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Actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore continues to delight in her friendship with HGTV‘s Erin Napier, who is equally amazed that the star is one of her friends. That was evident in a sweet video Barrymore posted on Instagram on February 20, 2023, revealing she was watching Napier’s show, “Home Town,” when the designer briefly talked about meeting her.
In the Instagram video, Barrymore filmed herself watching Sunday’s episode of “Home Town.” She showed Erin and her husband Ben on the screen, answering random questions from one of their producers. One of the prompts provided was “The one person I would geek out the most by meeting would be…” and Ben quickly answered Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University’s head basketball coach from 1980 to 2022, and then added, “But I got to meet him last year.”
When Erin said she couldn’t think of anyone, he suggested Barrymore and her face lit up.
Wide-eyed, she exclaimed, “Drew Barrymore — and then I met her! They say never meet your heroes, but we were both incredibly impressed with our heroes. They were lovely.”
Barrymore then turned the camera on herself, with her hand covering her mouth in surprise, and giddily said, “And now we’re friends!”
How Did Drew Barrymore & Erin Napier Become Friends?
When Erin Napier saw Barrymore’s video post, she commented, “Why do I feel like crying right now” and added two red heart emojis.
Napier and Barrymore first connected in February 2021, when she and her husband appeared virtually on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
During that appearance, she told Barrymore, “I’ve been, like, your biggest fan since…my whole life, basically, so this is a really big moment for me.”
Later that year, Napier and Barrymore’s friendship blossomed when the “Home Town” couple traveled to New York to appear as in-studio guests on the show and the two women fawned over each other in-person.
As the couple sat down on her set, Barrymore exclaimed, “I can’t believe I’m sitting with you in person and not on my couch, savoring ‘Home Town’ and watching you guys on television!”
Erin agreed, “Same Drew, same. I need a minute.”
After Ben revealed that meeting Barrymore was Erin’s “dream come true,” she shared that Barrymore had long been her creative and style inspiration.
“You were seriously my all-time favorite in high school,” she said. “I cut my hair off to look like you.”
Pointing to her blonde pixie cut as Barrymore gasped, she continued, “Oh yeah, this is the grow-out from my Drew Barrymore cut, freshman year of college.”
After appearing on the show, Erin posted a photo from the set on Instagram and wrote, “Today I met my childhood hero in person and hugged her neck and thanked her for the inspiration for this short haircut of mine that made @scotsman.co notice me on our college campus and ask me out on this day, 17 years ago. So, thanks @drewbarrymore for our love story. WHAT A DAY.”
Though the two women may seem like their lives are incredibly different — with Barrymore in the Big Apple and Napier in tiny Laurel, Mississippi — they actually have multiple things in common, including each having two young daughters, loving creative projects and home design, and both being committed to using their platforms to spread positivity.
Drew Barrymore Continues to Inspire Erin Napier’s Style & Cheer Her On
Barrymore’s influence on Napier’s style didn’t end in college. For one thing, she continues to use the star’s short haircut as inspiration. According to Southern Living, Napier shared additional details about her love of Barrymore’s style via her Instagram Stories in late 2021, alongside a Polaroid photo of herself wearing overalls back in high school.
“I cut it all off the first week of college,” she wrote about her hair. “This was senior year (of high school). I took photos of @drewbarrymore to the salon when I made the big cut. Still do.”
Barrymore also swooped in to help when Napier needed a last minute dress to present at the 56th annual CMA Awards in November 2022. Invited just 10 days before the show, Napier said she called Barrymore.
“It’s true,” she told HGTV on the red carpet. “We’ve gotten to know each other a little bit. I didn’t know how to get a dress that quickly and Drew helped me get this one.”
According to HGTV, Barrymore called the Marchesa design house directly, which created Erin’s textured, floral dress with flounce sleeves and got it to her quickly.
In January 2022, Barrymore cheered Napier on when she opened up on Instagram about panic attacks and a deep fear of sickness, which she said stem from spending nearly a decade spiraling from a mystery illness that was eventually found to be caused by a perforated appendix.
“This is something you don’t know about me, but I don’t mind if you do,” she wrote. “It’s not bad or good, it’s just part of my weird brain and I’m trying to untangle it every day, even as you may see happy news and posts from me.”
Barrymore hopped into her comments, writing, “I love you @erinapier and THIS DOES HELP TO KNOW and I believe we are lucky to have a window into you that will also help others!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing. Ps rely on us right back. Everyone loves you!!!!”
During their December 2021 appearance on her show, Barrymore shared some of the reasons she loves the Napiers so much.
“You are very healing,” she told them. “I really turn to you guys, not only because design is my biggest passion in life, and food, mostly eating food. But when it comes to design, you guys are both brilliant and healing.”