Inside HGTV Star Jonathan Scott's Ex-Wife Kelsy Ully's Life Today
After HGTV's Jonathan Scott decided he was ready to say "I do" to his longtime girlfriend, Zooey Deschanel, he popped the question in August 2023. The pair announced the relationship milestone in an exclusive interview with People, where they revealed that Scott had proposed in his native Scotland after over four years of dating. "Forever starts now," Scott and Deschanel also captioned a joint Instagram post celebrating the happy news. The engagement marked Deschanel's third time making plans to walk down the aisle after splitting from Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard in 2012 and from film producer Jacob Pechenik in 2020. Together, she and Pechenik share two kids, Elsie and Charlie. Meanwhile, Scott's relationship history includes one divorce; he was married to former flight coordinator Kelsy Ully for just over two years.
Per People, the "Property Brothers" co-host met Ully in 2007 and married her shortly after before ultimately calling it quits in 2009. Reflecting on their whirlwind union, Scott acknowledged, "We were young, and there was a rush going into it." Ully was a crew scheduler at WestJet Airlines in Canada who later moved to Las Vegas, where she worked as a hostess for Wynn Resorts. As noted on her LinkedIn, she's now based in San Diego, California, and goes by the name of Kelsy Johnson, suggesting Ully may have also gotten married in the years since her divorce from Jonathan Scott. Furthermore, Ully worked as a customer service director at an animal rescue center based in Austin, Texas, and was a volunteer dog walker for the city. Overall, her profile suggests that Ully is passionate about animals and has a strong background in business administration.
What Jonathan Scott has said about his first marriage
In his 2017 memoir "It Takes Two: Our Story," Jonathan Scott shared the truth behind his brief marriage to Kelsy Ully and recalled how their relationship fell apart during her time working as a waitress for a day club in Las Vegas. He noted how Ully would frequently come home late and spend her time with friends whom Jonathan hardly knew or interacted with. Although she'd insist these hangouts were work-related, the "Property Brothers" co-host couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss, stressing, "Work seemed to be putting more and more distance between us." He also wrote, "And things started going downhill from there."
The turning point came when Ully suddenly removed all traces of him from her Facebook account and changed her relationship status from "Married" to blank. "I asked myself if I had somehow failed her as a husband," Jonathan confessed in his book (co-written by his co-host and twin brother, Drew Scott). "I had never been unfaithful. Or even disrespectful." Despite his attempts to salvage their relationship, Jonathan said it was ultimately all in vain. For a moment, things looked hopeful as he and Ully agreed to try counseling to fix their marriage, but even that didn't end up making a difference. "She moved out, and we filed for divorce," Jonathan concluded.
"I think that one of the biggest things I learned is that you can have two good people who are just not good for each other," the HGTV star told People in 2017 when asked about his biggest takeaway from the experience. Thankfully, it wasn't too late for him and Ully to start over in life. Despite everything, Jonathan remains grateful for the time he shared with his ex-wife, stating, "I don't think I would be in the position where I am now if I didn't have the experiences I've had the past."