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Jonathan and Drew Scott Like to Go on Double Dates With Their Partners: ‘We Have Quirky Personalities’
Are the hunky 6-foot-4 twin Property Brothers Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott as funny as they are handy on their hit HGTV renovation shows? Yes, and then some! When asked about their brotherly bond, Drew, 41, cracks, “I think we were closest in the womb.”
Have they ever switched identities as a prank? “Only when I’m breaking the law,” Jonathan, also 41, deadpans. But their success is no joke: Revenue from the siblings’ shows, furniture and home decor lines reportedly topped half a billion dollars last year — and that’s not counting their exclusive home collection Scott Living at Kohl’s (available online September, 30, and in stores October, 10), their new kids’ book Builder Brothers: Better Together or their latest series, Property Brothers: Forever Home.
Things are going just as well on the personal front: Drew married longtime girlfriend Linda Phan last year, and after meeting Zooey Deschanel on Carpool Karaoke in August, Jonathan is now dating the former New Girl star. We caught up with the great Scotts to talk about all this and more.
Scroll below to read our exclusive Q&A with Jonathan and Drew from the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival!
How would you describe this time in your life?
Drew: [Singing] “I had the time of my life …” It’s fun because we are in over 160 countries, and it’s crazy to see how we influence people.
Jonathan: We see ourselves as personalities, not celebrities. From our shows, people get inspired and feel closer to us. It’s humbling.
You seem like best friends. How has your relationship changed over the years?
Jonathan: People say family can’t work together, but we’ve been proving them wrong since we started our first business [making fabric covered wire hangers] when we were 7.
Drew: We did more goofing off then. We’re besties! We’re nerds. If we have downtime, we love to puzzle. There’s very few things we need to be happy.
Jonathan: Probably your wife is a good one.
Jonathan, we’ve heard you’re dating Zooey Deschanel. What qualities do you look for in a partner?
Jonathan: Somebody who’s articulate, has a great sense of humor and a fun, optimistic outlook on life. Can’t take themselves too seriously.
Drew: And they need to realize there’s an approval process. I have my “good for Jonathan” checklist. [Zooey and Jonathan are] both amazing people, and I think it’s great. It’s exciting. It means I get to have Jon out here to spend more time with us in L.A.
Do you four go on double dates now?
Drew: Of course! We have a lot of the same interests, we have quirky personalities.
Drew, how did you meet Linda?
Drew: I saw her across the room at an event in 2010 and knew she was the one. She’s now a creative director with our company. I look forward to having kids, and she’s going to be an amazing mom. Family’s all I need.
Jonathan: Excuse me, I’m going to vomit. [Laughs]
Kids? Great! How soon and how many?
Drew: We’re not in a screaming rush. Maybe 13. [Laughs] Two of her sisters have boys and girls so we have lots of nieces and nephews — good practice. One day soon, hopefully.
Jonathan: We’re very close with our mom and dad.
How about you, Jonathan?
Jonathan: I think I’ll be a great dad. My hope is that I would find somebody [to coparent] and if I didn’t, that wouldn’t hold me back.
In 2007 you married an airline-crew scheduler named Kelsey, but you split two years later. What lessons did you learn?
Jonathan: Our new kids’ book talks about how failure is not a bad thing as long as you learn from it. From my marriage, I learned more about who I wanted to be. With our schedule, it’s hard to be in a relationship, so [I’m going to] be realistic with what I want to accomplish and who I want to do that with.
Drew, you were on Dancing With the Stars. Do you ever try doing different things to feel more individual?
Jonathan: Singing With the Contractors! [Laughs]
Drew: Doomed to fail! Do a magic special.
Jonathan: We’re very passionate about the environment, so we have our very first documentary. It followed me on a three-year journey all over the U.S. talking about renewable energy. It will be out soon. Now and then we’ll do an adventure on our own.
Drew: I love acting, and directing is a passion.
How are you most and least alike?
Drew: Hair obsession — Jonathan definitely spends more time on his hair than I do.
Jonathan: You can tell he doesn’t. Drew’s a gym junkie. I enjoying playing sports — water volleyball is my favorite — and magic is an obsession of mine since I was a kid.
Drew: I was going to call him a nerd for that, but I collect coins and play ping pong.
Jonathan: He’s been training under a ping pong master for six years.
Any moment that set you on your path?
Drew: We always had this drive, always encouraging each other.
Jonathan: When we were 17, we said, “We don’t want to be a struggling actor [or] magician — what can we do?” We decided real estate was the best way to fund all our creative endeavors. We read every book, watched infomercials on making millions with no money down.
Drew: Then Jonathan decided to get into pole dancing originally when he went to Vegas.
Jonathan: It was a bad idea.
Why didn’t your brother J.D. join at first?
Drew: Well, he’s older — we were the annoying little brothers. He invests in real estate, too. Now he appears on Brother vs. Brother.
This summer he revealed that he’s been fighting a mystery illness. How is he?
Drew: J.D.’s fine. He’s a strong guy, doing his own thing, and he and his fiancée came to Latin America with us.
Jonathan: They’re getting married later this year. It’s going to be epic!
Is there anything people never ask you that you wish they would?
Jonathan: Drew worked with a real estate agent to identify properties where we could assume the mortgage, so we bought our first home at 18 for [a] $250 [payment]. We got a $200,000 home, fixed it up, sold it for a $50K profit. That’s when the light bulb went on. I’d still be a bum working on a construction site if it weren’t for him.
Any regrets?
Drew: That I didn’t have a sister twin — joking!
How long do you see the show going?
Drew: Thirty-seven more years, contractually … Um, no … We’re at 400 episodes, so that’s 400 families we’ve renovated houses for. Everything we do comes from what our fans have been asking for: our Scott Living collection, kids’ books, our new app Property Brothers Home Design. We don’t see an ending!
For more on Jonathan and Drew, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive news!
Reporting by Diana Cooper
