The Big Picture
- Property Brothers stars Drew and Jonathan Scott are helping decorate the White House for HGTV and Max’s annual special with a theme celebrating ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ 200th anniversary.
- Drew and Jonathan are planning a caroling get-together with family, including their brother JD Scott, and their respective partners, Linda Phan and Zooey Deschanel.
- Drew and Jonathan share their favorite moments from transforming the White House for the holiday season and spending time with First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.
With Christmas just a hop, skip, and jump away, the Property Brothers stars Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott are helping get fans ready for the big day by bringing festive cheer to America’s most iconic home. The beloved twins, best known for their home renovation and real estate TV shows and an empire of home products, are helping decorate the White House in the White House Christmas 2023 special, now available to stream on MAX. Ahead of the new year and in support of Celebrity IOU Season 7 arriving next month, the Scott brothers talked to Collider exclusively about the Christmas special and their holiday plans with family, which involve a bit of that snowy Canadian charm.
White House Christmas
HGTV gives an exclusive tour of the White House holiday transformation with a different set of designers every year.
- Release Date
- December 20, 1998
- Creator
- HGTV
- Seasons
- 24
- Network
- HGTV , HBO Max
How the ‘Property Brothers’ Are Celebrating Christmas
In addition to sharing how “caroling” is going to be a big part of their holidays, Jonathan tells Collider how there is going to be plenty of “food [and] frivolity” this season but that it always comes to be more about the time they spend together as a large family. “Drew and [Linda] are coming over here next week,” Jonathan said. “We’re having a little caroling get-together, so we’re gonna sing Christmas carols and have some good food and some good drinks.”
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The “we” of it all also include the twins’ parents Jim and Joanne, their brother JD Scott, and Jonathan’s fiancée, actress Zooey Deschanel, and her two children. Jonathan popped the question to Deschanel earlier this summer during a visit to Scotland after dating for four years and having possibly one of the most adorable meet-cutes during an episode of Carpool Karaoke. It was a moment the two took to Instagram at the time to share that their “forever starts now.”
Drew shares how the tradition of caroling and spending time together started when they were first kids. “Jonathan and me, our parents, and our older brother, JD, we would always every year, get together at the holidays,” he told Collider. “We would go door-to-door to our neighbors and friends caroling to them, and by the end, we’d have, like, 40 people, my dad and me playing the guitar, sometimes Jonathan would play the bagpipes.”
“Most of the time I would dress up as Santa,” Jonathan interjects. “But the one thing I do miss, because in Canada where we were at the holiday time, there was always snow and so it was nice to have the snow, so I actually got the snow machine and I’m putting in a little snow area on the property here so our kids and — and Drew is going to bring [his son, Parker] over, so they can experience what snow is because they don’t get any.”
Drew and Jonathan Scott Reveal Their Favorite Part of ‘White House Christmas 2023’
Premiering earlier this month on HGTV and now available to stream on MAX, Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott took up the White House Christmas special mantel for the network, helping to transform America’s most famous home this year. Alongside 300 dedicated volunteers from across the country and White House Residence staff, this year’s theme was the “Magic, Wonder and Joy of the Holidays,” which is set to capture the pure, unfiltered delight and imagination of childhood. Not to mention, it helps encourage everyone to open their hearts to the joys the holiday season brings.
With a magically whimsical theme brought to life by an outstanding collection of decorations, including more than 142,000 holiday lights, 98 Christmas trees, 33,000 ornaments, and 22,000 bells. There are many inspirational décor ideas fans can recreate at home, the brothers tell Collider what their favorite part of helping assist in the celebrations was.
“The one thing for me that I love is that it’s brought throughout the entire design Twas the Night Before Christmas,” Drew said. “This is the 200-year anniversary of the publication and that’s pretty cool to me. I have some old vintage books and children’s books — I didn’t have that, so when I went in and we’re looking at the old books and then we see how they carry that throughout with the reindeer as soon as you walk through the doorway, everything about it was magical.”
Drew, admits how he also really loved the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden’s vision for this year’s Christmas at the White House. “The whole thing she wanted to be brought to life was this sort of childhood whimsy and it really did, it did happen.”
Jonathan’s favorite part of the White House Christmas 2023 special is one that also wowed yours truly. “Some people may think, ‘How on Earth are you going to do these things, like have a giant Christmas tree that’s growing through the East portico roof, or having the reindeer flying?’ And as soon as those ideas were conveyed, then all of a sudden our minds started working,” he said. Alongside the hundreds of volunteers and companies helping to lend their support, Jonathan admits the entire thing was quite “magical” to see come together. “You walk through there and you feel like you’re a kid again. That was actually the greatest part of it, is that one big tree growing through the East portico. The idea was all the presents, all of the tree, it was all oversized so that you feel, as an adult, like you are a kid again looking up at the tree. It was amazing.”
The ‘Property Brothers’ Get a Guided White House Tour From First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden
One of the coolest parts of HGTV and Max’s White House Christmas 2023 is not only the chance to work alongside volunteers to celebrate the best of the season’s joys and magic but also get a guided tour of the fully decorated home by First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. FLOTUS takes Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott on a tour of the historic home, who both admit meeting her was an incredible moment.
“Dr. Biden is an educator and so she’s all about books. She teaches literature, and so for me, it’s almost like when you’re in her presence, she is fully in on whatever you’re saying, whatever you’re talking about, and she’s really engaging in that way,” Drew said. “I love that when you’re having a conversation with somebody — and I love that the idea of educating children through story was the entire idea of this design. It was pretty cool.”
Jonathan, who decorated the White House last year with fiancée Zooey Deschanel, praises Dr. Biden’s kindness and how “so down to Earth” she is. Upon his first meeting for the HGTV special now available to stream on MAX as well, he shares how she wanted to make sure everyone felt represented because “this is the people’s house.” With such respect, Jonathan knew he had to return – this time with his younger twin brother, Drew. “It was really nice to be back again and to see it all come to life and showcase that,” Jonathan adds. “It’s a magical place. It’s the most famous house in the country and now we get to say we decorated it.”
The Property Brothers Hope to Get Back at It for Christmas 2024
Drew Scott adds how walking around the White House was “cool” too, as there was plenty of crafting going around. “Next year, we’re probably gonna bring our mom with us because she loves this, and Zooey and Linda love crafting,” he said. “But we’re seeing all the things like creating paper rings or popcorn strings. There were a lot of things that they were doing, the volunteers were doing with us, that was literally what we did as children, so that was fun. It was almost like my young nostalgic Drew coming back for a little bit of that.”
Jonathan Scott hopes when Property Brothers fans and audiences watch the show this season, they can watch it and take inspiration home. “There are so many projects that people will learn from watching it that they can do immediately.”
White House Christmas 2023 starring the Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, is available to stream on Max in the U.S. and Discovery+ in Canada.
Watch on MAX
