Brandon Hatmaker responds to ex-wife Jen Hatmaker's cheating claims in her memoir
Hatmaker addresses allegations of infidelity and family turmoil linked to Jen Hatmaker's forthcoming memoir, as details from their split during the COVID era come to light.
Brandon Hatmaker has publicly addressed explosive claims made by his ex-wife, Jen Hatmaker, in her forthcoming memoir Awake: A Memoir. The pair, longtime figures on HGTV and in the broader reality-television sphere, are navigating renewed scrutiny of their 26-year marriage after Jen Hatmaker described an affair and a period of family upheaval during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jen Hatmaker, 51, writes that she learned of an ongoing relationship in 2020 and that the breakup forced the Hatmakers to confront a breakdown that included financial strain and emotional distress for their five children and a three-week-old grandson, Weston. In excerpts published ahead of the book’s release, she alleges that her husband, Brandon Hatmaker, 53, had been involved with a longtime partner and that the family felt the impact of that relationship during a period when they were navigating the pandemic and its restrictions. Jen Hatmaker, known for co-starring on HGTV shows such as Tiny House, Brother vs. Brother and My Big Family Renovation, also details that the couple had not been sexually intimate in the two years leading up to her discovery, even as they sought counseling.
In response, Brandon Hatmaker published a lengthy letter on Substack titled We are all bigger than our lowest moment. He framed the piece as an attempt to add context to the breakdown of their marriage, saying that healthy marriages do not simply fracture overnight and that he privately mourned what he describes as the death of their relationship years before their divorce. He acknowledged a period of deep personal struggle and described his own actions as part of a longer process of healing and accountability.
Hatmaker described his era of personal turmoil as including a period of trauma treatment in a residential program, Milestones by Onsite in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. He said the program involved 12 hours a day of counseling, group therapy and trauma education without the usual distractions of phones, television or the internet, and he characterized the experience as life-altering. He said that after the program, life moved quickly and he faced a complex recovery process. He added that he had sought to rebuild his life with Tina, whom he married in 2022, stressing that Tina was not the mistress and that she became part of his journey after the events of 2020. He emphasized that he was not a deadbeat dad and asserted that he remained engaged with his children in the years since.
Brandon Hatmaker also contended that his ongoing relationship with Tina should not be read as a capitulation to the past or a means to erase accountability for his earlier decisions. He said his decision to marry Tina occurred well after the events Jen describes, and he asserted that Jen had acknowledged in her book that Tina was not involved in the divorce proceedings. He insisted that the affair was not the sole defining moment of their marriage, noting that he believes the public narrative has focused disproportionately on the affair rather than the broader arc of their relationship and family life.
Jen Hatmaker has maintained that her book centers on a broader reckoning with personal and relational change, including a tumultuous period during which the couple faced financial and emotional strains while navigating their roles as parents. She has also continued her work as an author and podcaster, describing her dating life and ongoing efforts to foster personal growth. Jen Hatmaker is scheduled to bring Awake on tour with a 15-date book tour, including an event at Barnes & Noble on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Meanwhile, she is publicly connected with Tyler Merritt, whom she has described as the love of her life, and she continues to discuss her life in public interviews and through her podcast.
The Hatmakers rose to public prominence more than a decade ago through HGTV programming, where they built a recognizable profile around home renovation and family-focused reality formats. Their separation, and Jen Hatmaker’s forthcoming memoir, have reignited attention on their professional lives, as well as on the dynamics of a high-profile marriage faced with public scrutiny. As both sides share their accounts, observers continue to weigh the competing narratives about fidelity, reconciliation, and where the line lies between private pain and public storytelling.