Why HGTV star Erin Napier says birthday was 'saddest party in the world'

Erin Napier's introduction to her 40s was a bit rough.

The HGTV star and wife of Ben Napier reflected on her emotional 40th birthday during the June 7 episode of "The Heirloom" podcast. Erin's milestone celebration coincided with a devastating hotel fire on the Napiers' series "Home Town: Inn This Together."

The four-part interior design show follows Erin and Ben Napier, along with their friends Jim, Mallorie and Josh, as they work to renovate the Kress building, a dilapidated structure from 1930 located in Laurel, Mississippi, and convert it into The Heirloom hotel.

However, on Aug. 26, 2025, a fire ravaged the 29-room boutique hotel, destroying the two years of construction that had been taking place. Napier's birthday fell on Aug. 30.

"Mallorie had volunteered to host my 40th birthday party, and I was like, 'We are not having the party this weekend. That is not happening,''" Napier said. "And Mallorie said, 'I need to be with all my people.'"

Napier said the stress and emotional toll of the fire overshadowed the party's atmosphere.

"So, we had the party, and it was the saddest party in the world," Napier continued. "All I wanted for my birthday was to eat dip. So, we ate dip and cried."

But for Napier's costar Josh, maintaining a sense of community in the fire's aftermath was a gift for everyone.

"The locals understood how hard we had been working, but the public had not," Josh said. "They don't really know until these episodes have aired how hard we were all working to make this happen. And so, that was pretty special to have friends and just to be around each other."

Napier jokingly added, "We all had a little funeral."

The "Home Town: Inn This Together" finale aired on May 31, but the episode does not go into detail on the fire or the hotel's renovation process. A timeline on when The Heirloom property will be repaired and open for guests has not been made available.

"While we don't know exactly what's next, that doesn't mean that we're not thinking about it," Napier's costar Jim said on "The Heirloom" podcast.

"What this has given us is an opportunity to kind of dream about what's next. We have a vision and we have goals for our community, for ourselves, for our state – and we continue to want to make it better. So, I think some really cool things are down the pike."

Contributing: Bonnie Bolden and Ross Reily, Mississippi Clarion Ledger