Even from a very early age, it was obvious that Jonathan and Drew Scott were developing a spirited rivalry that couldn’t be contained.
“When we were really little, we’d take turns being the boss,” Jonathan recalls. “Drew would be the boss for two weeks, and then I would be the boss for two weeks. The competitive spirit was ingrained in us.”
Sibling rivalries often can turn corrosive. Just Google: “Cain and Abel.” But the Scotts managed to spin their’s into television gold. Since debuting on HGTV in 2011 with the home-renovation series “Property Brothers,” the Canadian twins have headlined a string of popular shows that lean into their real estate savvy, good looks, charisma and playful trash talk.
And now they’re bringing their act to the Bay Area. Season 6 of “Brother vs. Brother: Jonathan vs. Drew” (9 p.m. May 23, HGTV) has each of the guys overhauling a single home — one in El Sobrante and the other in Pinole. During every episode, guest stars from other HGTV and DIY Network shows will determine which brother did a better job handling a particular phase of the redo. Ultimately, the homes will be sold and the sibling who earns the highest net profit will claim victory.
Drew enters the season as the defending champ and is fiercely eager to pull off a back-to-back victory.
“I’m still basking in the glory of last season’s win,” he says. “I really want to win again and hold it over Jonathan’s head.”
Recent seasons of “Brother vs. Brother” took the Scotts to Las Vegas and Galveston, Texas. They set their sights on the Bay Area because they were seeking a formidable “new challenge.”
“It’s a hot market with a lot of cool communities,” says Drew. “We thought: Why not try to flip houses in one of the most expensive markets in the country while showing that, even in a pricey area, you can still turn a profit.”
But it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. For the first time, the Scotts chose their homes sight unseen, and as Jonathan forlornly admits, “viewers will discover why that could be considered a huge, scary mistake.”
How huge and scary? Jonathan’s five-bedroom, 2,586-square foot abode in the El Sobrante hills apparently had been abandoned for nearly 10 years and was in dire need of a makeover.
“It was an absolute disaster,” Jonathan says. “There was dry rot everywhere. It had termite problems and the foundation was settling in some places. I’ve never been so over-budget on any project.”
Drew, meanwhile, sweated over the implementation of earthquake-resistant measures as he designed a spacious basement suite for his five-bedroom, 2,453-square foot ranch home in Pinole.
“Most importantly, we want to have safe homes,” Drew says. “If we know of a problem, we have to fix it. It would weigh on our conscience, otherwise.”
In another first this season, the brothers are putting the homes up for sale to the public. Potential buyers can find details and request an appointment to view the homes at JonathanVsDrew.com. If the price is right, the furniture and decor will be included in the sale, they say, and all proceeds will go to local charities.
Now, back to that rivalry. For the six weekly challenges of “Brother vs. Brother,” Bay Area-themed prizes — and penalties — will be on the line. In one episode, for example, the winner is awarded with an exclusive tour of Alcatraz prison. The loser, meanwhile, gets locked in a cell. Another week has the winner getting to name a baby wallaroo at the Oakland Zoo. The loser? He gets to clean out the giraffe moat.
“Those are smells you just can’t get out of your clothes and skin,” Drew says.
One fun challenge involved being able to hang out with Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
“Drew is a huge basketball junkie and Steph is one of his favorite players,” Jonathan says. “So he was really determined to win that week.”
Their rivalry, they say, is genuine. The Scott siblings seriously want to beat each other in everything from house revamps to table tennis. But there’s no bad blood, they insist.
“We actually try to channel it in a positive way,” Jonathan says. “We want to push each other to be the best we can be, not to knock the other down.”
Still, there is always room for some playful ribbing. At the time of this interview, Drew and his fiancee Linda Phan were finalizing details for their wedding (the couple married May 12 in Italy) and he saved a special zinger for his bro.
“We’re going over the seating arrangements,” he said, “and we plan to put Jonathan at the kid’s table.”
