Jenny Marrs was initially hesitant to join “Fixer to Fabulous,” but the HGTV show she co-hosts with her husband, Dave Marrs, has become a massive success. Despite their fame, Jenny remains grounded and relatable, which is a significant part of the show’s charm. “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’s down-to-earth nature and emotional honesty have endeared her to fans. She has been open about her anxieties, including her fear of flying. Traumatic incidents have contributed to this fear, such as an engine fire that forced an emergency landing. Another harrowing experience 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 resonated with fans who shared their own difficult flight experiences. Jenny often relies on her faith to find peace in tough times, and many commenters shared similar coping strategies.
Besides her fear of air travel, Jenny also has a fear of heights. During the first season of “Fixer to Fabulous,” she faced this fear while renovating a home’s balconies and turrets, which had grated metal floors that provided a full view of the ground below. Her anxiety peaked as she watched Dave stand on an adjoining section of the roof 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 when she and her jumping partner discovered their parachute was torn. Although they landed safely, the experience was terrifying. Jenny’s candidness about her fears has garnered sympathetic responses from fans, who appreciate her bravery in confronting her anxieties.
Jenny and Dave have five children, and managing their busy schedules can be challenging. Their daughter, Charlotte, takes ballet classes, and Jenny has admitted she often forgets about 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.” She also struggles with crafting a sleek ballet bun and often forgets to replace Charlotte’s worn-out tights. Fans praised Jenny for her honesty, and fellow dance parents commiserated with her on the difficulties of managing multiple activities.
The Marrs family’s activities sometimes 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 to play basketball. However, as Dave has explained in interviews, their kids’ participation in the show is entirely voluntary. Despite the logistical challenges, 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.
Even though it’s her job to create TV-worthy home designs, Jenny’s own home isn’t always immaculate. 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 of her home’s untidiness. 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 child, Luke, driving various wheeled riding toys throughout the home’s hallways.
Packing for trips can also be chaotic and messy. In June 2024, Jenny shared a photo of jumbled clothes, proving she’s just like the rest of us. With five kids, there’s the added challenge of arranging childcare and ensuring everything runs smoothly when she and Dave have to 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.”
Balancing work and family life is a constant challenge for Jenny and Dave. After a busy workday, they try to decompress during the drive home and prioritize having dinner together with their five children. However, work talk sometimes intrudes on dinnertime. “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, the family works as a team, and the kids help clean up after meals. “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. When they need to travel for work, they try to bring their children along whenever possible to spend more time together.
Jenny’s emotional connection to her family is evident in her reactions to changes in their home. During a March 2024 episode of “Fixer to Fabulous,” Jenny cried as they demolished the walls of 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 five children through the years,” one 86-year-old fan commented on Instagram. Jenny had long wanted to be a mom, and she’s experienced many ups and downs along the way. Her first pregnancy was difficult, and her twins had to remain in the hospital for 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 turned nine. However, Jenny also takes time to acknowledge the joys of her kids’ childhoods. In 2021, as summer vacation wound down, Jenny took a social media hiatus to focus on spending time with her kids before school started.
Jenny Marrs’ relatable and down-to-earth moments have made her a beloved figure on “Fixer to Fabulous.” Her honesty about her fears, her struggles with parenting, and her emotional connection to her family resonate with fans, making her a truly relatable HGTV star.
Source: Craig Barritt/Getty Images, Kelly’s Korner, Family Life Radio, Better Homes & Gardens, Yahoo Life
