The Untold Truth Of Jonathan And Drew Scott From Property Brothers

Jonathan and Drew Scott became household names after their hit television show, "Property Brothers," premiered on the Canadian television channel, W Network. Since its launch in 2011, the highly successful program has spawned several spin-offs, including "Brother vs. Brother," a home renovation show that saw the twins compete against each other. But while Jonathan and Drew have no problem occasionally throwing their hats in the ring, in real life, they prefer collaborating and working as a team. "We love working together. I think we learn a lot individually. We also learn a lot when we're together," Drew once explained to Today.

Though they have found fame in their home improvement careers, much of the twins' lives remains shrouded in mystery, even to some of their most devoted fans. For instance, not everyone knows that Jonathan and Drew actually have an older brother named J.D. Scott. Many others also might not be aware of Jonathan's recent joy as a bonus dad to two kids. His fiancée, Zooey Deschanel, shares son Charlie, and daughter Elsie with her ex-husband, Jacob Pechenik. "It's really been the joy of my life to dive into these stepdad duties headfirst. I've hit the ground running and love every minute of it," the HGTV star gushed in a 2023 interview. Beyond having an older brother and Jonathan's newfound joy as a parent, here is the untold truth about The Property Brothers.

On April 28, 1978, Jonathan and Drew Scott were born four minutes apart to their parents, Jim and Joanne Scott, in Canada. However, Drew was an unexpected addition, as their parents had been told they were only having one child. "Most people don't know this: I was a surprise! So imagine, you are told you have one baby coming and then you give birth ... the nurses finish up and are getting ready to leave, and the nurse is like, 'I think there's another baby,' and then out I came," Drew recounted in a 2023 interview with House Beautiful.

Regardless of being twins, Jim and Joanne always treated Jonathan and Drew as separate entities, encouraging them to embrace their individuality, right from childhood. Though they never gave it much thought growing up, Jonathan and Drew have come to appreciate their parents' parenting style, which helped them establish their own identities. "As an adult, looking back, I remember how good that felt," Drew explained to Today.

But while Jim and Joanne instilled a sense of self in Jonathan and Drew, the boys also fostered their twin bond. Now, they have grown to cherish it even more, with Drew likening the experience to having a lifelong companion from birth. "The big thing I love about being a twin is you have a built-in best friend; someone that I can whine to, laugh with," he told Today back in 2017.

In the late '80s, Jonathan and Drew Scott picked up an unusual job as clowns, going from amateurs to profit-making professionals in no time. "At 8 years old, we started getting hired out as apprentice clowns and we did that for years until we were making like 50 bucks an hour," Jonathan told People of their former profession. Drew recalled how they "were just sitting there buying candy for all [their] friends." As for their clown names, Drew named himself Curly, while Jonathan, opted for Dimples as his pseudonym.

Before becoming a famous reality star, Jonathan also worked as a magician, creating elaborate illusions and spending thousands of dollars on his act. Fun fact, the HGTV star was born John Ian Scott and only adopted the name Jonathan Silver as his stage name for magic, eventually legally adopting it to become Jonathan Silver Scott.

While he was able to keep his stage name, Jonathan was forced out of the magic business after falling victim to a scam, with all of his props being stolen and sold off by a fellow magician who had promised to give them back. "I was a teenager and I had put all my money into that. I had literally wanted to be the next David Copperfield. And that was all taken away," he shared in an interview with CBS News. Additionally, Jonathan and Drew also had short stints working as mall cops and flight attendants with Westjet, a top airline in Canada.

In their final days of high school, Jonathan and Drew Scott agreed to go into real estate as a way of funding their creative dreams. "Coming out of high school we didn't want to be struggling artists, so we thought, 'Let's invest in real estate,'" Jonathan explained in an interview with Money. "So we bought every book we could read and read every article on real estate we could." This diligent approach paid off for the twins.

During their first year at the University of Calgary, the brothers leveraged the student housing crisis, leading them to purchase their first property — a seven-bedroom home near the college campus. In their memoir, "It Takes Two: Our Story," Jonathan and Drew recounted putting down a $250 down payment for the property which was valued at $200,000 at the time. "The demand for student housing was always high; if we could just break into the real estate market, there was no way we wouldn't make a profit," they wrote in their memoir (via Money).

The new homeowners charged rent to students staying there, and would later flip and sell the house for $250,000, earning them a $50,000 profit. At the time, the twins were only 18. From there, the brothers' real estate career took off. In the years since then, Jonathan and Drew have gone on to build a million-dollar real estate empire, making a name for themselves in the industry.

Before achieving stardom with "Property Brothers," Jonathan and Drew Scott were once working actors. Drew was a body double in the 2001 superhero show, "Smallville," while Jonathan once appeared in an uncredited role on "The X Files." Together, the brothers also appeared on "Breaker High," a Canadian teen dramedy show, among other small roles in TV and short films.

"When I was an actor as a kid, way before hosting or real estate or anything, my first real passion was acting," Drew revealed during an appearance on Greg McKeown's eponymous podcast. "So I started — I did some theater and then we did some — my brother Jonathan and I both did acting at the same time and we did some commercials."

In a 2017 interview with People, Drew opened up about his acting dreams, recounting how he gave it all he had. Despite already having a successful real estate business, in 2007, Drew moved to another city, hoping to make it big as an actor. "My true goal was to be an actor, was to be on TV. I wanted nothing more," he explained. "So I decided to go all in, no excuses, put all the real estate aside, and I moved to Vancouver." Sadly, Drew's dream of being an actor eventually fizzled out. But, as he would later discover, his TV dreams were far from being over.

