'Home Town' star Ben Napier still courts wife Erin: 'I want her to fall in love with me'

HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier are bringing holiday cheer to Laurel, Mississippi, the charming backdrop for their series “Home Town.”

The designing duo, who wed in 2008, make gifts for previous clients on a “Home Town Holidays” special (Sunday, 8 EST/PST). Season 7 of their renovation series “Home Town” resumes Jan. 7 (8 EST/PST).

At Christmas, "we're trying to teach our daughters that it's not about getting things, it's not about the gifts,” says Ben, referencing the couple’s girls, Helen, 5, and Mae, 2. “It's about giving to others and being generous.”

“And being in service to other people,” Erin adds.

Erin, 38, says their family is “over the top with Christmas traditions.” They’ll take in the bright Christmas lights as they cruise around in one of their classic cars and attend their town’s Christmas parade. Helen makes bouquets of mistletoe that Ben shoots down from trees on their property.

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“They hang them in, like, every doorway in the house,” says Erin.

“Big sister’s helping me out,” says Ben, 40. “She's like, ‘We're going to hang one here because you and Mommy are always walking through here.’”

After 19 years together, the Napiers still prioritize romance. Ben writes Erin a short love note every morning.

“Every day, I wake up and I want her to fall in love with me that day,” he says. “I want to win her over that day.” From the way Erin stares adoringly at her husband by her side, it seems Ben is succeeding.

The interview falls during what they call “love week,” the period of days when the two, then-students at Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi, fell head over heels. Erin, design editor for the yearbook, harbored a crush on the popular “Big Ben.” On Dec. 8, 2004, Ben declined a trip to his beloved New Orleans with friends to party on Bourbon Street and sing karaoke so he could hang out with Erin.

“We were sitting in her car, in her Beetle that we still have, and we were eating cheese sticks and it felt different,” he says. “It just felt like, ‘OK, this is important.’ Then on Dec. 13 … I told her that I was in love with her, and I wanted to marry her.”

“I had been in love with Ben for a solid year before he ever spoke to me,” Erin adds. “So I was easy. I was just like, ‘I love you, too!’”

Ben and Erin attribute their success to the fact that they’re always together and disclose everything.

“I don't think that people actually do that. We try to keep secrets, but we can't,” says Ben, “I can't keep anything from her. She can't keep anything from me.”

“Even if you're just irritated with each other about something, it's better to say it immediately when you start to feel irritated,” Erin says.

Ben agrees. “It's not as if we don't fight or we don’t get on each other's nerves about something every now and then, but ..."

“We have Stage 1 fights,” Erin interjects, “instead of Stage 5.”

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A sexy shirtless selfie doesn’t hurt, either. In honor of Ben’s 40th birthday in September, Erin posted a bare-chested photo to Instagram celebrating his commitment to getting fit.

“He saw a video of himself where his shirt didn't fit great,” Erin says of Ben’s motivation to jump-start his health journey. “That bothered him so much.”

In March, Ben had surgery to repair his rotator cuff. “They were like, ‘You're going to have to sleep on your back after surgery,’” Erin remembers. “And he's like, ‘Well, I'm going to have to lose a lot of weight before I can do that.’”

Ben assembled a gym in his barn using equipment purchased from Facebook Marketplace, a perfect setting to snap a smoldering selfie for the missus.

“He sends me that selfie every morning,” says Erin, as if to say, “ 'I'm working hard. Here's my progress today.’ And I enjoy getting them" (laughs).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Home Town' stars Erin and Ben Napier reveal secret to long marriage