Ben Napier Opens Up About the ‘Hardest Part’ of Filming Home Town After Shoulder Surgery (Exclusive)

Ben Napier had to restrain himself during the filming of the upcoming season home town (premiere on January 7).

The HGTV star tells PEOPLE that the hardest part of filming the new episodes while recovering from rotator cuff surgery earlier this year was “not stepping in” if someone else was carrying something heavy.

“You’re the biggest dude in the room,” Ben’s wife and colleague, Erin Napier, points out to her husband.

“I have to step in and help and it was hard not to,” explains Ben, 40.

“It still worries me when he says, ‘No, I can do that,'” admits Erin, 38. “He still shouldn’t be lifting really heavy things with his left hand. I’m getting nervous.”

The lumberjack had surgery in March, and while his road to recovery has been long, you wouldn’t know it from what’s been shown on TV.

“There’s only one episode where his shoulder is part of the story,” Erin reveals. “In the beginning, when he had the surgery, that was the episode we were working on and after that it just doesn’t need to be there, because it becomes a bit redundant to have a shoulder problem in every episode for the whole season.”

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

During the couple’s interview with PEOPLE, they also recounted an incident that occurred when they gave a speech at a Southern Baptist college a few days after the surgery.

“I took mine [pain] medicine right before I went in and it hit me while I was on stage,” Ben said.

“My confidence went up and I couldn’t keep my train of thought,” he recalled. “I knew what was going on the whole time.”

Ben Napier Once Accidentally Took Painkillers Before Speaking Engagement: ‘My Confidence Soared’ (Exclusive)

The experience was particularly upsetting for Ben.

“I never drank. I never took anything so it was like, ‘oops,'” He said.

Erin noted that the new season also captures a FaceTime call she had with Ben while he was still on post-op medication.

Gary Gershoff/Getty

Ben jokingly replied, “I don’t know. I don’t remember this FaceTime at all because I was on drugs.”

HGTV’s Ben Napier recovers from shoulder surgery with ‘best nurse in the business’ wife Erin by his side

After Ben’s surgery in March, Erin posted a photo of her husband sprawled out on the couch wearing a hospital bracelet and arm sling.

She included a list of the procedures he underwent in the caption, writing: “Rotate cuff repaired ✅ bone spur shaved ✅ cartilage trimmed.”

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The photo also revealed a sweet get-well message with crayon hearts signed by the couple’s older daughter, Helen, 5.

Erin, who also has a two-year-old daughter Mae with Ben, added: “Best nurse in the business.”

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Source: HIS Education