HGTV/YouTube Erin Napier on HGTV's "Home Town"
While live-tweeting during Sunday night’s new episode of her show “Home Town,” HGTV‘s Erin Napier let viewers in on a medical issue that happened behind the scenes, leading to what she called her “super puffy” face and changes in her voice. The mom of two tweeted on January 8, 2023, that she’d needed surgery and IV steroids in the middle of filming the season and that viewers might notice changes in how she sounds or looks in several episodes.
Erin Napier Was Hospitalized Amid Filming New Season of ‘Home Town’
Erin and her husband Ben Napier typically share behind-the-scenes tidbits on Twitter as HGTV airs new episodes of their hit show, “Home Town.” The newest episodes had lots of content to tweet about, from the homeowner who survived brain cancer to the puppets that Erin created — and provided a funny voice for — alongside her best friend Malory and Malory’s daughter, Lucy. At one point during the season 6 episode called “A Solid Foundation,” Erin tweeted information no one expected.
“I was hospitalized with an abscessed tonsil during this block,” she wrote, “so this episode and several others are about to have me with a weird voice and super puffy faced from IV steroids.”
One fan wrote, “Ugh that sounds uncomfortable! Hope you are all recovered!” to which Erin replied, “oh yes, this was May of last year!”
Another viewer tweeted, “I noticed! I was super worried! Glad that all it was! I LOVE YOU and your Family, Erin!”
Many viewers offered wishes for a speedy recovery, despite Erin sharing that it’s been eight months since the ordeal, and others said they didn’t notice any difference in her appearance or voice.
One fan wrote, “Interesting! Didn’t even notice. But every episode since the return, I’ve thought how amazing your skin looks. Positively glowing!”
I was hospitalized with an abscessed tonsil during this block, so this episode and several others are about to have me with a weird voice and super puffy faced from IV steroids. 🫣#HGTVHomeTown
According to the Cleveland Clinic, an abscessed tonsil — known as a “peritonsillar abscess” in the medical field — is typically a complication of tonsillitis and is often caused by the same bacteria that causes strep throat. It also says the condition can be very painful, cause a person’s voice to sound muffled or hoarse, and must be addressed before the swelling blocks the throat.
Erin did share an Instagram post on May 15, 2022, that she’d had a “throat procedure” and was staying overnight at the hospital. She posted a selfie of herself in a hospital bed, with a hospital staffer, Rodney, standing nearby. Erin wrote that he had worked in the hospital cafeteria for many years and had become a comfort to her family through many ups and downs.
She wrote, “Through every one of my family’s illnesses, tragedies and childbirths that have walked through these doors, Rodney was the man in the cafeteria that made you feel like family, who asked how everyone was and remembered them each by name. I’ve never been so happy to see him as I was tonight, expecting a bowl of chicken noodle soup but getting a needed visit with an old friend too.”
Other HGTV Hosts Have Recently Dealt With Medical Issues Causing Changes to Their Appearance
Erin isn’t the only HGTV host to have dealt with an appearance-changing health issue in recent months. Jenny Marrs of “Fixer to Fabulous” spoke up on January 7 when a website questioned whether she’d had plastic surgery given that her lips looked swollen in recent episodes of her show.
“I’ve been waiting for it!” Jenny wrote in her Instagram Story, as reported by Heavy. “NO I did NOT get ‘my lips done’. I had a terrible allergic reaction last year that took months to heal. It was such a nightmare and was so so painful. My lips were swollen and it hurt to talk and eat. I cried every day when we filmed because it hurt so badly to alk. I was in and out of doctors trying everything. It just took time to heal (plus steroids).”
Meanwhile, Heavy previously reported that on December 17, Christina Hall of “Christina on the Coast” and the upcoming “Christina in the Country” posted a photo in her Instagram Stories — which was re-shared by a user on Reddit — to show fans what happened when she got an under-eye filler injection, resulting in months of unintended swelling beneath one of her eyes.
“I know. It’s a scary photo,” she wrote over the image. “In April I had a reaction to under eye filler. Super swollen and it wouldn’t go down with time.”
Along with a second photo, she wrote, “After dissolving them with hyaluronidase and ultrasound frequency to remove the filler. Never again.”