“Property Brothers”: Started from the bottom now they’re here

The origin story of HGTV’s “Property Brothers” — Canadian twins Drew and Jonathan Scott — sounds like a cliche: two struggling entertainers who caught their big break and ran with it until it became a global phenomenon.

In the late aughts, Drew was an actor running high credit card debt, while Jonathan, a magician, had declared bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

They turned to house flipping to make money and, still yearning to perform, pitched a renovation reality show to TV networks. After being roundly rejected by pretty much everyone, the W Network, a small TV station in Canada, took a chance on them in 2010.

And thus was born the “Property Brothers,” which airs in more than 150 countries including HGTV in the U.S. On the show, the brothers — Drew has a real estate license and Jonathan is a contractor — help families find, buy and renovate their dream homes while on a tight budget.

That has served as a launching pad for the twins, through Scott Brothers Global, to build an entertainment and lifestyle empire that includes producing more than a dozen TV series, as well as numerous short films and web series; a feature film is in the works, the outlet reported. Jonathan told the Journal the pair have done more than 600 renovations on their shows.

A new season of “Brother vs. Brother” premieres Wednesday on HGTV.

The twins also have lines of furniture and home goods available in department and big box stores like Macy’s and Home Depot.

Not bad for a natural entrepreneurs who flipped their first house — purchased at age 18 with a $250 down payment before selling for $50,000 a years later — to pay for expenses while they attended the University of Calgary, the Journal reported.

They continued to try to flip houses until the market crash in 2008, when Drew went back to acting. He found work hosting a show called “Realtor Idol,” a knockoff of “American Idol.”

“I said, ‘That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,’” Jonathan told the Journal.

The production company, upon finding out Drew had a twin, began pitching a show starring both of them.

When the production company learned that Drew had a twin brother with complementary skills, they shopped around a show starring both of them, which became “Property Brothers.”

The two told the Journal they are aware their popularity may have a shelf life.

“We feel we have to get it all in now so we can prop ourselves up for retirement later,” Jonathan told the Journal. “We also love what we do.”

— Ted Glanzer