Ben and Erin Napier say they can only function by never being apart: ‘It’s the only way’

Ben and Erin Napier have been going strong since the early aughts.

The HGTV stars met in 2004 when they attended Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi. Four years later, they got married and the rest is history.

After decades together, the "Home Town" hosts recently shared what makes their relationship and marriage work.

“We’re never apart,” Erin Napier told Entertainment Tonight. “We’ve formed our adult identities around each other.”

Erin Napier was only 19 when she met a then-21-year-old Ben Napier. The two now share daughters Helen, 5, and Mae, 1.

“We totally get that not everybody functions that way, but we do,” added the father of two. “And it’s the only way we can.”

Erin Napier noted that always being together “is the only way we know how to be grownups,” with her husband adding that they “are absolutely the same person.”

“It’s a well-oiled machine, absolutely,” he said of their dynamic. “We apply (that) to everything in our lives, our spiritual life, our parenting life, our work life, our relationship life.”

Over the past couple of years, while successfully continuing to grow their empire, they also expanded their family. Ben Napier touched on how emotional he gets seeing his daughters get older.

“I was already a softie, but now Helen will be dancing to Haim in the morning... while Mae is toddling around eating a banana. I’m a puddle,” he shared. “They’re just so little and innocent.”

He also revealed that it made him reflect on his life, adding, “I’ve never been worried about getting older or mortality or anything until I had little girls. Now I can’t stop it, I can’t hold onto it... It is the worst and the best.”

The couple stopped by TODAY on April 17, where they touched on their love for working together on their renovation projects.

“We love to tell the real stories of small-town America,” Erin Napier said, alongside her husband and “Home Town Takeover” co-stars Dave and Jenny Marrs. “It’s a huge honor, I think, for all of us.”

They also spoke about how their eldest daughter was an incredible nurse after he had rotator cuff surgery. Among the things she did to make her dad feel better was let him borrow her blanket and put “Moana” and “Frozen” stickers on his shoulder.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com