Jen Hatmaker, who hosted the HGTV series Your Big Family Renovation during its 2-season run from 2014 to 2015, is sharing details about her divorce.
The New York Post reported that Jen is releasing a memoir, titled Awake, on September 23, 2025. Jen's new book revealed that she discovered her ex-husband, Brandon Hatmaker's affair after she overheard him speaking to another woman during a phone call in the early hours of July 11, 2020. Brandon and Jen, who share five children, were married for 26 years when she became aware of his infidelity.
While speaking to The New York Post in September 2025 about Brandon's affair, Jen said she didn't expect her husband to cheat. According to Jen, the situation was "so shocking and stunning," she "almost could not process it."
"To some degree, I almost disassociated. It was so outside the realm of what I would have ever considered a possibility for our life, our marriage, our story," said the former Christian influencer, who is the co-founder of the Texas evangelical Austin New Church, alongside Brandon.
The New York Post reported that Jen suggested that her husband's affair wasn't brief, stating it was a "devastating time span." In addition, she said he had spent a significant amount of money on his then-girlfriend, causing his family to be in “financial chaos."
She clarified that she didn't think her marriage was perfect prior to the affair, stating, "We had been in trouble." The New York Post reported that Jen stated in her book that she and her husband had a two-year period of no sexual contact before they tried couples counseling in April 2020.
“I thought that we were deeply working to repair. We had kind of reconnected sexually … And so there, at the very bitter end, I thought that we were trying, but we actually weren’t," stated Jen, as reported by The New York Post. “There were a lot of unaccounted absences, and the phone was never ever, ever, ever out of his hand or sight. All the warning signs were there, but I did not want to face those.”
In a September 2025 interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, Jen detailed what happened directly after she realized Brandon had been unfaithful, which she described as "one of the most shocking things that has happened to [her]." According to Jen, while he was "passed out," she "spent a couple of hours on his laptop" to find more details about his extramarital activities.
Jen said she soon discovered that Brandon, who also hosted Your Big Family Renovation, had "a whole different life," leaving her to feel devastated, unloved, and humiliated. She also said that she made Brandon leave their house once he woke up after he declined to share the full details of his affair.
She also said that while she was heartbroken, she didn't "want to stay married" to someone who had managed to live a double life.
"When your spouse creates such an alternative life for himself, and abandons everything, his own character, and will and story and marriage and family and place in the world. There are red flags, something is wrong," said Jen, who is currently dating author Tyler Merritt, during the interview.
In addition, she said her ex-husband wasn't interested in mending their relationship.
She clarified that she and Brandon were "lonely, disconnected, [and] functioning as roommates" toward the end of their marriage. In addition, Jen said that her split from Brandon caused her to evaluate and correct some of her behaviors, like being co-dependent, that led the former couple to have a less-than-ideal-relationship.
She also said she thinks she may have stayed in her marriage if she had never found out about Brandon's affair.
Brandon Hatmaker Reacted to Jen Hatmaker's Recent Statements About Their Marriage
Brandon responded to some of Jen's recent comments in a September 22 post uploaded on his Substack account. He began his piece by stating, "We are all bigger than our lowest moment."
He said, however, that he is aware he "caused so much pain and [he] brought so much humiliation into the lives of people that [he] loved." Brandon also said that "while that was the lowest moment of [her] life, a very close second, is having to relive it today."
He also said while he doesn't want to "make excuses or rationalize anything," he would like to "simply add context to a handful of areas" about the end of his marriage to Jen. He wrote that "the truth is that people in a healthy marriage don’t just wake up one day and decide to have an affair."
"I didn't fall out of love overnight. Our relationship was coming to a slow and painful ending. And I privately mourned the death of our marriage years before our divorce," continued the former pastor in his post.
He also let his Substack followers know that "Jen has every right to share her piece of the story." However, he said he thinks "there are some truths left out that paint a false narrative on topics that are truly important to [him]" that he wants to address.
For instance, he wanted to argue against the narrative that he wasn't involved with his children after he and Jen split. He stated that his "kids are [his] world."
"To be clear, at the time of our divorce we had three adult kids and two teenagers. I know that I forever changed their story, but I was always available, was constantly engaged, and always supported them… and still do," wrote Brandon. "Jen was certainly the sole parent who had to carry them emotionally through the trauma of my affair, but I have beautiful memories of heartfelt and honest conversations about that as well."
He also stated that he wasn't a pastor when he was having an affair. According to Brandon, his "last sermon" was in 2017 after "some difficult health issues, some horrific family issues, and a very traumatic experience where I was involved in an incident where a close friend died (where [he] felt at fault)." In addition, he wrote that he "stepped down from church staff in 2015 to focus on our Donor Advised Fund, and to assist with some of the administrative stuff for Jen."
In addition, Brandon said that he was concerned about his marriage "for years" before his 2020 affair. According to Brandon, he went through "counseling (alone) for three years prior to [his] affair," and "initiated conversations," but "felt invisible in [his] marriage." He said by the time he and Jen "went to a handful of therapy sessions together," there wasn't enough time to mend the relationship.
In addition, Brandon stated that having an affair is unlike him. He suggested he did so because his "anger had turned to resentment, which turned to entitlement."
"There's no affair story that isn't gross, or secret, or deceptive. Mine was no different. I was in the middle of giving up and trying not to. And then I did," continued Brandon.
Brandon also said he went to a 31-day residential treatment center to work on his mental health following his split from Jen. According to Brandon, he reached out to Jen to see if she thought it would be possible to reconcile.
"Her response back to me was thoughtful, and honest, and closed with a final statement ... 'For me there is no path back to reconnection.' That closed the book for me," wrote Brandon in his Substack post.
In addition, Brandon clarified that his wife of nearly 2 years, Tina, wasn't his "affair partner." He said that he and Tina "had never met until after the divorce was filed."
"Yes, Tina and I became exclusive before the divorce was finalized - but Jen and I intentionally delayed finalizing the divorce for mutually agreed-upon reasons," stated Brandon.
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