Erin and Ben Napier Discuss Their Love for Laurel and Spicy On-Set Secrets From 'Home Town' (2025)

Ben and Erin Napier are back for another season of their hit HGTV series, Home Town. Following the lives of the people and houses that make Laurel, Mississippi social, the couple share what makes this town so special to them. As Erin shares, "Just watching your whole life repeat itself is wild for me."

Now in its triumphant ninth season, Erin and Ben return to help prospective homeowners find joy in their hometown. With some minor setbacks occurring in the very first episode of the season, the Napiers share what it's like to have to give their clients some difficult news. Plus, they share their excitement about their other hit series coming later in 2025.

What Makes Laurel So Special?

COLLIDER: Hello! Congratulations on the new season! How excited are you to be back?

ERIN NAPIER: I'm always thankful to keep doing this job together.

BEN NAPIER: Very excited. I tell people all the time, it's a weird job, but it's a fun job. It is a job!

ERIN: It's a lot of work.

Absolutely. Well, first off, how is the family? How is everyone?

BEN: Everybody's great. Helen is in school and learning how to read and learning math. It is just absolutely fascinating to watch the magic of a kids learning.

ERIN: The basic thing that we take for granted. And then our youngest Mae, she has her first ballet recital next week. She's just becoming a big girl. Happening so fast.

Now I saw that this is #LoveWeek. 20Years! Why is the milestone so special?

ERIN: Man. Because I've been with Ben more than I haven't in my life. It happened on December 7. That was the day when I spent more of my life with Ben without him and that's such a huge milestone, you know?

BEN: I'm still working on my time. You're only part of the time with me.

ERIN: Yeah you're an old man.

BEN: Much older.

What is it about the community of Laurel that invites audiences in season after season?

BEN: For one, everybody has a town that they're from. It may be New York City or Chicago. It might be Cumming, Georgia. Everybody is from somewhere, so everybody wants to see the place that they grew up...

ERIN: Do well.

BEN: Yeah. There is that connection but also, like any small town, Laurel has a diverse group of characters and a diverse group of houses. Those houses become the characters. You can talk about the southern charm and all that of everybody talking to everybody, in our experience, we we met that everywhere we go.

ERIN: I think people are looking for shows that feel good.

BEN: Oh yeah.

ERIN: We're just tired of it being feeling like all the media has become stressful.

BEN: Even if it's not that stressful, it's presented as stressful.

What makes Laurel so special to you both?

ERIN: Well, my whole life is here. I drive down streets that I have road in the backseat as a toddler. And now I'm driving the toddler in the backseat. I think what will they remember about this? What do I remember about this?

BEN: It's interesting because Erin's mom's office is near, or where she works from, is near where Helen and Mae go to school. So, we drive the same path that Erin's mom did taking her.

ERIN: Just watching your whole life repeat itself is wild for me.

BEN: For me, it's that, I moved around a lot. I didn't have really have roots anywhere so to speak, but I fell in love with Erin and where she's from.

What have you learned about yourselves now that you didn't know before when you started the show?

ERIN: That I'm an introvert and I challenge myself daily to stand up and talk in front of people and to strangers. I'm constantly, it's a skill that I have to work out. I have to work at it really hard. I'm proud of myself that I've been able to do it for this long.

I love that. I watched the first episode of the season. Now I don't cook, but I want that kitchen. Talk to me about bringing that space to life.

ERIN: Isn't that kitchen fun?

Oh, it was so amazing.

ERIN: It had so much personality. And it was unusual. But that is who Tally and Mark are. They are unusual. They are bubbly. They are fun. And they are roll with it kind of people. Their house needed to reflect that, and I feel like their kitchen is a little bit playful, but it's also gonna work hard for them and their small business. It felt a little bit Scandinavian, and also playful.

Did you get to try their salsa?

ERIN: Yes!

BEN: Oh yeah.

ERIN: Oh my gosh, we haven't seen the episode. Did I eat something really spicy and almost die from the episode?

Ben definitely had a pepper.

BEN: Ok, then they edited it.

ERIN: They know that I like super mild salsa, but they didn't have any that day.

BEN: They thought they were giving you one, but it was the same color as their hottest salsa.

ERIN: We were about to film and I ate this.

BEN: And Aaron started basically having a panic attack.

ERIN: I was like crying cause it was a spicy one.

Oh no!

ERIN: Boy I hope that didn't make the episode1

No, it didn't.

BEN: It's funny, any film set or movie set that we've ever been around, the catering table always has hot sauces, and, apparently, it is just a quick way to add a lot of flavor or something. It is apparently something that crosses all cultures. So our work lunchroom has a ton of hot sauce. And we always have some of theirs there also. It's is also functioning business. We actually bought some tomato plants from them this year for my garden.

That's amazing. I love that. Now, we did get to see you have to share some bad news to your clients. How difficult is that for you both?

BEN: It's tough. It is, because we work so hard on the front end. Harder than most, any general contractor or builder or anything. We work so hard on the front end to make sure those things don't happen. So that then when they actually do happen, it's devastating to have to make that call and say, "Look. It's not gonna work out." But, like Erin said, the Scullys are roll with it kind of people, so, we moved on. We went look at another house and they fell in love with that.

ERIN: They had such good attitudes about it.

What is the secret of helping future homeowners see the potential when they can't physically see it before their eyes?

ERIN: To go do all the legwork. Know them before you look at anything. For them to feel like they have filled out 40 pages of paperwork where they went deep in depth into what they love and don't love in home design, so they feel heard. So they feel like whatever they're about to show us they know what we really want to become. I mean, it's a trust fall. It's not for everybody. It's really not for everybody.

The Napiers Are Excited for Season Three of 'Home Town Takeover'

I know we are a couple of months away, most likely, from the next season of Home Town Takeover. I am very excited. Any teases you can offer?

BEN: We are more excited about Hometown Takeover Season three than we were about either of the first seasons. And that is saying a lot cause we were very excited about it. It felt like we were on vacation at work every day. It was just fun and beautiful, and the people were great.

ERIN: Some of the most important roles on our team were old friends. Familiar faces. And that changes everything in your working life.

My final question 'tis the season. Any exciting holiday plans?

BEN: No. We were in New York last week for Giving Tuesday and that is it. We are here.

ERIN: We're making cookies and wearing pajamas. We're gonna take our camper to Ben's parents sometime around Christmas.

BEN: That has become our new holiday thing. We pull the camper, and we park it in my parent's yard. And that's it!

ERIN: We are the Cousin Eddies.

BEN: "That there's an RV."

That sounds delightful. I'm here for that. Well, happy holidays to you both, and I cannot wait to watch the new season. Congratulations.

ERIN: Thank you so much. Thanks for talking to us.

Home Town Season 9 premieres on Sunday, December 29 at 8:00pm on HGTV. All episodes are available to stream on Max.

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