How Jonathan Scott’s Family Tragedy Influenced ‘Property Brothers: Under Pressure’
What To Know
- Jonathan Scott shared how the series premiere of Property Brothers: Under Pressure connected to his personal life.
- Jonathan also shared an update on the rebuilding process of his fiancée Zooey Deschanel’s childhood home.
- Both Deschanel’s family and the HGTV show’s first client lost homes in the January 2025 California wildfires.
A personal tragedy helped Jonathan Scott connect with his and Drew Scott‘s first-ever Property Brothers: Under Pressure clients.
The twins’ latest HGTV series follows the brothers as they help clients navigate the ups and downs of the home-buying and renovation process. The show’s Sunday, March 15, series premiere saw the pair work with a couple who lost their home in the January 2025 Eaton wildfire in California. That same month, Jonathan’s fiancée, Zooey Deschanel, lost her childhood home in the Pacific Palisades fire.
In an interview with People published on Friday, March 20, the brothers said they are normally “emotionally detached” from their TV clients’ stories in order to approach a project with clarity. However, that wasn’t the case with the couple from Property Brothers: Under Pressure‘s premiere.
“We really tried to be not only there to help renovate [their new] home, but also be some support for them,” Jonathan told the outlet. “At one point, I took them to the project I’m rebuilding — Zooey’s family home that burned — and I think knowing that we’re going through the same thing at the same time was good for them.”
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Jonathan also shared an update on the reconstruction of Deschanel’s childhood home, stating that they recently “poured the slab” at the property. He noted that the new home will be both fireproof and earthquake-proof so that Deschanel’s parents will “never have to worry about being displaced again.”
Jonathan and Deschanel began dating in 2019 and got engaged in 2023. In January 2025, Deschanel took to Instagram to reveal that her family’s beloved home had burned down.
“My childhood home. A marvel of 1920s Spanish revival architecture. Full of too many incredible memories to count, it was one of the oldest homes in the Palisades and so spectacularly beautiful,” she captioned before-and-after photos of the house. “It was not a mansion but it was cozy and lovely and unique and perfect to me. One of my friends growing up called it ‘The Church’ because the 14 foot ceilings with stained glass windows in the living room cast colorful shadows at the end of the day. And to me it was holy, a sanctuary where we felt most safe.”
Deschanel revealed to People in December 2025 that Jonathan “came to the rescue” by taking charge of the rebuilding process. “We just started. It takes a while to get everything designed,” she said at the time. “It takes a while to just get everything squared away.”
HGTV
Jonathan previously visited what remained standing of the house in a March 2025 YouTube video, informing others affected by the wildfires how they could rebuild with fire-resistant materials.
“So many memories here. It’s heartbreaking. I’m trying to focus on the steps of what we have to actually do to build back,” Jonathan stated. At the end of the video, he added, “If there’s any silver lining to all of this craziness, it’s that we have an opportunity to build back better, safer, smarter. We could actually make these cities of the future.”
Property Brothers: Under Pressure, Sundays, 9/8c, HGTV
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