Actors, reality stars, and real estate moguls, Jonathan and Drew Scott are what many would call a triple threat. Throw singing into the mix and you have an unstoppable duo! In November 2015, the "Property Brothers" stars showed off their musical prowess when they released two country songs, "Hold On," and "Let The Night Shine In" as part of their show, "Property Brothers at Home on the Ranch," on HGTV.

In "Hold On," Jonathan and Drew paid homage to their memorable childhood living on a ranch with their parents, playing guitar around the campfire. "While we were doing this, we were talking with a producer and singer-songwriter from Nashville," Drew explained to Entertainment Tonight. "And we said, 'You know, while we're doing this show, we should write a song and pay tribute to how we grew up.'" In the 2016 music video, Drew and Jonathan cast the spotlight on the importance of family — a theme they hoped fans could relate to. A month later, the brothers released the music video for "Let The Night Shine In," this time opting to throw a party for the joyous track.

The songs were well-received, with "Hold On" charting at No. 24 and No. 38 on the Billboard Country Streaming Songs chart and Hot Country Songs chart respectively. "It's amazing to us that everyone's loved the songs so much, so we'll probably do more," Drew shared in a conversation with People at the time.

Jonathan and Drew Scott may be synonymous with home improvement, but the brothers have also established themselves as successful entrepreneurs. In 2002, Jonathan and Drew teamed up with their older brother, J.D., to start an independent film production company called Dividian Production Group. In a 2010 restructuring, Dividian Production Group became Scott Brothers Entertainment (SBE). Though initially focusing on film, SBE soon expanded into television, with most of its projects centered around Jonathan and Drew's hit reality show, "The Property Brothers." Notably, in 2021, the company received an Emmy nomination after "Property Brothers: Forever Home" was nominated for the outstanding structured reality program category.

In addition to SBE, the twins are also proud owners of Scott Living, an outdoor furniture line launched in 2015. Within its first year, Scott Living raked in a whopping $100 million in revenue. "Scott Living is a natural extension of what we do and our fans had been asking for a furniture and decor collection from us for many years," Drew told Home Accent Today of their inspiration.

Two years later, the brothers expanded their empire with the launch of Casaza, an online all-in-one platform providing curated home designs and tools to people seeking to renovate their homes. In 2022, the brand was fully integrated into Scott Brothers Global — the parent company under which Jonathan and Drew operate their businesses — with its website temporarily being shut down in order to make the transition.

In 2016, Drew Scott got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Linda Phan, whom he first met in 2010. "I've never met another woman like her and once you do, you want to be with her forever," the reality star gushed to People following the couple's engagement. Two years later, Drew and Linda said their "I dos" in a dreamy 300-guest Italian ceremony.

Since getting married, Drew and Linda have welcomed two kids; son Parker born in May 2022, and daughter Piper Rae born in May 2024. Though the couple has kept their relationship out of the public eye, Drew has given fans occasional glimpses into their amazing bond. "14 years together, 6 years married, 2 babies, and a lifetime to go. I love you more and more each day," the reality star gushed for a heartwarming wedding anniversary tribute in a 2024 Instagram post.

After a few unlucky brushes with love, Jonathan Scott eventually found his match in "New Girl" actor Zooey Deschanel, whom he met while filming an episode of James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" in 2019. "From the first moment she walked over to say hello, she had a bounce in her step and an energy about her that made me immediately take notice," Jonathan recalled of their first meeting (via Today). In August 2023, Deschanel and Jonathan got engaged, with the couple sharing the exciting news in a joint social media announcement. "Forever starts now!!!" they captioned the Instagram post.

Between running multiple businesses, starring in several reality shows, and parenting their kids, Jonathan and Drew Scott clearly have busy schedules. Nonetheless, the brothers have managed to pick up some interesting skills over the years. After learning as teenagers that girls preferred dating musicians, Jonathan and Drew were inspired by their Scottish ancestry. "My dad told me that girls like musicians, so I thought, 'Then I'm learning the bagpipes.' It did not get me a single date," Jonathan explained during an event, reported by KSL.com.

But while bagpipes didn't help bag him girls in high school, Jonathan is on a mission to keep his love for the musical instrument alive. During an October 2023 appearance on the "You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes" podcast, the HGTV star relayed his plans to include bagpipes in his wedding to Zooey Deschanel. "Zooey and I have talked about the stuff that we want to do," Scott revealed on the show. "She knows the things that are important to me."

When Jonathan and Drew are not renovating and flipping homes, the brothers also spend time doing Karate together. In fact, they both have earned black belts. Additionally, if you are ever in need of a translator, Jonathan might just be able to help, as he can speak in five languages; Farsi, Spanish, French, Japanese, and of course, English.

In April 2016, Jonathan and Drew Scott released "Dream Home," a home improvement how-to book aimed at providing readers with tips to help bring their dream home to life. "Everyone should enjoy that feeling of calling their dream home 'home.' This book is a fun, easy, step-by-step guide toward making that happen," Jonathan said in a statement to USA Today. The book was a hit, going on to become a New York Times Bestseller the same month it was released.

The following year, the twins released their second publishing, "It Takes Two: Our Story," a memoir chronicling their childhood. "This is showing people what our life lessons were as we grew up, how we were raised," Drew described to People. In the memoir, readers got a glimpse into Jonathan and Drew's meteoric rise to success and the behind-the-scenes of their busy lives.

Additionally, the brothers are children's book authors with two titles under their belt. Their first child-oriented piece, "Builder Brothers: Big Plans" was released in October 2018, with its sequel, "Builder Brothers: Better Together," coming right after in September 2019. "We really enjoyed reminiscing about our childhood while writing this book," Jonathan told People of their inspiration. "Writing books like this means that we get to hold onto those memories even longer, and seeing these brothers come to life is fun for us."