Ben and Erin Napier's love story: How 'Home Town Takeover' couple met, his romantic proposal and baby number 2
When it comes to fixer-uppers, Ben and Erin Napier sure know how to get a job done - their show, 'Home Town', saw them renovating homes in and around their own hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. This time around, they're back on HGTV and are taking on a whole new challenge in the form of a new show - 'Home Town Takeover.'
The couple is all set to give the city of Wetumpka, Alabama, a much-needed facelift, by carrying out 12 major renovations, such as restaurants, shops, historic homes, public spaces, a new farmers’ market and an entire downtown street. While this is no easy feat, Ben and Erin are the ultimate husband-wife tag team.
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Working with a spouse can't always be easy, but if there's a couple that can make it look like a cakewalk, it would have to be the Napiers!
How did Ben and Erin meet?
The couple met when they were in college at the University of Mississippi. Erin was working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design while Ben, as Erin puts it in a blog post, "majored in everything, but decided on none of them." They met in May 2004 and Erin mentions that she secretly admired him and wanted to be his friend. The two soon began spending a lot more time together.
And in the most romantic twist ever, just within six days of dating, the two knew that they'd found 'the one.' Erin detailed the confession on her blog, stating that Ben told her that he was falling in love with her. "It shook me to my core to hear him say that. After only 6 days, and knowing he’d never said that to anyone before me—I was overjoyed," she wrote.
"I didn’t doubt his sincerity, and nothing about it seemed unreasonable. I was more certain of it than many things in my life," she added. Erin let Ben know immediately that she too was in love with him, to which he responded, "One day, I’m going to marry you. I’m sure about that. I love you." Talk about a match made in heaven.
Ben proposed to Erin in the most romantic way possible
Ben's proposal to Erin was probably just as romantic as his love confession. He proposed to his now-wife on September 21, 2007, the weekend of her birthday. The couple and Erin's roommates headed out to Square Books seeing that Ben said he was looking for a book for class.
As Ben went upstairs, Erin stayed on the lower level with her friends, browsing. Until her friend, Jennifer handed her a handmade leather book and asked her to read it. It told the story of an unlikely couple who met in college and fell in love. Erin began to notice just how much it sounded like Ben and her. When she reached the last page, it read, "Come upstairs for the rest of the story."
Erin did go upstairs and found Ben, they both were rather emotional at this point. Before getting down on one knee, he said "You know how much I love you?… And you know I will always take care of you… I talked to mammaw (my grandmother)… and in the words of James Rasberry, ‘I’ve got something for you.'"
As you can guess, Ben proposed and Erin said yes. She even called it the most shockingly beautiful moment of her life and we totally agree.
How many children do they have?
The couple are still very much in love and it's not hard to see -- their Instagram is proof that they're still very much into each other and it's cute. The pair tied the knot in 2008 and had their first daughter, Helen, in 2018.
Now, they're all set to be parents once again, seeing that Erin is due in May 2021. Turns out, they're expecting a girl again.
"We're very, very blessed," Erin told PEOPLE, seeing that she had a perforated appendix which caused her to have issues. "I think it's really wonderful to have a sibling if it's possible. And we didn't know if it was possible." However, mother and daughter are currently doing well. Looks like Ben has some beautiful, strong women in his life.
You can watch 'Home Town Takeover' on HGTV on Sundays at 8 pm ET/PT and stream the same on discovery+.