Erin and Ben Napier Say Season 1 of ‘Home Town Takeover’ Nearly ‘Killed’ Them: ‘Hardest Thing’

Erin and Ben Napier will be the first ones to admit that filming season 1 of Home Town Takeover in Wetumpka, Alabama, wasn’t easy.

“Season 1 nearly killed us, it was the hardest thing we had ever done,” Erin, 38, told People in an interview published on Tuesday, June 4. “I was pregnant, and we had a toddler, and it was COVID, and we didn’t know anybody. But now, our girls are 6 and 3 and we have a little more freedom to bring them — they’ve been here with us every step of it.”

Erin and Ben share daughters Helen and Mae, who have enjoyed spending time with their parents as they’ve filmed season 3 of the spinoff in Sebring, Florida.

“Their life here was totally different from our life here,” Ben, 40, said. “They’re on vacation, they’ve been swimming every day.”

“They swim and fish and take field trips to the orange grove,” Erin added. “This is a dream for them.” That dreamy vibe carried over to the entire family. “We’ve had summer vacation feelings the whole time, even though we’re working harder than we’ve ever worked in our lives.”

Even though they are very dedicated to their work in the home improvement space and running their businesses, the duo’s biggest priority has always been their daughters.

“We have to have our priorities, and our first priority is what will be when there is no TV, and what was there before there was TV, and that’s me and Ben and the girls. So, that’s the priority,” Erin told the outlet.

Just recently, the family celebrated Mae’s 3rd birthday with a Christmas-themed party.

“Our tiny baby is THREE and all she wanted was a Christmas party, so we made Christmas cookies and lit Christmas candles, brought a little potted tree with ornaments on the porch and grilled hot dogs, blew up a waterslide in the yard and listened to Bing Crosby,” the mom of two captioned some photos from the festivities on Instagram.

Fans were obsessed with the winter wonderland birthday party theme and were definitely inspired by the whimsical photos. Ben even dressed up as Santa Claus for the party.

“So cute!!!! I can’t believe she’s 3,” HGTV host Jasmine Roth commented underneath the post. “Also, is this Christmas party a thing because my daughter asked for it the other day too and it really surprised me!”