Match made in heaven! Ben and Erin Napier had a love story worthy of a television show long before they started appearing on HGTV.
The Home Town stars met when they were both students at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi. The couple began dating in December 2004 and quickly decided that they had found The One.
“On December 7, 2004 [Ben] and I met in our college yearbook room about the feature story we were writing about him,” Erin recalled via Instagram in December 2019. “I was the design editor and for two years had noticed him, always the center of attention, everyone’s best friend, my biggest crush. December 8, we took the photos for the yearbook. December 9, we went on our first date and he met my mama. December 10, we looked at the Christmas lights in Mason Park. December 13, we decided we would get married someday. It sounds crazy to you, maybe. But it makes perfect sense to me.”
Ben and Erin got engaged in September 2007 and tied the knot in November 2008. After renovating their home, the pair caught the eye of HGTV, who offered them a show. Home Town premiered in January 2016 and features renovations in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi.
Amid their success, the TV personalities welcomed daughters Helen and Mae in January 2018 and May 2021, respectively. With parenthood, though, came criticism from internet trolls.
“I typically have a rude comment from someone and I can look at their profile and see this is a mother who has children,” Erin exclusively told Us Weekly in January 2021. “This is another woman attacking me as a woman or a mother or whatever. I like to begin with: ‘You would absolutely not speak to me this way in person. Why do you feel like it’s OK to do it here? It’s not. And this little corner of the internet belongs to me so you’re not welcome here anymore.’ … Anytime someone feels like they can be rude on my social media account, I’d like to let them know this isn’t an acceptable way to communicate and you’re not going to be welcome here anymore, and I block them.”
Despite the naysayers, Ben and Erin have never lost sight of each other on their journey to fame. “It’s Erin and me,” he told CountryLiving.com in March 2017. “Not Erin and me and our moms, not Erin and me and the network, not Erin and me and our fans, if you want to call them that. As far as our marriage goes, it’s me and Erin and God. We work everything out together, and everything has worked out so far.”
Scroll through the gallery below to revisit Ben and Erin’s romance through the years.
