In 2011 while speaking with REM Online, Drew remembered, “Our agent said it couldn’t be done. We did it. We bought a $220,000 house and lived for a year rent-free and made $40,000 or $50,000 when we sold it a year later.”
Drew went on to voice his disdain for real estate people in the area adding, “After continually being told by realtors that it’s impossible to do certain investments and then proving them wrong, we decided to license and do it ourselves.”
The Property Brothers
Jon took what he learned from his own housing hardship and applied it to a TV show where he helped people in similar situations.
He makes up half of the Property Brothers duo and attracted attention due to his real estate savvy. It’s been full steam ahead since then!
Jon's Path
From the beginning, Jon found that the straight and narrow way of life wasn’t for him. Although he dipped his toe in several professions, Jon kept one eye on conquering the entertainment world and the other on sitting atop the real estate business, never taking both eyes off the ultimate prize of success.
His career in the entertainment industry would skyrocket.
Magician
He took a versatile approach to life, having a bit of success in many different endeavors whilst growing up.
From trying his hand at magic or starting his own independent film company, it all seemed possible as he entered manhood. However, financial matters soon took center stage.
Jumping Headfirst
Jon was a little nervous about jumping headfirst into the entertainment business for fear of being out of work. So he started with property development.
Along with his brother, Drew, they would purchase a house, fix it up and then flip it for a much larger sum than they bought it for.
Real Estate
In 2011 while speaking with REM Online, Drew remembered, “Our agent said it couldn’t be done. We did it. We bought a $220,000 house and lived for a year rent-free and made $40,000 or $50,000 when we sold it a year later.”
Drew went on to voice his disdain for real estate people in the area adding, “After continually being told by realtors that it’s impossible to do certain investments and then proving them wrong, we decided to license and do it ourselves.”
Their TV Show
Drew and Jon’s hard work and dedication paid huge dividends in the end and eventually led them to land their first TV show, Property Brothers.
Jon will be the first to tell you that it was the perfect confluence of his life passions—real estate and showbiz.
Dream Homes
The show’s theme is about helping homebuyers find a good home, fix it up to match their dreams, and do it all within their personal budgets.
This is a vehicle to fully employ their knack for property buying, charisma, and other skills and has since led to other ventures in film, books, and radio.
Jacinta Kuznetsov
Scott’s professional life was enhanced by his personal life in 2015 when he met a gorgeous blond, Jacinta Kuznetsov.
The couple set sail on a serious relationship after meeting a charity event and it was the beginnings of what Jon would once describe as “truly special” as recently as 2017.
New Love
Scott wasn’t shy about showing off his love for Jacinta at all. He shared sweet and romantic Instagram photos of the two of them and somehow found a way to include her in his TV show too.
The two moved in together and seemed to have a very bright future in front of them.
Finding Joy
In an interview with People in 2017, Jon said, “We definitely want to get married and have kids, but we’re just finding joy in our relationship and still learning about each other as well.
We’ve only been dating a year and a half, but I don’t think we’ll wait seven years like Drew did before we decide what we’re going to do.”
So What Happened?
Unfortunately, though, the wait came to an end in 2018 when the two decided it would be best to go their separate ways.
Luckily, neither side seems to have any hard or ill feelings toward the other, the abrupt end to their relationship notwithstanding.
Unexpected Paths
In April 2018 Jon recalled in an Instagram post “When I met Jacinta in the fall of 2015, I met somebody kind and courageous and a champion for human/animals rights.”
“We grew to respect each other fiercely and know that will remain unchanged for the rest of our lives. Sometimes life takes you on unexpected paths and those paths aren’t always in the same direction.”
Heartfelt Post
The heartfelt post by the real estate tycoon ended with, “There’s no drama or negativity; no jealousy or hate.
Not even sadness or sorrow. Our memories are filled with joy and we will continue to advocate for each other as friends wherever we go.” It was touched off with a photo of the couple petting some cute baby elephants.
Chapters Change
Jacinta for her part took to social media as well to give her take on what happened.
After retweeting Jon’s statement and then adding “An abundance of love for J has been a beautiful and rewarding time of my life. However, life is funny and sometimes chapters change and this one has.”
It Was Mutual
She went on, “We have deep love and respect for one another but have gone separate ways. I lovingly reflect on everything accomplished together and am so proud of who he is and the love we gave each other.”
