HGTV Stars Erin and Ben Napier Update Fans on Fate of ‘Home Town’ Spinoff After ‘Devastating’ Fire Tore Through Hotel at Center of Show

HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier have revealed that their highly anticipated "Home Town" spinoff series will still go ahead—despite the hotel property at the heart of the show being severely damaged in a "devastating" fire.

"Home Town: Inn This Together," which was announced in August, was meant to document the Napiers as they helped their close friends transform a 30-room property known as The Heirloom, which is situated in their hometown of Laurel, MS.

However, days after the show was announced, the property was engulfed in flames, leading many viewers to question whether the show would be able to go ahead.

At the time, Erin, 40, took to Instagram to express her sadness about the fire, penning, "We held each other, and watched while the brave fire fighters from the Laurel FD worked for hours to get it under control. Today feels like a funeral."

She then praised her friends Mallorie Rasberry, Robert St John, and Joshua Nowell for persevering with the project even in the face of such adversity.

“They're still somehow finding a way to keep looking at the next steps and (asking), ‘Where do we go from here?’ And I don't know where they're going to go, yet. But, man, I'm proud of them," she wrote.

"I think—even though it didn't go the way we all were expecting and hoping and excited about—if you want to see human endurance and the spirit of we can do hard things, it is going to be that hotel series.'"

Despite her support of her friends, Erin also admitted that she was unsure if the series would be aired.

However, ahead of a new season of "Home Town," which will hit screens Jan. 4, Ben, 42, told USA Today that viewers will get to see the transformation of the hotel after all, although he is currently unsure of when the project will be shown on screens.

“The episodes are going to air,” Ben noted, adding that it would likely be some time "later" in 2026.

The news comes months after Erin furiously shut down speculation that she and Ben were going through a rocky patch in their marriage—vehemently denying all rumors of relationship strife in a strongly worded social media post.

Erin, who wed her husband and "Home Town" co-star in 2008, addressed the wild reports in a statement shared to her Instagram Stories.

"Can’t believe I even have to say this but NO, the click bait articles that we are splitting up are not real, y’all," she wrote. "They are AI generated in India or something and don't even make any kind of sense. Y'all are smarter than this."

The renovations expert, who lives in Mississippi, went on to plead with fans not to ask her and Ben about the state of their marriage in front of their daughters, Helen, 7, and Mae, 4, pointing out that the youngsters aren't able to easily identify "fake news."

"Please don’t ask about it in front of our babies. They don’t understand what ‘online fake news’ means and it’s upsetting," she added.

Her statement about the erroneous reports came just one day after the on-screen star revealed that she and her husband were busy enjoying a summer vacation in Scotland, where Ben's family is from.

Erin shared two happy snaps from the trip on her Instagram account, while posting a sweet tribute to her husband that read: "Seeing his homeland with my Scotsman."

The happy couple appeared to be enjoying some much-needed downtime after the finale of the latest season of their hit HGTV show aired on June 1, despite Erin previously insisting that they would remain hard at work even when the cameras aren't rolling.

"It’s your last chance for a new Home Town until winter, so watch with us," she wrote on Instagram ahead of the final. "PS I love that yall think this means we are getting a break, but it mostly just means it takes a whole year to renovate all the houses you watch in 6 months, so the work never stops, the viewing just does."

The episode marked the end of the eighth season of the couple's series, which premiered in 2016 and has since become one of HGTV's most popular franchises.

"Home Town" sees the Napiers tackling a wide variety of historic home renovations, working with families who have purchased older dwellings to help them restore them to their former glory.

"In the couple's series, home-buying families benefit from Erin’s design savvy and her imaginative house-portraits as well as Ben's building expertise, woodworking skills and custom renovations," the HGTV description explains.

However, Erin previously revealed to Realtor.com® that the couple's love of home renovations extends way back before they began showcasing their work on TV, explaining that their passion was initially sparked when they were studying together at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, MS.

At the time, Ben was living in a run-down home with his fellow students, a property that Erin revealed both of them quickly became fascinated by.

"We had a dream of one day buying that old gray house and renovating it," said Erin, who was living in a dorm when their whirlwind romance began.

They not only wanted to purchase the abode and fix it up, but they also wanted to live there and pursue a very different career, Ben added.

"My goal was to teach in college," he shared.

While he ultimately ended up following a much more lucrative path in life, the couple's love of transforming unloved homes has never faltered—nor, if Erin's Instagram Stories are anything to go by, has their 20-year marriage.

In fact, the couple are already looking ahead to the future when their older daughter, Helen, might one day join the family business, revealing that she was already expressing a keen interest in their work.

"It's good for her to see what we're doing when we are apart from her and for her to understand the value of old things," Erin explained.

"We want her to see we don't have to have the newest of everything. We can fix and restore things that are broken. I hope it's a lesson that she'll take to heart and apply it to her toys, her clothes, to everything."