Ben and Erin Napier Gave PEOPLE a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes of the Next Home Town Takeover (Exclusive)

Last February, HGTV announced a third location for Ben and Erin Napier Taking over the hometown series: the lakeside town of Sebring, Florida.

Since then, the pair, along with a large team, have been working around the clock to restore Sebring to its former glory, and PEOPLE got an exclusive look at their progress.

The Napiers call Sebring “the forgotten Florida” — an idyllic town that flourished in previous decades but is now being bypassed by tourists in favor of theme parks and beaches. “These just happen to be our favorite parts of Florida,” says Ben.

“When we look back at vacation photos of our parents and grandparents, it’s places like this,” adds Erin.

As the couple and their two daughters — Helen, 6, and Mae, 3 — commuted between Sebring and their home in Laurel, Miss., they felt those old Florida vibes infiltrating their lives. “It’s a little more relaxed here. We’ve had a summer vacation feel the whole time, even though we’re working harder than ever in our lives,” says Erin.

That work, like past seasons in Wetumpka, Ala. and Fort Morgan, Colo., took the form of multiple home renovations, business makeovers and a series of community projects, all inspired by the city’s history and its surroundings. “I have to use pink and coral, sage and orange — real orange. They’re fun colors that we can’t keep pulling out of the paint box,” says Erin.

While an increase in tourism in the area would be welcome, the Napiers say their ‘formula’ for the cities they feature always starts with the local population. “You have to have community support. This community has to be excited,” says Erin.

“That’s something we learned from our own experience in Laurel. You can’t rebuild a city by expecting dollars from tourists. You have to depend on the local population and then anything that comes from outside is gravy, it’s extra,” adds Ben.

Therefore, the business they decided to restore is a very strategic decision. “We do months of research before we even come here,” says Ben. “How do we get locals to rediscover the magic of downtown? We’re looking at which businesses will perform the best. How long will it last?”

Erin says they also consider “what might already be good, but would be so much better when it’s beautiful?” (Both point to a specific renovation, the details of which are still under wraps, but they describe it as “a fun and flashy business … that looked like a law firm.”)

It is a more emotional approach to which homes they choose to renovate. “We look at the people who do the most good in the city,” says Ben. “Because if you’re helping hundreds of people a day, but you go home at night and your crowns are falling, emotionally, you wear these things, they affect you. So we come in and say, ‘We’re going to fix all this so you don’t have to think about it and you can keep doing more of what you’re doing.'”

Courtesy of HGTV

Erin adds, “You have to help people who are here for their community. It’s the only way small town America survives.”

As their formula says, when that enthusiasm spreads, the city begins to transform. “Even small changes, like painting the facades around [downtown’s central] lap. It’s enough for the locals to see it and notice that something is different… and that excitement spreads,” says Erin. “People start banging [the town] up, filling empty storefronts, even before the show hits TV!”

Once the show airs, that’s when things really explode. In the case of Wetumpk, Shellie Whitfield, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said, “We’ve found that people don’t just come to visit, they come back and have been here two or three times. I’ve fallen in love with the town since the show aired.”

And the personal lives of the Napiers will be very different this season.

erin napier/instagram

“The first season almost killed us,” jokes Erin. “I was pregnant, we had a small child, it was Covid and we didn’t know anyone. Now our girls are 6 and 3, and we have a little more freedom to bring them, and they’ve been here with us every step of the way.”

They even reunited with Jonathan Walters, their main performer from the first three seasons home town, who lives near Ft. Meyers. “Being with Jonathan and his family was like coming home. Our children were also little babies at the same time. We shared diapers,” says Ben. “We all just came from one of the houses we’re working on, where the kids were helping us paint signs in the garden,” says Erin.

As PEOPLE talks to the Napiers at Sebring, Jonathan’s family appears outside with Helen jumping behind them. “Where is Helen going?” Erin whispered to Ben. But Ben reassures her, “It’s a small town, it’ll be fine.”

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Source: HIS Education