Home renovation royalty Chip GainesAnd Joanna GainesThey have made their Magnolia Market into a multi-million dollar multimedia business, but it all began with their romance.
Soon after meeting by chance in 2001 at Joanna’s father’s repair shop in Waco, Texas, the duo went on their first date. It wasn’t without complications, however — the carpenter was more than an hour late to pick up his future wife.
“He didn’t even have a plan for our date,” the Kansas native recalled in the couple’s 2016 memoir, The Magnolia Story. “He didn’t apologize for being late, either. He had so much trust. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Only Chip could be an hour and a half late and have no one mad about it.”
Despite a rough start, the couple quickly fell in love and got engaged in 2002. They then tied the knot the next year. They got down to business after their wedding. Chip had been renovating homes before meeting Joanna. Joanna quickly became Chip’s in-house decorator.
Five months after their wedding, Magnolia Market, Waco’s first home goods shop, was opened by the couple. Their growing renovation business eventually caught the attention of HGTV executives who tapped them to host a show called Magnolia Market. Fixer Upper.
After premiering in May 2013, the series became one of the network’s most popular shows ever, spawning a spinoff titled Fixer Upper: Behind The Design. After five seasons, the couple quit the show in April 2018, partly because it was too stressful for their family. The couple have five children together: Drake, Ella (Duke), Emmie Kay, Crew and Emmie Kay.
“We realized we didn’t necessarily love that side of the camera, and that part became a full-time job,” Joanna told The Hollywood ReporterJune 2021. “We’ve got a big family. We’ve got a business. The show ended up where we had to constantly be feeding it.”
However, the series was only the beginning. The Magnolia Market at Silos, a 20,000-square foot grain barn in downtown Waco, was opened by the twosome in October 2015. It houses a bakery and nursery, as well as other shops. They’ve since opened a restaurant called Magnolia Table and a coffee shop called Magnolia Press, and in July 2021, they launched their own channel.
The Magnolia Network was originally available via Discovery+. In January 2022, it was made available on cable with a Fixer UpperReboot subtitled Welcome HomeThere are tons of other original programming.
“We can’t stop cable from dying, that’s not our mission,” Joanna told THRHer plans for the network. “But while it’s still available, we hope you spend an hour or five with us and leave feeling like it was time well spent.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at the Gaines’ complete relationship timeline:
