Most of the elements on Home Town on HGTV, including the Napiers’ marriage, the homes and the couple’s passion for the small town are not fake at all.
Home Town has become one of the most popular home-renovation shows on television, because it seems so wholesome.
Though the quaint small-town life portrayed on the show may seem too good to be true at times, Home Town is actually very real and it depicts the hosts, the homes and the town in an accurate way.
Why is Home Town so popular?
There are few things more wholesome than a couple from a small town in Mississippi working together to renovate and restore some of the old houses in the neighborhood.
Especially when these renovated homes allow children to move closer to their families, parents to be closer to their children or simply to helping a new family to find its feet.
This is exactly what Erin and Ben Napier set out to do in their hometown of Laurel, with the help of Erin’s creative design work, Ben’s custom woodwork, and the help of several other local artisans and artists from the area.
Is Home Town on HGTV fake?
If you have ever tuned in to watch as Erin and Ben researched, renovated and upgraded various historical homes throughout the first five seasons of Home Town, you may have fallen in love with the show’s quaint small-town vibe, just like nearly five million other viewers who watch the show regularly.
Though Home Town has become one of HGTV’s most popular home renovation shows, some fans are still skeptical about whether the show is really as wholesome and sweet as it seems.
Fortunately, Home Town is one of the reality television shows that falls on the more authentic side of the spectrum.
This is because almost all of the elements of the show, including the Napiers’ marriage, their careers as a designer and a carpenter and their passion for showcasing the wonders of small-town life, are all genuine and portrayed accurately on screen.
Erin and Ben are a married couple in real life, but they actually met a long time before the advent of Home Town when they were both still in college.
While there are some aspects of the show that are glossed up for the screen, it does not seem like much has changed in the Napiers’ lives since they started the show and they have really portrayed their lives and the work that they do truthfully throughout.
How did the Napiers get their show?
Erin had been working as a designer and Ben as a master woodworker way before they even knew that having their own renovation show was a possibility. This makes the work that they do on the show now seem that much more genuine.
The Napiers actually got their show through social media after their own home had been featured in a magazine, which was then shared on social media where it was noticed by an HGTV executive.
The HGTV executive in charge of development at HGTV subsequently approached the Napiers to ask them if they had ever thought about having their own show.
Which elements of the show are not real?
Almost everything that you see on Home Town is real. This includes the run-down historical homes, Ben and Erin’s involvement in the projects and, of course, the renovated homes which are showcased at the end of every episode.
However, these renovated homes are not handed over to the new owners exactly as they appear on the show, as they do not include all of the furniture and decorations used to stage the homes.
Fortunately, the homeowners’ own furniture and any custom pieces that were made for the homes do stay in them even when the filming is done.
The Napiers’ true passion for small-town life
One of the aspects that often makes fans wonder if Home Town is real or not, is the fact that Laurel, and small-town life in general, is portrayed so idyllically throughout the show.
However, Erin and Ben actually do this on purpose, because they want the show to focus on the charm of this type of lifestyle.
The Napiers’ passion for small-town life is not just limited to the small screen, as they actually make a point of using American factories to produce their own products.
Furthermore, they have helped the Laurel economy by opening their own businesses in the town and even donating money, clothes and other resources to some Laurel’s local charities.
Home Town has also helped to increase tourism in Laurel and the homes renovated on the show often fetch top-dollar on the real-estate market.