So things appear to be mutual.
One Final Post
She ends the message by posting a shot of her and Jon dressed as characters from the Grinch.
And these final words, “We will continue to be a part of each other’s lives as friends, and never stop planning what greatness we can create in this world. (Makeup by me, when I made him the Grinch).”
Not His First Break-Up
Furthermore, this wasn’t Jon’s first breakup. In fact, before meeting Jacinta, he went through another emotional time in his life for several years.
In 2007, Scott married a woman by the name of Kelsy Ully, who worked for Westjet, but their marriage didn’t last due to resentment and hate.
Incompatibility
The happy couple didn’t stay happy for long, filing for divorce in 2009. For his part, Jon chalks it up to being immature and incompatible with each other.
In a People interview in 2017, he said, “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.”
His New Girl
More recently Jonathan began dating another celebrity, this time his new sweetheart is Zooey Deschanel. The Property Brothers star and New Girl alum first met while filming for Carpool Karaoke in September 2019, and hit it off almost instantly.
The news of the unlikely romance came shortly after Deschanel split from her husband of four years, Jacob Pechenik. The exes share daughter Elsie Otter and son Charlie Wolf.
Celebrating as a Couple
Since then, their relationship has grown even stronger and the lovebirds have shared a number of major romance milestones along the way. The HGTV star and the actress celebrated their first Thanksgiving together shortly after making their red carpet debut as a couple.
Recently, Jonathan Scott called Deschanel his "perfect person" in an Instagram post. Now isn't that sweet?
Caught Off Guard?
The home improvement expert revealed that his relationship with the Elf actress was “a pleasant surprise” after the pair met while filming Carpool Karaoke with their siblings. "It’s definitely special for me because I am the guy who raises the bar in what I’m looking for in a partner," he said at the time.
"I was caught a little off guard." He said in response to their meeting. Now that the couple has been going strong for a few years, many are wondering if they'll tie the knot?
Rumors of Engagement
With all the commotion about their blossoming relationship, pretty soon people were talking about them getting married.
Jonathan clapped back at engagement rumors in November 2020. “I’m pretty confident that I will ask my girlfriend to marry me before I tell a reporter." It seems we'll have to wait a bit longer to hear any more news...
Drew’s Honeymoon House
Jon still manages to focus on his career, even now more than ever with particular attention paid to his and his brother’s entertainment production company.
The two brothers starred in a five-episode series entitled Property Brothers at Home: Drew’s Honeymoon House.
Linda and Drew
Furthermore, Jon and his brother Drew began filming a new show entitled: "Linda & Drew Say I Do," it June aired.
His relationship with Zooey is still going strong, and it's nice to see that both the brothers are together with someone they love.
Top-Rated Show
As far as home improvement dramas go, Drew and Jonathan reign supreme. The Canadian twins who worked birthdays as clowns and underwear models before getting their big break as hosts of HGTV’s top-rated reality series, Property Brothers--have made one of the most binge-able home-improvement shows the world has ever seen.
The show’s premise is simple: each episode is one hour of the brothers cogently persuading their clients to spring for a fixer-upper and use their talents to turn the ugly shack into a palace fit for a king. As primetime home-renovation reality dramas go, it’s a good one. Is it real though? After checking over the show’s casting requirements--along with occasional Reddit comments--it appears that seeing is not always believing on this show. Here is how.
Most Clients Know Going in That They Can't Afford That First House
The buyers, the money, the houses and neighborhood might change, but the overall premise of the show always stays the same: Drew and Jon, armed with boyish charm and logic, convince couple after couple to give up their dreams of buying a turn-key home and instead take on a fixer-upper, with the twins help of course.
Each show starts the same. The potential buyers are shown a home that falls in line with what they’re after later to find out that the cost of the home is far beyond their listed budget. Cruel, right? But with Property Brothers in its fifth season (as of this writing) it’s a little hard to believe that the show’s premise hasn’t been spoiled for the clients by now, thus ruining the surprise. Since the buyers know at the time they apply that a renovation project is always part of the show, otherwise, Jonathan would have no reason to be there and the show would just be Drew or Property Brother, they know that the turn-key home is not going to be the home they live in. So…
Some of the house-hunting is totally fake
While many of the twins’ potential clients are still shopping around for a house, it seems most of them already have the house they want picked-out, if not under contract. In fact, the application buyers have to fill out to appear on the show asks these potential buyers to submit the address of the property they want to renovate with the presumption that many, if not most, will already be in the proceedings of buying a home.
