The road to recovery hasn’t been entirely smooth for Ben Napier, but it’s always been hilarious.
As I talk to PEOPLE about the upcoming new season home town (out Jan. 7), which includes his recovery from rotator cuff surgery earlier this year, the HGTV star, 40, revealed that he had a little mishap after the surgery.
“I had surgery,” Ben began, before his wife Erin interrupted him, “And about three days later, we had a speaking engagement.”
“… At a Southern Baptist college,” he continued. “I took the medicine right before I went in and it hit me while I was on stage.”
The result was a mixed bag for the woodworker and probably a strange experience for the participants. “My confidence went up and I couldn’t keep my train of thought,” he recalled. “I knew what was going on the whole time.”
The experience was especially surreal for Ben, who had always been clean. “I never drank. I never took anything so it was like, ‘Woof,'” He said.
HGTV’s Ben Napier recovers from shoulder surgery with ‘best nurse in the business’ wife Erin by his side
Several scenes in the new season were also filmed while Ben was still on post-operative medication, the couple shared.
“Supposedly there’s a scene where we were filming face to face and I was in the house…” explained Erin, 37, to which Ben jokingly replied: “I don’t know. I don’t remember this FaceTime at all because I was on drugs.”
Photo of Ben Napier recovering from surgery as seen on Erin Napier’s Instagram. Erin Napier/instagram
In March, Erin posted a photo of her husband on Instagram, showing him sprawled on a couch with a hospital bracelet and embroidery on his shoulder with the caption, “Rotator cuff repaired ✅ bone spur shaved ✅ cartilage trimmed.”
She added a sweet addition: “Best nurse in the business.” In the foreground of the photo is a get well soon message with hearts in crayons signed by the couple’s older daughter Helen, 5. The couple also share a daughter, Mae, 22 months.
Ben and Erin Napier’s relationship timeline
The home town the stars had a good track record of taking care of each other when health issues arose, especially during their earlier years together.
As detailed in the Napiers’ memoirs Do something good today, a mysterious illness plagued Erin for a decade. It turned out to be a perforated appendix that had ruptured and kept healing.
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“It’s been a really sad, scary and confusing ten years,” she told PEOPLE at the time. Ben took care of her through episodes that could last up to a week, leaving her unable to move without pain. After several operations, the problem was finally resolved and despite fears that it would affect their ability to have children, they welcomed their two girls. “There is always light in the darkness,” she said.
New season of home town premieres Sunday, January 7, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on HGTV. And Napiers’ one-hour Christmas special Hometown holidays airs Sunday, December 17th at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
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Source: HIS Education