Why 'Flip It Like Disick' star Willa Ford was 'hesitant' about working with Scott Disick (Exclusive)

Willa Ford and Scott Disick have a lot more in common than people may realize.

Both star on E!'s new house-flipping show, "Flip It Like Disick," which follows Disick's highly successful venture into real estate and how Ford uses her interior design expertise to bolster that success. But, to get to this point, both stars had wildly different paths that ultimately share similar qualities.

As a breakout pop star of the early '00s with her Top 40 hit, "I Wanna Be Bad," Ford was well on her way to continued popularity in mainstream music before several ups and downs led her to quitting the music business altogether, going into acting and then unexpectedly pivoting into design.

SEE ALSO: Scott Disick reveals 'the truth' behind his new show 'Flip It Like Disick'

Disick, on the other hand, rose to fame as Kourtney Kardashian's club-going other half and fathering three children with the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star, before splitting from Kourtney, stumbling into a bad boy narrative for several years and then cleaning up his act.

For both of them, "Flip It Like Disick" is an opportunity for "redemption," as Ford told AOL's Gibson Johns during her recent BUILD Series interview.

"Similarly, we have that path. When we talked about starting the show, we both knew that this was something that we wanted [viewers] to see the other side of both of us," she explained. "We definitely have that in common, and it has not been an easy ride for either of us, but I do think this show will give people a little insight into that."

As far as how their paths initially even crossed, Ford told BUILD that it was simply "through a friend" who had recommended her for her interior design work

"I don't think it even dawned on him [that I used to be a] pop singer, at all [because] enough time had passed. So, I did a couple things for him, and he was really happy," she recalled. "Cut to a while later, he called me and he said, 'Hey, I'm doing this show and I would love to bring you on as part of the team. I'd love for you to consider it.' After many conversations within my home, we decided to move forward."

SEE ALSO: Khloe Kardashian and Scott Disick recall their craziest moments together: Watch!

For Ford, who shares son, Elijah, 2, with former NFL star Ryan Nece, those conversations stemmed from whether or not she wanted to give up her "normal" life away from the public eye in order to step back into the spotlight, albeit in a totally different capacity.

"I was really young the first time around that I was in the spotlight, and I had grown accustomed to bring pretty normal," she said. "You know, having my husband and -- he's almost three now -- my child, I knew it was going to take a little time away from my family, and I knew it could put me under a spotlight again for good or for bad."

"My husband reminded me: You aren't even the same human anymore," she said of what it took for her to ultimately decide to sign on for "Flip It Like Disick."

Another aspect of the gig that gave her pause was simply the fact that it involved working so closely with Disick, who, as mentioned above, hasn't had the cleanest track record over the years. Regardless of her hesitation, however, the former pop star said that working with the father of three has "been fantastic."

"I was a little hesitant at first to see where this would lead, but there is a mutual respect. I respect him. I try not to have preconceived notions about what we all know of him from the past, moving forward into this [with him] as a client," Ford said at BUILD Series. "I treated him with respect, and I think he did the same. No preconceived notions about me, really taking me seriously as a designer, and I think that mutual respect works really well for us on the show."

"People ask me all the time what he's like, and Scott is actually quite mellow in real life," she went on. "His friends are actually the fire. [Laughs] He's quite mellow, but he's very witty and very funny and that's unexpected in a dry way. I'm not sure that's always come across the way he needed it to, but I think on the show you really see that."

"Flip It Like Disick" premieres on E! on Sunday, August 4, at 9 p.m. EST.

Watch Willa Ford's full BUILD Series interview below: