Francesca Farago and Jesse Sullivan's house renovation has been a lot to handle.
As the couple prepares to welcome twins, the Too Hot to Handle alum explained why they aren't as far along with the nursery as they'd like.
"We have a nursery room designated at the new house, but the new house is a disaster," Francesca told E! News in an exclusive interview. "It's been under construction for two years, and I'm in a legal battle with my contractor and we're just, just now hiring a new contractor to come in and fix everything that the old contractor did wrong."
So while the reality star suggests the original contractor wasn't the perfect match, she and Jesse—whose family also includes 15-year-old Arlo—are coming up with a plan.
"We're hoping that we can be living in the house for when the babies are here," she said. "If not, the nursery is going to be in our room. We're just going to put cribs beside our bed and figure it out when they're a little older—maybe two, three months. Because, yeah, it's very stressful."
And Francesca expressed how having the twins in the same room with her will help put her mind at ease.
"There's no way I would have them in a different room, especially both of them," she explained of having the twins bunk with them for a few months. "You'd have to wake up every five minutes. I'm an anxious parent, and I'm just anxious overall. So I would need to look over and see them breathing every 10 minutes."
After all, Francesca and Jesse—who got engaged in May 2023—have spoken about how it hasn't been an easy road for them to grow their family and how this adds to their anxiety as they wait for the twins to arrive.
"I hear every day, honestly, horror stories from other mothers of things that went wrong and it does put a lot of fear in me," the 31-year-old shared. "And I'm already a fearful person in regards to the pregnancy because of how hard it was to get to this point."
"But I'm anxious all the time," she added. "I am so nervous of something going wrong or keeping them in there. I thought getting out of the first trimester I would feel like, 'Oh, OK, we're in the no-danger zone.' But we're still not out of it. I'm not out of the danger zone until the babies are in my arms, and even then I have to keep them alive. So I feel like you're not out of the danger zone until they're, like, 18. But even then, you're still worried. So for the rest of your life, you're worried forever."
Still, Francesca is trying to enjoy her pregnancy—especially now that she's done with her "brutal" first trimester.
"I was pretty much on bed rest—not medically, just voluntarily," she said. "I could not get out of bed. I was exhausted. I didn't want to eat anything. I was really nauseous, so that was really hard. But right around 10 weeks, it was like the gates of Heaven opened up and I was myself again. I'm still exhausted, very exhausted at all times. But I think that's just because apparently, when you're pregnant, it's like running a marathon every day. You burn crazy calories just existing. So I think it's really easy to get exhausted. But second trimester has been lovely."
And Francesca is soaking in all the little moments—like narrowing down names (she and her TikTok star fiancé have shared a few they love on social media) and receiving adorable baby clothes.
"I am obsessed with baby clothes," she admitted. "When I see them in my hands, I'm just like, 'I can't believe we're gonna have an actual child in this onesie in a few months or in the fall.' It makes me so happy."
These aren't the only new clothes Francesca is checking out, either. In addition to bringing back the beloved lemon print to her Farago the Label swim line, she's recently released some new bikini styles.
"I'm really excited for that because I know people love lemon print," she told E!, "and I love the photo shoot because it was really inclusive."
And if you love learning more about Francesca and Jesse's love story, keep reading.
June 2021: First Meeting
Though Francesca Farago tried her luck with love on a few reality dating shows, including Too Hot to Handle, she met her perfect match in Jesse Sullivan while hosting an event online.
“TikTok hired me to host an event for Pride Month,” Francesca told Elite Daily in 2023. “It was over Zoom. It was a TikTok live event with Willow Smith and the app’s LGBTQ+ Trailblazers. I interviewed three people and Jesse was one of them. We met on Zoom and just fell in love very quickly.”
Summer 2022: Social Media Official
And though her time on season one of Netflix’s Perfect Match (which aired in 2023) didn’t work out, Francesca knew that fate had bigger plans in store.
In fact, as the reality star shared in a TikTok, “Literally the minute I left that villa, I texted Jesse, and I was like, 'Hey, are you still single? I'm traumatized and do you want to hang out?'"
And the rest is history. Since then, the pair have shared insight into their romance on social media. “We’re just so in love, and I feel that’s obvious with what we post,” she told Elite Daily. “Some couples share a filtered version of the happy times, but they don’t post anything negative. We actually don’t have any negative times. It’s all positive.”
May 2023: Engagement
Two years after they first met, Francesca and Jesse were ecstatic to start a brand new chapter together.
“WE’RE ENGAGED,” Francesca shared in a May 2023 Instagram post, “a glimpse into the most magical night ever, obsessed with our family… what is life!!” Fast forward to early 2024, and the couple made it clear that they were keen on starting a family, even before their nuptials.
"We want a huge wedding, but I think it would be so cute if we had a little baby in our arms or two babies in our arms at the wedding," Francesca exclusively told Live From E! host Laverne Cox at the People’s Choice Awards that February. "So, hopefully we can have a baby first and then do the wedding after."
March 2024: Baby (Soon-to-be) on Board
And as predicted, Francesca and Jesse—who is dad to teenager Arlo from a previous relationship—announced they were expanding their family.
"We wanted to take this special day to celebrate this amazing milestone with all of you," Francesca wrote on Instagram March 31. "We've brought you with us through the loss, so we couldn't wait to bring you along for the win. I am still pretty newly pregnant, and there's so much more to come, but we are so excited to be growing our family with Arlo as the coolest older sibling! AHH IM PREGNANT!"
As for Jesse, he was more than excited to share the news. "We're pregnant!" the influencer, who came out as transgender in 2019, captioned a clip. "Its been such a struggle to get here, but we felt like TDOV was the perfect day to let you all in on our celebration. Im so proud of @Francesca Farago for fighting her way to get here, and I fall more in love with her every day. Thank you for following our journey, and heres to more trans joy!"
April 2024: Double the Love
A week after the pair confirmed Francesca is pregnant, Jesse shared they'll be adding not one but two more members to their family.
"We're having twins," Jesse wrote under his April 7 TikTok. "We know it's early but we're preparing for the best."