Ben Napier Opens Up About the 'Hardest Part' of Filming Home Town After Shoulder Surgery (Exclusive)

Ben Napier had to use restraint while filming the upcoming season of Home Town (premiering Jan. 7).

The HGTV star tells PEOPLE the hardest part of making the new episodes while recovering from rotator cuff surgery earlier this year was “not jumping in to help” if someone else was carrying something heavy.

“You’re the biggest guy in the room,” Ben’s wife and costar, Erin Napier, points out to her husband.

“I need to jump in and help, and it was hard to not do that,” Ben, 40, explains.

“It still worries me when he’s like, ‘No, I can do this,’” Erin, 38, admits. “He’s still not supposed to lift really heavy things with his left arm. I get nervous.” 

The woodworker had his operation in March, and while his road to recovery was long, you wouldn’t know it from what’s shown on TV.

“There’s only one episode where his shoulder is a part of the story,” Erin reveals. “At the beginning, when he had the surgery, that was the episode we were working on and so after that it has to just not exist, ‘cause it gets a little redundant to have shoulder problems in every episode for a whole season.” 

During the couple's interview with PEOPLE, they also shared a mishap that occurred when they had a speaking engagement at a Southern Baptist college a few days after the surgery.

“I took my [pain] medicine right before I went in and it hit while I was onstage," Ben said.

"My confidence soared, and I could not keep a train of thought," he recalled. "The whole time I knew what was going on.”

The experience was especially jarring for Ben.

 “I’ve never drank. I’ve never taken anything so it was like, ‘Whoa,’” he said.

Erin noted that the new season also captures a FaceTime call she had with Ben while he was still on post-op medication.

Ben jokingly responded, “I don't know. I do not remember this FaceTime at all because I was on drugs.”

After Ben’s surgery in March, Erin posted a photo of her husband sprawled on the couch sporting a hospital bracelet and an arm sling.

She included a checklist of the procedures he underwent in the caption, writing, "Rotator cuff repaired ✅ bone spur shaved off ✅ cartilage trimmed." 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The photo also revealed a sweet get-well-soon note with crayon hearts signed by the couple's older daughter, Helen, 5.

Erin, who also shares 2-year-old daughter Mae with Ben, added, "Best nurse in the biz."