HGTV Star Jenny Marrs' Most Relatable And Down To Earth Moments
Jenny Marrs was reluctant to be part of "Fixer to Fabulous," and even as the HGTV show with her husband, Dave Marrs, continues its remarkable success, she remains as grounded as ever. "We don't take any of this for granted — the fact that we get to do what we love, alongside a team of people we adore is an absolute gift," Jenny wrote on Instagram when she announced on June 6, 2024 that the reality series had been renewed for a sixth season. "The fact that you all choose to watch the journey from your living rooms with your families is just something we'll never fully wrap our head around."
Jenny and Dave's ability to keep their fame in perspective is essential to the show's appeal. Jenny's emotionally honest personality also helps her build a devoted group of fans. For instance, she's been candid about her anxieties about flying. Traumatic incidents have contributed to her fear, like when an engine fire brought a flight to a scary conclusion. Another fraught situation occurred when Jenny and Dave traveled to Congo during the adoption process for their daughter Sylvie. "We were greeted by machine guns and our luggage was ransacked by armed guards," Jenny recalled in a June 2023 Instagram post. This post struck a chord with fans who detailed their own difficult flight experiences. Jenny often relies on her faith to help her find peace in tough times, and some of the commenters' coping strategies were similar.
Jenny's fear of heights resurged when she renovated a balcony
Besides her fear of air travel, Jenny Marrs has another relatable source of anxiety: heights. During the first season of "Fixer to Fabulous," Jenny confronted her fear as she renovated a home's daunting balconies and turrets, complete with a grated metal floor that gave her a full view of the ground below. Jenny got even more anxious as she watched Dave Marrs stand on an adjoining section of roof as he worked to remove some of the balcony's railing.
Jenny's fear of heights began in young adulthood when she and Dave went skydiving. "I remember waiting for my turn to jump," Jenny recalled to Kelly's Korner in 2016. "I realized this was a really, really terrible idea." The situation escalated as Jenny and her jumping partner discovered their parachute was torn as they hurtled toward the ground. Although the experience in the air was terrifying, they were lucky. "We eventually landed safely and I kissed the ground while sobbing uncontrollably," Jenny concluded the tale.
In addition to being candid about her fear of heights on "Fixer to Fabulous," Jenny mentioned the anxiety in social media posts promoting the balcony episode. Fans chimed in with sympathetic comments, noting that they also shared this same fear. One Instagram user also praised Jenny for her bravery in working through her discomfort and going on the high balcony.
Jenny Marrs sometimes forgets to take her daughter to ballet class
Jenny and Dave Marrs have five kids with busy activity schedules. The couple's daughter, Charlotte Marrs, dances, and Jenny has admitted she has difficulty with the class's schedule. "I forget about ballet practice 40% of the time (because the other three have sports practices and games that ebb and flow and change days," Jenny admitted on Instagram in June 2022. "Ballet is a standing commitment that — for some reason — always seems to slip my mind." Jenny also confessed that she struggles to craft a sleek ballet bun and often overlooks the task of replacing Charlotte's worn-out tights. Fans praised Jenny for her honesty, and fellow dance parents commiserated with her on the difficulties of bun hairstyles.
Sometimes the kids' activities have to be juggled amid the couple's work on "Fixer to Fabulous." In one episode, as camera crews were filming the Marrs family's reaction to renovations on their own house, the three oldest kids had to leave in the middle of the production so they could play basketball. However, as Dave has explained in interviews, their kids' participation in the show is totally voluntary.
Even though it can be a lot to navigate multiple sporting events in a single day, Jenny keeps it all in perspective. "While the logistics of the day overwhelm me, I absolutely LOVE cheering on my little athletes from the sidelines and I wouldn't trade these days for anything," she wrote on Facebook in 2020.
Jenny Marrs' house isn't TV-ready either
Even though it's her job to create TV-worthy home designs, Jenny Marrs' spectacular home is not immaculate and picture-perfect at all times. Ahead of a 2020 "Today" show appearance that would showcase her home, Jenny joked about her clean-up preparations. "I'll be stuffing things into closets to try to make it look a little less like we live in a seven person zoo," she admitted on Instagram, along with a photo of pillows scattered around and three children's desks blocking the floor near the stairs.
This wasn't the only instance when Jenny candidly shared pictures that documented the untidiness that everyone experiences. Two years later, she posted a photo of her family's dog sleeping on a bunch of toy vehicles piled up on the floor of the kids' playroom. In another post she shared video clips of her youngest kid, Luke Marrs, driving various wheeled riding toys throughout the home's hallways.
Packing can be chaotic and messy, too, and in June 2024, Jenny proved she's just like the rest of us when she shared a photo of jumbled clothes. With five kids, there's the added challenge of arranging childcare and making sure things will run smoothly when she and Dave Marrs have take a work trip. "You have to set up everyone's rides and work with other parents and make sure everybody has the lunch schedule and all of the things before you go," Jenny explained to "Family Life Radio."
Work talk intrudes on dinnertime with Jenny Marrs' kids
Like a lot of parents, Jenny and Dave Marrs are continually balancing their job responsibilities while taking care of their kids. After a busy work day, they try to take some quiet time to decompress as they drive home. They prioritize having dinner together with their five children so they can connect with them. Sometimes, however, Dave and Jenny find themselves talking about work even when they'd rather not. "We're sitting at dinner and Dave says, 'Hey, did you get the light?' And I say, 'Oh, shoot. Let me check,'" Jenny recounted to Better Homes & Gardens.
To help things go smoothly with their evening routine, the family works as a team, and their kids help out by cleaning up after the meal. "We try to be really intentional and be present, which is also hard because we're still working all the time," Jenny explained to Yahoo Life. In particular, she's observed that she's often dealing with a barrage of renovation-related inquiries. "People need answers yesterday on everything."
When they need to travel for work, the couple try to bring their children along where possible, so they can spend more time together. In some cases, they take one of their kids so that child gets a bit of extra attention. Other times, like when Dave and Jenny went to Italy for "Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano," all their kids went with them.
Jenny Marrs cried when they demolished the kids' nursery
Like a lot of parents, Jenny Marrs finds herself wishing that her children wouldn't grow up so fast. She found it particularly hard-hitting when she and Dave Marrs updated their home to reflect their kids' changing needs. During a March 2024 episode of "Fixer to Fabulous," Jenny cried as they knocked down walls that belonged to their kids' nursery. Fellow moms identified strongly with Jenny's emotions. "It reminded me of me and all the tears I have shed for my 5 children through the years," one 86-year-old fan commented on Instagram.
Jenny had long-wanted to be a mom, and she's experienced a lot of ups and downs along the way. For starters, Jenny had a difficult first pregnancy, and her twins had to remain in the hospital four weeks after they were born. Now that she has five kids, she's made many posts documenting the passage of time. "The years seem to have dissolved one into the other so quickly that I almost always feel like I'm playing catch up and am mostly just gripping on tightly, trying to enjoy the wild ride," she remarked on Instagram when her daughter Charlotte Marrs turned nine. However, Jenny's also taken time to acknowledge all the ways she's enjoying her kids' childhoods. For instance, in 2021, as summer vacation wound down, Jenny took a social media hiatus so she could turn her full attention to spending time with her kids before school started. Talk about a juggling act that moms everywhere can relate to.