Home renovation royalty! Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines have turned their original Magnolia Market into a massive, multimedia empire, but it all started 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 confidence. 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 the potentially rocky start, the duo hit it off right away, getting engaged in 2002 and tying the knot the following year. After their wedding, they got down to business. Chip had started flipping homes before meeting Joanna, who quickly became his in-house decorator.
Just five months after their wedding, the pair opened the first iteration of the home goods shop, Magnolia Market, in Waco. Eventually, their burgeoning renovation business caught the attention of HGTV executives, who tapped the duo to host a show called 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. The couple ended the show in April 2018 after five seasons, partly because it was putting too much stress on their family. The duo are parents to five kids: Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie Kay and Crew.
“We realized we didn’t necessarily love that side of the camera, and that part became a full-time job,” Joanna told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2021. “We’ve got a big family. We’ve got a business. The show ended up where we had to constantly be feeding it.”
The series, however, was just the beginning. In October 2015, the twosome opened Magnolia Market at the Silos, a 20,000-square-foot grain barn in downtown Waco that houses a bakery, nursery and other stores. 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.
Originally available to stream via Discovery+, the Magnolia Network hit cable in January 2022 with a Fixer Upper reboot subtitled Welcome Home and tons of other original programming.
“We can’t stop cable from dying, that’s not our mission,” Joanna told THR of her 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:
For their first date, the duo shared fried chicken at a restaurant located in a historic mansion in Waco. After one year of dating, Chip proposed after telling Joanna he was taking her to a private concert. Instead, he drove her to a shopping center where both of their families were waiting to watch him pop the question. Brian Ach/AP/Shutterstock
The couple tied the knot in a ceremony at Waco's Earle-Harrison House, which Joanna later described as "a historic mansion that looks an awful lot like the place we had our first date." Courtesy of Magnolia
The twosome opened their first store just five months after their wedding. "I can still hear the sound of the front door of that little shop opening, and the deep assurance that, despite how scared I was, I would never look back," Joanna wrote via Instagram in October 2021, reflecting on the original show's 18th anniversary. "Chip had pushed me to take a chance on something I believed in—so win or lose, I already knew I’d never be the same." Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
The duo's first child, son Drake, arrived one year after their nuptials. His parents named him after a New York City hotel where they spent part of their honeymoon. Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
Drake became a big brother when his first sister, Ella, arrived in 2006. Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
The pair welcomed their second son, Duke, in 2008. Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
The Gaines family expanded again with the arrival of the duo's second daughter, Emmie Kay. Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
After the first episode of Fixer Upper premiered in 2013, HGTV brought it back for a full first season in April 2014. The show became so popular that it inspired nationwide trends in home decor, including shiplap, barn doors and other elements of farmhouse-inspired style. HGTV
The couple open their expanded Magnolia Market complex in downtown Waco. Courtesy Magnolia Network
Shortly after Fixer Upper ended its original run, the pair welcomed their fifth child, son Crew. Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
The duo launched their Magnolia Network streaming channel with Discovery+. “Neither of them makes a business decision without consulting the other,” an insider told Us Weekly of the duo in October 2020. “They feed off each other’s creativity and are open to try something new. Their faith keeps them grounded and grateful for the success they’ve found.” Courtesy of Magnolia
Six months after its streaming debut, Magnolia Network hit cable after taking over the channel previously known as DIY. In addition to a Fixer Upper reboot, the lineup included a cooking show with Joanna titled Magnolia Table. Courtesy Magnolia Network
Joanna marked the couple's 19th wedding anniversary with a sweet Instagram photo of the duo cuddled up in a restaurant booth. "19 years ❤️," she captioned the snap, adding the hashtag, "#ilikeyoualot." Courtesy of Joanna Gaines/Instagram
“In our 20 years of marriage, Chip and I have experienced a little bit of all of it,” Joanna wrote in the August issue of her Magnolia Journal. “Losing a loved one. Shifts in friendships. Bills we couldn't pay. Moments where our hearts were broken. Times when all hope felt lost and circumstances were out of our control. When all I could think to do was lay face down on the floor in surrender.” She added: “In the grand scheme of heartbreaking things, this one comes with a lot of gratitude and excitement. But still, my first child is moving away, and our family dynamic will change because of it, and that can feel like a loss of its own. I catch glimpses now of what that life will look like and wonder if — or how many times — that might bring me to the floor.” Courtesy of Magnolia Network
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