Erin Napier was surprised by her parents’ reaction when she brought her now-husband, Ben, home to meet them for the first time. The HGTV star recalled that her parents had never liked any of the guys she’d dated, but Ben was different.
Erin Napier Recalls Her Parents’ First Time Meeting Ben Napier
During an October 2026 interview on the “Talk To Me: The Debra Fileta Podcast,” Erin shared that she was worried about bringing Ben home to meet her parents when they were first dating.
“He had a maturity that was beyond 21 years, even though he was still there to have a good time,” she said of Ben. The couple met in 2004 while they were students at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi. “But I just thought he was the greatest, and I had the biggest crush on him for these reasons and others.”
While she adored Ben, Erin wasn’t so sure her parents were going to love him.
“In high school, we didn’t have such a good relationship because I didn’t trust their counsel when I should have,” she explained. “I had some really bad influences in my life, and they were like, ‘These people are terrible for you.’ And I was like, ‘You don’t know’ … And then, it turns out they definitely did know.”
She added, “And so, they never liked any guy I ever dated or that they ever met. And then I was just so scared for them to meet Ben.”
“I knew Ben on December 7. I brought him to meet my parents December 9,” the HGTV star shared.
Ben met Erin’s mom first. “She loved him immediately,” she recalled. “He walked in the room and gave her a big hug like he just belonged there, like he’s always been doing this.”
The “Home Town” star continued, “And then, my dad, he met two days later. Daddy was home and Ben came over, and my dad immediately loved him. And that had just never happened.”
“Like immediately they were like, ‘He’s very good. He’s good.’ And I was like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure? ‘Cause he’s very like poor and also a partier,'” she said. “And they were like, ‘No, he’s wonderful.’ And I couldn’t understand what made them say that about him.”
“I knew I felt that way, but I had had bad judgment as a teenager,” she added.
Ben & Erin Napier Share ‘Problem’ in Their Marriage
During the podcast interview, Ben and Erin opened up about a problem they face in their relationship. They love to be together so much, that it’s hard when they’re apart.
“We’ve been literally inseparable since December 7, 2004,” Erin said.
Ben shared, “We’ve always worked together and we don’t know how to do it any other way. It’s a question that comes up a lot … ‘How could you stand to work with your spouse all day long?'”
“The only time problems come up for us is when we have spent more than two nights away from each other, which has only happened a handful of times,” Ben said.
He continued, “And then it’s, you know, ‘Hey, why didn’t you answer when I called you?’ ‘Because I was busy. Why? What’s wrong? Why was that so important that you needed me to answer right away?’ And then it’s that.”
“So, I guess maybe our problem is that we can’t be apart,” Ben added.
Erin added, “We really can’t function separately. And our kids can’t function with one parent. They like it to be both of us all the time. He went away for one night a few weeks ago. And the girls acted like he had passed away. It was insane.”
Erin Napier Reveals Why She Was ‘So Scared’ for Ben to Meet Her Parents for the First Time