HGTV stars Ben and Erin Napier reflected on how they realized very early on in their romance that they wanted to marry each other.
The couple met in December 2004 while they were students at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi when Erin, now 40, interviewed Ben, now 42, for a story in the school yearbook.
Ben and Erin have previously said that just six days after the interview, they decided they were meant to be together and would marry.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Erin and Ben, who are starring in the upcoming 10th season of their show “Home Town,” recalled how they instantly connected and were quickly on the same page about the seriousness of their relationship.
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“I feel really lucky that we both knew,” Erin said. “I think people don’t take enough risks anymore as far as just saying it. Saying what you really think.”
“What if you’re like just lukewarm dating someone forever and they have no intention of being with you forever?” she continued. “What are we doing? What is the point? What are we doing?”
After falling in love, the duo both transferred to the University of Mississippi in Oxford. In 2007, Ben proposed to Erin and the pair tied the knot in November 2008 at the Paris–Yates Chapel on the Ole Miss campus. The couple welcomed daughter Helen in 2018 and daughter Mae in 2021.
The new season of “Home Town” premieres Sunday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Erin and Ben emphasized the importance of honesty in relationships, even when the truth might hurt.
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“I think it’s a lot better to say the truth even if it gets you like…” Erin said.
“… Even if it breaks your heart,” Ben interjected.
“Yeah, at least you know,” Erin pointed out.
“At least you know you’re not wasting your time,” Ben added.
Erin told Fox News Digital that she encourages people she knows to be forthcoming about their true feelings and clear about their intentions.
“I know young people in their 20s who are trying to date. And they’re like, ‘I don’t know if he likes me. I just can’t tell,'” Erin said. “And I’m like, just say, ‘What do you think about me? Do you like me? Do you want to marry me?’”
“‘Where do you see this going?'” Ben added.
The couple went on to share an anecdote about how the romance between a member of their crew and his future wife played out when they were transparent with each other from the start.
“He got married last year and it’s a friend of mine from elementary school,” Ben said. “He already has two kids; she already had a kid.”
“First date they went, ‘This is how much money I make,'” Erin said with a laugh.
“I think they waited until date number two,” Ben said.
“‘These are my assets. This is what I want,'” Erin continued.
‘”This is what I want for the next five years, the next 10 years. If you’re not open to any of this, then let’s just stop right now.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my God, I love you,'” Ben said.
“I think we all need to be a little more transparent is the moral of the story,” Erin said.
WATCH: HGTV STARS BEN AND ERIN NAPIER SHARE HOW THEY KNEW THEY’D MARRY AFTER JUST SIX DAYS OF DATING
The Napiers’ creative collaboration also began early in their relationship. Erin, who launched her career in graphic design, and Ben, who has a passion for woodworking, have previously said they started teaming up on projects shortly after meeting each other.
After marrying, the pair moved to Erin’s hometown of Laurel, Mississippi, where they renovated their own home and then other houses in the community. The two later co-founded the American-made home goods store Laurel Mercantile.
Their leap into television came when Erin’s blog and social media posts about their projects caught the attention of an HGTV producer.
In 2016, their reality show “Home Town, which follows the couple as they work to restore historical homes with found materials and old textiles in Laurel, premiered on HGTV.
Since then, the couple have also starred in spinoffs of “Home Town,” including “Home Town Takeover,” “Home Town: Ben’s Workshop” and the upcoming series “Home Town: Inn This Together.”
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Ben and Erin shared their thoughts on the biggest challenges and rewards of working together as a married couple.
“The only challenge is trying to surprise each other with something,” Ben said.
“It’s real hard,” Erin agreed. “We’re together 24/7 so we have, I will say, pretty much perfect communication with each other. We know everything. We have no secrets. ‘Cause you can’t have a secret when you are with someone constantly.”
“There’s no like surprise, like, ‘Why weren’t you telling me about this?'” Ben added.
“Like if you’re acting weird today, I know it’s because your ankle’s bothering you,” Erin said. “Your workout was only 30 minutes. You’d like it to have been 45 minutes at least and you’re a little crabby about that.”
“We have TMI all the time,” she said. “And when you have TMI, you have no arguments.”
Ben explained that the couple’s greatest challenge in working together wasn’t a relationship issue.
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“It’s that when you’re on TV and you’re the face of it, you’re not allowed to have a bad day,” he said.
“There’s this famous young philosopher named Taylor Swift said, ‘I can do it with a broken heart,'” Ben added as Erin laughed.
“It is true,” Erin said. “We have to fake it till we make it. We have to smile when the red light comes on the camera, no matter how hard the day is, no matter what you’re going through.”
“There’s a there are a lot of days,” Ben admitted. “Luckily, we work with an incredible group of people who know that like, ‘Hey, today’s really tough. I’m gonna — I may have to take a minute before the red light comes on.’ Because when the red light comes on, you gotta be on.”
“And on those days we have to rely on each other,” he said. “And I’d say that’s maybe the biggest challenge is we can’t both have a bad day because one of us has gotta pull the other one.”
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The upcoming 10th season of “Home Town,” which features 16 episodes, follows the Napiers as they continue to renovate homes and other properties in Laurel in addition to historic houses.
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While speaking with Fox News Digital, Ben and Erin detailed how they tackled the renovation of the maternity ward and waiting room in South Central Regional Medical Center.
Erin explained that the project held special meaning for her as it was the hospital where she was born, and also where the couple welcomed their two daughters. The reality star’s father Phil Rasberry, who is a physical therapist, was also a longtime employee of the hospital.
“My dad worked there for 44 years,” she said. “I was born there. My babies were born there. All my friends’ babies were born there. Nieces and nephews were born there. So we have a million special and important, huge moments in this maternity ward, especially when a new person joins your family in your world. And it always happened in this one room.”
“This was sacred ground for me,” Erin continued. “Imagine how scared you are having your first baby ever. And this is the place where it happens. And I felt so loved, so comforted. These nurses, these doctors are so incredible that I wanted to honor them and what we did.”
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“And the CEO of the hospital wanted it to feel like a five-star hotel experience. So I was just hugely honored and also had to, like, beg HGTV to let us do it because it’s not a house, it’s not a garden, but it was so important. And I cried twice in the episode. Isn’t that ridiculous? It was so ridiculous.”
“This is one of the last times my grandmother was lucid and she held my baby niece in that room,” she added. “I mean, it’s as important as a grandmother’s house. And so making it as awesome as possible was important.”
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The duo explained that getting the lighting right was an important aspect of the renovation.
“Having very glowy, ambient, warm lighting that emanates kind of around the ceiling and with sconces that feel residential,” Erin explained. “Lighted mirrors in the restrooms for the mom to feel beautiful, even if she’s just been through the ringer that day. Things like that. Lighting was key.”
“We had an idea of what the family needs,” Ben added. “But then we talked to all of our friends about like, ‘What was it like when you had your first child or when you had a baby here?’ And then we worked really closely with the nursing staff and the doctors there. And you’ll see a lot of that.”
