ZOOEY DESCHANEL & JONATHAN SCOTT - We're From Different Worlds, but... We're Made for Each Other

THE ACTRESS AND THE PROPERTY BROTHERS STAR MET CUTE ON CARPOOL KARAOKE. NOW, IN THEIR FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE THEY GOT ENGAGED, THEY DETAIL HOW THEY BUILT THEIR MODERN FAMILY AND THEIR DREAM HOME!

- MACKENZIE SCHMIDT

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott realized early on in their relationship that the world thought they were an unlikely pair. “When we first started dating, Zooey posted a picture of us together, and the first comment right below was, ‘Why the hell is she with a Property Brother?!’ I was like, ‘Excuse me— rude,’” Scott, 45, recalls with mock indignation.'

“Why wouldn’t I be with you?” Deschanel, 43, chimes in. “Our personalities are so compatible. It’s just that we’re from different worlds.”

Outsiders might not have understood their romance right away—she’s a leading lady beloved as Jess on New Girl and now on Apple TV+’s Physical, and he’s a home-makeover show host with a legion of followers from the HGTV crowd. But four years on they’ve overcome much more than their doubters: They became inseparable while quarantining together during the pandemic, tackled a yearslong renovation of their dream house and seamlessly blended their families.

As they cozy up in the solarium of their Los Angeles home in September, just a few weeks after Scott proposed at a castle in Scotland, it’s obvious why they’re a match: They are perfectly in sync, all playful banter and lovestruck grins. They share a willingness to be goofy and have no interest in posturing as overly cool. In fact they embrace just the opposite: “We identify as nerds, we’ll have you know,” says Deschanel.