But how does that translate into the blockbuster show everyone loves so much? The short answer is that the walking-around, touring other houses part of the show is, well, just for show as is the protracted, overly dramatic decision-making process between the clients as to which home they’ll choose. It also translates to many cases of couples having to go through the “acting” part of reality TV involving being torn apart by this apparently darned if you do, darned if you don’t yet overly produced and predetermined decision.
Drew isn't really making all those real estate deals
This may be obvious, especially after the last point made above, that a good number of the buyers on the show are not always using Drew as their real estate agent. Just to be clear. He may be the helm on the occasions when his clients don’t have a home under contract already, as long as they’re purchasing the home in an area where he is licensed as a realtor.
For the show, if you see back and forth negotiations with offers and counteroffer to happen on the episode, it is probably real. But for the people who show up to set with the keys to their new home already basically in hand, Drew is just there for comic relief as he makes fun of Jon and to look pretty on camera, which is fairly adept at.
The sidekick is a setup
Notice how every potential buyer on the show is actually a couple, even if only one of these people is actually buying the home? That’s because when it comes to casting on the Property Brothers, singles in need of a home need not apply unless they have a camera ready wise-cracking, a hard-headed friend with loads of opinions that everyone (no one) wants to hear who can enhance their friend’s decision-making process.
The “sidekick” is someone to banter with, collude with, consult with and, as each show is required to have, someone to turn to and complain, “This is a total gut job.” This a non-negotiable part of each show to which all applicants must comply with. Most of the time, it’s not a concern, as most home buyers are couples anyway and yet, the episodes when a parent, sibling or friend have been dragged onto the program are always a treat.
They don't renovate the whole house
Don’t get us wrong, the Property Brothers do finish the renovation projects they started. All the houses are of sound foundation structure and are definitely livable the twins are done with them. But only about half of the house-maybe three or four rooms total-gets remodeled, renovated and decked out with the bells and whistles with assistance with the brothers help. The big reveal at the end shows more than what’s just on camera, with the camera shot going into a few choice places and avoiding what is still in shambles.
The buyers get to pick which rooms the brothers renovate, but there are rules to this. For example, buyers can get either the kitchen or bathroom redone but not both, which means if they want to appear on the show, clients must make some tough decisions before the cameras are even rolling. Buyers will have to decide where they want all those luxury touches to go: either where they eat or where they, well, do the opposite?
The Big Mid-renovation Surprise
The Property Brother’s formula usually takes on two letdowns per show. The first is when the potential buyers are played into thinking they could actually afford the first house the twins show them, although, as stated before, the buyers know this is imminent. The second disappointment usually happens halfway through the renovation process when the poor couple learns that something has gone terribly awry regarding the project.
A Reddit thread post by a prospective show contestant indicated that a 20 percent, in-case-of-emergency contingency fee is a non-negotiable requirement for any and all participants on Property Brothers. When the buyers make their wish lists at the beginning of the show, they are likely made aware in advance they probably won’t be getting everything they’ve asked for no matter how much they beg or look destroyed in front of the camera when Jon notifies them of the bad news.
Jonathan Doesn't Really Do All The Work
Jon is definitely the figurehead on the Property Brother’s renovation side of their show, but he does hardly any of the heavy lifting or at least not the real heavy stuff.
Although Jon makes appearances at the show defining and pivotal moments throughout the show, like on demo day when the cameras are rolling, the Reddit poster who was in the process of being on the show claimed the vast majority of the work is done by local contractors who aren’t as “TV” friendly as Jon and his brother but who have the manpower, resources and time to do the job correctly.
The Property Brothers don't spend every minute with their clients
If you know the show as so many others do, you wouldn’t be the first person to think that the Property Brothers bring a suitcase and basically move in with you during the renovation and filming process. They don’t become your best friends either. The reality is that the buyers on Property Brothers apparently only see the hosts about once a week whilst their house goes from zero to hero.
As in the show’s casting call, at the time the renovation is completed, you’ll have spent a little more than a week and less than ten days with either Drew of Jon. But you know, most people won’t get to spend a single minute with them, so you’d be one of the lucky ones.
