12 Surprising Revelations From Property Brothers’ “It Takes Two” Memoir

Jonathan and Drew (born Andrew) Scott are HGTV’s two biggest stars after building up their Property Brothers‘ empire. The Canadian-born twins have made a career out of sharing their life on-screen, but they are also really good at keeping their private life, well, private! But in their recently released second-memoir It Takes Two: Our Story the two of them divulge all the details of their private life, including divorce, bankruptcy, childhood dreams, friendships, and most importantly, how they got to where they are today. Check out our list of the 12 most surprising revelations from It Takes Two: Our Story!

12. Young Entreprenuers

The Scott brother’s have been extremely determined and driven their entire lives, which allowed them to start making money from a very young age. They started their first business (JAM Enterprises) at the age of 7 by selling decorative hangers. They turned a profit by charging $1.75 for hangers that cost .50 cents to make. At first they sold them door-to-door, but after striking a deal with a woman who owned a chain of Americana gift shops in Japan, their business began to grow. They even employed their classmates to help keep up with the demand! Not surprisingly, their interest fizzled after a while and they were on to the next venture.

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11. Clowns For Hire

Their second job was being clowns for hire. They attended clown school and began booking parties through Parks and Rec, earning $50 to $100 an hour. By the time they were 10-years-old they’d saved several thousand dollars! Drew’s clown name was Curly the Clown after he began sporting a bald cap with a tiny hat, while Jonathan wore a rainbow wig and called himself Dimples. They continued to work as clowns for hire until high school when they moved on once again to another business venture.

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10. Charitable Brothers

One of the most impressive things about Jonathan and Drew Scott is how humble they are in the midst of all their success. It’s clear from reading their memoir that these two truly worked for what they have and learned a lot of great values along the way which were instilled in them from childhood. This is probably why they are so passionate about helping others and giving back to the communities they work in. All of the profits from the sales of the homes on Brother vs. Brother, which is about $80,000 to $160,000, go back into the local community. Before all the fame, they were just as charitable. The memoir revealed they used to volunteer at their local children’s hospital in an attempt to lift their spirits.

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9. Purchasing Their First House

It didn’t take long for Jonathan and Drew to realize they could make money off real estate. They had all the right skills after growing up on a farm and fixing or building things themselves. Their first investment was an old lease that students kept passing down, so at the age of 18, the twin brothers swooped in and picked it up off a friend. They fixed it up and rented out the rooms for $800-month. This raised the money for their next project which was a house for sale at the price of $200,000 — all they had to do was put $250 down! After a few cosmetic changes and restructuring of the layout, the two walked away with a profit of $50,000.

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8. Jonathan Wanted to be a Magician

Ahead of anything else, Jonathan’s all consuming passion was magic. He began practicing magic tricks at the age of 7 and became obsessed with David Copperfield. Jonathan taught himself all kinds of tricks and illusions and even joined the Vancouver Magic Circle and International Brotherhood of Magicians when he was in the eighth grade. He spent all of his earnings on magic supplies and hired a few professional dancers to join him on stage when he began booking gigs at small venues in high school. When he was 16 he won 3rd Best Stage Performer in the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians. His stage name was Jonathan Silver and his ultimate dream was to be a touring magician.

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7. Bankruptcy

One day Jonathan received a phone call from a man who masked himself as a friend of a friend. He said he was a fellow magician who’d heard about a few props for sale. Jonathan took his word for it (even though he couldn’t get a hold of his friend to verify if this man was actually a mutual friend), flew to Calgary to meet up and drafted up a payment plan. He asked if he could take possession of some of the props before the payment went through, and Jonathan agreed, but when it came time to collect his money, he was given excuse after excuse. It turned out the man was a con-artist who’d turned around and sold all of Jonathan’s props for a profit. In the end, Jonathan’s monetary lose was around $80,000. He was forced to file for bankruptcy.

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6. Drew Pursued an Acting Career

Ever since he was a kid, Drew knew he wanted to work in the entertainment industry, so after a year of working in real estate with his brother, Drew packed up and moved to Vancouver to pursue an acting career. He spent a year living in Vancouver, working with an agent, attending actors’ workshops and networking as best he could. He even interned for a production coordinator and worked his way up the ranks, but still wasn’t able to make any money from his passion. He was forced to accept defeat, kind of. He went back to working with his brother — got his Vancouver real estate license and ran the Scott Real Estate in British Columbia while still attending auditions in the city.

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5. Jonathan’s Divorced

Jonathan has been extremely private about this part of his past, but in the memoir he finally shared the story behind his divorce. He was only 24-years-old when he began dating his ex-wife and they quickly moved in together. Their relationship was for the most part smooth sailing which is why, when she pressured him into marriage, he gave in. They wed in the summer of 2007, but things went down hill when they moved to Las Vegas. Jonathan worked in real estate and she worked as a waitress. She began going out every single night and coming home later and later, until one day she scrubbed him from her Facebook page. This led to their first fight which led to them inevitably drifting apart until they finally decided to divorce right around the time Property Brothers‘ began to take off.

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4. Drew’s Proposal to Linda

Drew met Linda in October 2010 at an event in Toronto during Fashion Week, but they didn’t start dating until January 2011 and have been inseparable ever since. He decided to propose on December 13, 2016 in the most adorable way ever. He took her to a restaurant in Toronto for dinner. While they were waiting for their dessert, the song “Marry Me” came on over the sound system, but Linda didn’t seem to notice it was Drew’s voice! Then came her dessert which was a custom cake Drew had made to resemble her favorite Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places We’ll Go. The figurine on top of the cake held a tiny balloon in one hand and a diamond solitaire ring in the other. He then got down on one knee and asked her to marry him!

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3. Bar Fight From Jonathan’s Perspective

He was out with a friend and some people he’d just met when they suggested another bar. When they got to the next bar Jonathan immediately felt tension. The way Jonathan recalls it, everyone was suddenly kicked out. One staff member approached their group, slapped a drink off the table and began shoving women out the front door and the men out into a back alley. When Jonathan tried to get to his friend, who was out front by herself, a staff member grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. Once outside he filed an assault report, but by the time the security footage was released, his name was smeared across the tabloids.

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2. Strangest Gifts from Fans

Apparently many fans think that because Jonathan and Drew are executive producers for all their shows that they have some sway over who gets cast, so they are constantly being mailed bribes and gifts. Some of the weirdest things they’ve received from fans are a bar of soap containing hair and lingerie, a brick of gold, but the worst was a series of family portraits where the people had their heads cut off and replaced with pasted cut-outs of Jonathan and Drew. Creepy!

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1. How Jonathan Met Jacinta

Jonathan first met Jacinta in September 2015 on the red carpet of a charity event in Toronto. It was love at first sight…for him at least. He managed to make contact with her at the end of the night, but the conversation was short and sweet. After the event, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, so nearly a month later he found her on social media and the two met up for their first date which didn’t go over so well. They’d been exchanging the normal pleasantries of a first date when Jacinta said, “Ugh. You ask the WORST questions. Seriously, these questions are so boring.” Jonathan was totally taken aback and ended the date early. They reconciled through texts afterward and decided to start over. They’ve been together ever since and she now works for Scott Brothers Entertainment as a producer.