What It's Really Like To Have Your Home Renovated On Ben And Erin Napier's 'Home Town'

If you're a fan of Ben and Erin Napier's HGTV series, Home Town, you've probably daydreamed about relocating to Laurel, Mississippi, more than a few times. (Okay, only every other week.) From the welcoming small-town neighborhoods to the plethora of old homes, Laurel is definitely an idyllic Southern burgh we so adore.

But have you ever wondered what it's like to renovate your home for the show? Thanks to a recent piece from Realtor.com, we now have new firsthand intel on that experience.

The article gives fans a backstage glimpse into the casting and renovation experience of Rhonda Phillips, a Mississippi native and dean of the Honors College at Purdue University in Indiana, featured in an episode of season four of the show.

"When I first saw the show, I absolutely loved it," Phillips told Realtor.com. "This [series] is about trying to make the town a better place, but to also recapture the beauty of some of the older homes that had been laid to waste."

Though Phillips has lived away from The Magnolia State for years, a bad storm in Indiana in 2019 inspired Phillips and her husband, Jay Stein, to set their sights on relocating down South. After Phillips applied and was selected to be on the show, she had to sign paperwork not to see the house until the renovations were complete, no easy feat for new homeowners who are eager to see how the remodeling unfolds. "After you have all the contracts signed, and they know what your preferences are, they do the design. You take a leap of faith," Phillips explained.

Later in the interview, Phillips elaborates on placing her confidence in Ben and Erin Napier: "I had a high level of trust. The house that we picked was in such bad shape, if anybody could fix it, it would be them and their team. And they did."

Indeed, the couple's new home was in excellent hands with the Napiers. Filming for TV, they enjoyed the perk of completing renovations on an accelerated timeline. Little did Phillips know, however, how much work goes into shooting every scene for the episode, with multiple takes sometimes being required just to get a brief segment ready for the airwaves.

While the couple doesn't live in Laurel full-time yet, they were thrilled with the renovation and hoped to keep the home looking almost exactly as it did when staged.

"I really wanted to be on the show. Because I felt it would be special and a lot of fun, and I was right about both of those," Phillips says of her experience. Read the full article here.

WATCH: HGTV's Home Town Starring Ben and Erin Napier Is Returning for Season 5

To see the couple's Craftsman-era home renovations, dubbed the Holloway house, watch Season 4, episode 11 of HGTV's Home Town.

Would you consider applying to be on an HGTV show? If so, would you be leaping towards Laurel, beach hunting, forever homing, or otherwise?