Hatmaker Reveals Husband's 2020 Affair in Memoir

Jen Hatmaker, an HGTV star and bestselling author who co-founded the evangelical Austin New Church and starred on My Big Family Renovation, says in her memoir Awake (published Sept. 23) that she woke in the early hours of July 11, 2020 to hear her then-husband Brandon whisper “I just can’t quit you” into his phone and spent four hours uncovering on his computer a “trail of betrayal” revealing a long-running affair. She says the infidelity involved lavish gifts that contributed to financial chaos for their family and that she threw Brandon out that morning after 26 years of marriage and five children. Hatmaker writes the marriage had been troubled before the discovery—she and Brandon had gone two years without sex and attended marriage counseling—and she describes subsequent depression and anxiety while raising their children during the pandemic. Brandon responded on Substack, calling the affair the lowest moment of his life, expressing remorse, saying their relationship had been ending for years, and describing a personal spiral and treatment; he later became engaged in 2022. Hatmaker has since moved on and is in a long-distance relationship with author Tyler Merritt.