The Drama May Be Scripted
If you were to see how much the bickering and arguing there was on Property Brothers between the potential homebuyers, you might think that each and every couple was going to file divorce papers the second they get off camera the next time and the two will have to go 15 rounds of litigation to figure out who keeps the throne-throne. But rest assured, the fighting is more than likely just another contrived element meant to make the show more watchable.
As it goes, couples who appear on Property Brothers’ are told from the get-go are told that they must either be able to act opinionated or actually be that way in order to create a certain level of interest. So don’t worry about the state of marriage or love or togetherness in America just yet. Those tools won’t be for caving someone’s head in. These conflicts are incited to make for better, more contentious TV.
The Other Brother
Jon and Drew Scott came to fame as the hosts HGTV’s reality show, Property Brother. This has sprung a renovation reality show empire as the brothers have Property Brothers at Home, Buying and Selling and Brother vs. Brother. Depending how big a fan you are, you might have also listened to the hour-long radio show entitled Off Topic with the Scott Brothers.
Tuning into this talk show, one would become familiar with the fact that there is a third brother named JD Scott. He is the elder to his more famous twin little brothers. Although he is associated with the Property Brothers’ empire we never hear a thing from him because he has a ton going on in his life.
He Was Celebrity Impersonator
One of these side ventures happened from 2010 until 2012 when the elder Scott worked as a celebrity impersonator and blackjack dealer, or “Dealertainer” at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. On his LinkedIn profile, it says he performed up to five times a day, ranging from David Bowie or Adam Lambert, all while working his day jo...night...other job as a blackjack dealer. It was a very fun job, but extremely exhausting.
JD had been on stage before, however as a founding member of a sketch comedy group in Canada and is now a founding member of the entertainment company, Dividian Production Group.
The Three Brothers
While all three Scott brothers hail from Vancouver, British Columbia, they now all reside in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jon, Drew and Drew’s girlfriend share a home near the airport and JD lives on his own in Las Vegas. Drew and Jonathan built a 5400-square foot house in Vegas so that they could be close to JD while they weren’t working and so that when mom and dad come for a visit, all three boys are in one location, making family reunions a sinch. But as the New York Times reported in a piece that only mentions JD in one sentence, Drew is hardly ever at home.
While Jon spends more time at home than his brother, he too has an extremely busy production schedule to keep. When they are all at home, they spend time in the game room made specifically with JD in mind complete with an arcade machine with around 60 classic games. Even so, these impromptu family gatherings are few and far between with JD choosing to do his own thing most of the time.
He Keeps it Local
“What an honor to be recognized by MyVegas Magazine in their ‘Top 100 Men of Success’ issue. I am extremely proud to call”... posted by JD Scott on Tuesday, September 23, 2014. One reason you may not hear much about JD is that he focuses much of his undivided attention at the local level. In fact, he’s done a lot for Las Vegas, so much that MyVegas Magazine named him one of their Top 100 Men of Success for making a big difference in the community there.
To show his dedication to this end, he contributed in the Kili Climb 4 Kids charity event, where he among other participants went on an 8-day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to promote awareness for child slavery around the planet. He went to areas of Tanzania to participate in programs that empower young women and girls so they can resist exploitation. JD is passionate about helping children and maybe that’s why he stays out of the public so much. He is a passionate altruist in his community and around the world.
His Girlfriend
JD is in a committed relationship with model and professional makeup artist Annalee Belle. Despite JD staying out of much of the limelight, the two have a very strong presence on social media, though not much of it has resulted in much publicity outside of the social media universe. They make YouTube videos together, including their infamous 2015 “Onesie party,” and are very involved with Facebook and Insta.
It’s not difficult to locate bloopers from a New Orleans photo shoot, footage from the Producer’s Ball and many Instagram and FB posts, not to mention JD’s ancient Vine posts). Also, they’ve made speaking engagements at Montserrat Secondary School about making your dream a reality and have a joint Facebook page called Pinky and Proppy.
In the Tattoo Parlor
JD has quite a few tattoos to the point he’s not even sure how many he has in total. On the radio show, Off Topic With The Scott Brothers that aired on the radio November 24, 2013, JD said that he loves the art of tattoos and wasn’t sure how much ink he had done, but guessed around 10 or 11 if he had to say.
