TV talk show. The new program has a studio audience, make-over segments, cooking demos and celebrity guests, but the main reason to watch is them. They’re such unblemished creatures—it’s impossible to look away.

The pair arrive primped and plucked when we meet for pizza at Lil’ Baci on Queen East. They live nearby and “love, love, love this place,” says Hyndman. Sabados carries a black Gucci courier bag and maintains a pinched expression except when he’s explaining animatedly about how the new show will allow him to educate viewers with DIY projects. Hyndman wears a fitted T-shirt and a salesman’s smile.

They met two decades ago, through friends, and have been inseparable since. Hyndman sees himself as the witty, mischievous Rhoda to Sabados’s earnest and pretty Mary. “Steven is too sweet,” Hyndman explains. “The girls who did our shows became dreamy around him—they wanted to have his babies.” Sabados demures. “There, now I’ve made him blush,” Hyndman says. “My job is done.”

Style guru status wasn’t preordained. Sabados, who is 42 and the youngest of four siblings, was raised in Niagara Falls, worked summers bottling sparkling wine at the Brights plant, and took fine art at Fanshawe College before assembling department store displays for Eaton’s. Hyndman, who is 41 and an only child, moved to Toronto from St. John’s in 1987 to be a makeup artist. (As a kid, he’d give fashion tips to his mom’s friends. She’s retired now; they redid her house in an episode of Design Rivals.) By the time they were picked to host The Designer Guys, Sabados had regularly appeared as a style expert on CityLine and This Small Space. Hyndman was less experienced, but in his element. In their first episode, they redecorated the condo of friend and then-Flare editor Suzanne Boyd. Their philosophy, Sabados explains with utmost gravity, is empowerment. “Networks think you have to be nasty to people to remake them, but subjects are more receptive if you’re positive.” They’ll bring the same unquestioning enthusiasm to Steven & Chris, though Hyndman admits he’s terrified by the prospect of filling an entire hour, five days a week.