Dave and Jenny Marrs feel nothing but gratitude at the opportunity to transform more homes in their Bentonville, Arkansas community. This loving husband-and-wife duo have struck a chord with viewers ever since their HGTV series Fixer to Fabulous premiered in 2019. Combining Dave’s contractor skills with Jenny’s designer eye has proven a winning formula.
Season 5, which debuts Tuesday, November 7, features 16 episodes. As usual, the couple will work alongside a different set of clients each week, contributing their talents and adding a personal touch to every project. Along with the renovations featured, the couple also will be tackling a renovation on their own property. For fans of the show that means plenty more opportunities to see the couple’s five kids: Twin boys Nathan and Ben, Sylvie, Charlotte and Luke.
Here the Marrs’ tell us about the emotional stories to come.
Entering the fifth season, how is it to see the success of the show and watch your kids grow up through the series?
Dave Marrs: It’s humbling. We are resonating with people. We try to stay authentic and get to know the people we are renovating for. With the Mercantile store, people will drive halfway across the country to visit and see a renovation we did or shop in our store. I hope we continue to stay relevant, and I guess, give people good entertainment.
Jenny Marrs: When we did the sizzle reel for the show, our youngest at the time Charlotte was 2. Now she is 9. For us, it’s like family videos. Old home movies we have, like an archive for our family to look back on one day and see parts of the kids’ childhood. It’s really special. I’ve never thought about the show that way before until recently when I was thinking about how kids have grown. It is like a time capsule.
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What would you say are the biggest challenges you face this season?
Dave: We have construction going on in our house right now. We’re living here while doing it. I would highly recommend anyone thinking about doing that don’t. Move out of your home while it’s getting renovated. We highlight a lot of challenges a lot of people go through in their daily lives this season with renovating our own homes. Trying to make our kids’ space better for them growing up.
Our twin boys were seven years younger when we started the show. It was fine with them sharing a room. Things have changed. We don’t want to move out of our house, but we have the same challenges people do. They love where they live and their community, but their family dynamics have changed and they need to update their space and make it work for them. We’re in the middle of the right now. I thought it would be a quick, easy renovation. And it has become quite a challenge.
So you’re redoing the kids’ spaces?
Dave: We’re moving the boys into their own rooms. We’re renovating and redoing the girls’ bathroom. They are pre-teen girls who need their own space. Jenny is getting a closet finally. We’ve never renovated our bathroom, so we’re doing that. We’re doing something on the exterior. There is quite a bit happening. It’s a big shuffle. We’re shuffling room to room. Jenny and I are living above the garage right now while we’re trying to finish our room. Then we’re going to shuffle everyone again.
During the premiere, you’re helping Sophia, who is moving back to her hometown from Des Moines. This is someone you’ve seen grow up and known including her family for a long time. Did you feel added pressure to make it right given all the investment and this being her first house?
Jenny: We’ve known Sophia since she was a little kid. I was looking back at the photos and she was at our boys’ first birthday party. She was maybe 9. I wouldn’t say there is necessarily pressure, but we know her family so well. I felt like I knew what she would like, but I also felt a little doubt if I did. There is a sense that she trusts us, so you may feel a little bit of an obligation to live up to that level of trust. It was special because she loves England and studied in the English countryside. I love British design and love England as well, so it was fun to incorporate that country and aesthetic.
What can you tell me about the homeowner you help facing deployment? Sounds pretty powerful.
Dave: They are family friends. One of their sons goes to school with our boys, so we’ve known the family for years. It’s hard. This is a dad who is entrusting his family renovation with us. Halfway through he gets deployed, doesn’t get to be at the reveal, doesn’t get to see it. You think about the many stresses in life, and renovation is one of those. To not have your house in order and family set when you leave to go out of the country for up to a year. That can be hard. There was so much trust for us to do that. Everyone who knows us knows we love the military. We love what our service men and women do for our country. So, to be able to honor that with their home was special.
I saw on social media there was a wedding we might see this season. Anything we can find out about that?
Jenny: It’s an incredible story. This year has been a challenge for one of our good friends. She ended up moving back from Arkansas to Nashville after having a brain cyst and had to have surgery. She got engaged, and living with her parents. We’re remodeling a house in time for the wedding. The couple is restarting their lives in this home that belonged to her grandmother. Remodeling it, getting married there. It’s just an amazing story.
It seems like the HGTV family is a tight-knit group. Who have you bonded with over the years? How important is it to have this network of personalities to go to and lean on?
Dave: We’re in a very unique role and position, and having this show. It’s nice to have other people who understand what we’re going through on a day-to-day basis. So many people in the HGTV family have been as supportive as they can be and great friends. We’re with Keith [Bynum] and Evan [Thomas] from Bargain Block. We helped them on a project this year. We walk with Leslie [Davis] and Lyndsay [Lamb] all the time. We bounce stuff off Alison Victoria. They are all great people and do amazing things. The best part is they are willing to help when we need them. Ben and Erin [Napier] too. They’ve been some of the longest ones. They both are always willing to give advice, tips, and clues about what we should be doing or looking for. This is a tight-knit family.
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What do you want to say to viewers this season?
Jenny: We try to tailor these renovations to each family. You’ll see all sorts of new projects and creative things. We just want to say thank everyone for letting us be part of their family. It’s a privilege. There are a lot of choices out there. We’re very grateful.
Jenny, congrats on your book “House + Love = Home: Creating Warm, Intentional Spaces for a Beautiful Life” which will be released soon. This feels like an extension of the show in many ways.
Jenny: It doesn’t feel real. It’s exciting. I’m a little nervous. It’s a very personal thing, but I hope the book is encouraging and inspiring. My goal is really to give people permission to make their home who they are and what they love and not worry about what is happening in the world as far as trends. Embrace your own story. Hopefully, it does that.
Fixer to Fabulous season 5 premiere, November 7, 8/7c, HGTV
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