On the episode, they had a tattoo removal specialist to talk about “thinking before you ink,” and although JD is a big fan of the art, he did reveal that the first tattoo - a compass he got at the age of 17 in Mexico-and said that while likes the design, he would consider removing it because it doesn’t fit with his other tattoos. Ever since his first, he has added several larger pieces, like a family coat of arms, bands on his arms and more.
His Own HGTV Web Series
Jonathan and Drew aren’t the only Scott brother’s you will see on HGTV these days. Every once in a blue moon, JD makes an appearance with this brothers, but not many people know he did an online series with other celebrities called Can I Come In: Las Vegas where he led the audience through some of the most interesting homes in his home city.
In one, he checks out Lonnie Hammargren’s house, theme park and museum called Catillo del Sol. Another episode has him introducing us to a small community of homes. Although JD is fun and entertaining in these videos, they weren’t heavily promoted.
He Has a Secret
On a Facebook video, JD confessed to a deep, dark and shameful secret. His fans waited in anxiety-filled anticipation as the stat welcomed people to the Facebook Live video and had some personal words for all his adoring fans. The climax to all of this was the stunning admission that JD is a big Crash Test Dummies fan. He even played their one hit wonder song, ”Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” and sang along for quite a bit.
Surely, this came as a gigantic shock to everyone who has followed his career from blackjack pit to blackjack pit, but luckily for him, he didn’t seem to lose a single fan that day. As for the Crash Test Dummies... perhaps it is the Canadian connection. No matter how you slice it, keeping things from your adoring fans is never easy or a good idea. This could be why he is constantly sidelined-poor choice in music, but I don’t think he’ll mind.
He Shares His Deep Thoughts
With Facebook as his chosen medium, JD has done a series of videos called Monday’s Hot Topic. These were not merely waffling about 90s folk-rock bands or his eternal love for subway sandwiches. The latest one was JD’s hot topic was entitled, “Friendship in the Richest and Loosest Sense of the Word.” JD posts an engaging and interesting message on his page and takes the conversation live as to respond to comments and questions in real time.
It is a platform that is supposed to be open and honest in discussing the “hot topic” and you get to learn a lot about JD’s kindness and ethics and even more so now that he has involved the audience.
He's Busy Riding Roller Coasters
JD has been a busy host on the Great American Country network where he has a show called All American Amusement Parks that takes viewers on a tour of, wow you got it, amusement parks. He goes the full nine by sampling funnel cakes and other fairground delicacies, rides the scariest roller coasters and other rides, brings his swim trunks along for those water slides, all the while talking to other guests and building up how awesome the place is.
The best part is about the show, other than JD of course, is that his companion for that particular episode happens to be a huge fan of the particular park, so he’s been escorted to all the best rides by a local. This angle, along with JD’s charisma, makes this a binge-able show for sure.
He's Making Wondrous Things
JD’s social media footprint has resulted in a massive amount of hardcore fans. Although you don’t hear much about him on the HGTV shows, the news, magazines, or any other place really that prattles on and on and on about his twin brothers, JD’s social fans are many. He has over 100,000 pages likes on Facebook, 62,000 Instagram followers, over 47,000 followers and super fans on a number of other social media sources too. His devotion he give to his social accounts notwithstanding, he made a Patreon page to finance some of his other ventures, which include photo shoots, podcasts, music and much more. He really wants to take his charity work to the next level and then a level above that.
He takes his patrons and investors seriously and even mailed all 46 of them personalized, hand-written holiday cards. He has made over 200 patron-only posts and has a book club for the $80 level on Patreon. Maybe this patron only content is another reason we don’t hear too much from good old JD.
He's Laid Back
For Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary show, Edward Norton made a cameo in Bill Hader’s role as Stefon. The character talked about hot clubs, and said the hottest club, called YANK, was renovated by “the third never-spoken of brother, Proppy.” As seen on his Facebook account, JD thought this was hysterical and said that he, henceforth, would be going by “Proppy” from then on. His little brother Drew put in his two cents by sharing the video on his Facebook page as well. JD is clearly a guy with an outstanding sense of humor and handled the dig with composure.
While JD isn’t as well-known as his brothers, and we rarely hear about what he is up to in the mainstream media, he is definitely out there making his own way in showbiz. All you have to do is pay attention to his social media outlets to get the latest of what he is doing and based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s only a matter of time before he is just as famous as his brothers.