Jonathan Scott Opens Up About âReally Hardâ Experience of Zooey Deschanelâs Family Loss

Drew and Jonathan Scottâs new HGTV series âProperty Brothers: Under Pressureâ has a more emotional edge than their other shows. Jonathan revealed that his experience supporting fiancĂ©e Zooey Deschanel after her family lost their home in the Los Angeles fires shaped how he connected with a couple on the show facing a similar loss.
Jonathan Scott Recalls the âEmotionalâ Toll of Zooey Deschanelâs Family Loss
In a March 2026 interview with âExtra TV,â the brothers discussed their new show, which involves working with smaller budgets.
âWeâre in a housing crisis,â Drew noted. âA lot of people across America, they canât afford to live where they work.â
He added, âWe didnât take on massive budgets this season. We took smaller budgets for people who truly needed the help because they didnât see any way to get what they needed.â
On the show, the brothers helped one couple who lost their home in the L.A. fires, something Jonathan could personally connect with.
âZooeyâs familyâs home of 42 years burned in the fires and her parents lost every memory they had, every single thing,â Jonathan explained. âThey literally didnât even have clothes when they left the house. And so it was really hard for us and emotional.â
Jonathan noted that heâs in the process of rebuilding the Deschanel family home. âWeâre rebuilding and Iâm excited,â he said. âAnd theyâre fortunate, they have a builder in the family.â
Drew Scott Discusses the Stress of Tight Home Budgets
In a March 2026Â interview with Collider, Drew explained more about the tight budgets on their show.
âThey just canât afford to live where they work and itâs such a sad thing,â Drew shared. âYou shouldnât have to drive one, two hours each each way every day. Like, thatâs just awful.â
âAnd so the budgets are the biggest difference too in this season,â the HGTV star continued. âWe had a lot of people that applied for the show that had massive budgetsâ who wanted âto do a full renovation.â
He explained. âWe turned that down. We really wanted to work with the people where they had nowhere else to go. They didnât know what to do. We had budgets from $35,000 up. Literally, Jonathan and I were banging our heads on the wall sometimes trying to figure out how can we make this happen within their budget.â
Drew added, âSo, it was a huge puzzle and there were moments where Jonathan and I didnât know if we were going to be able to do it. And you see that stress on camera.â