Like most people, I’ve gotten trapped in a Fixer Upper marathon on HGTV. You tell yourself that you’re just going to watch through the final reveal, and then you get stuck on the next episode because you want to see which unkempt house the new people choose. It’s a vicious cycle! I don’t even feel guilty about watching Fixer Upper – Chip and Joanna Gaines are super-religious types, but they never really bring any fire, brimstone or politics into the show. You can enjoy the show relatively guilt-free, which is how millions of people came to be fans of the Gaines. Fixer Upper is one of the jewels in HGTV’s programming, and unfortunately, we’re just going to have to make do with reruns. The Gaines have announced that the current season will be their last:
After five seasons and millions of fans, Chip and Joanna Gaines are officially saying goodbye to their hit HGTV show.
“It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last,” they wrote on their blog Tuesday. “While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”
The announcement comes as a shock to viewers who have followed the couple on their journey from a small-town construction and decorating duo in Waco, Texas, to international celebrities. Since the pilot aired in May 2013, Fixer Upper has become one of the highest-rated shows in the network’s history. But being on TV is just one part of Chip and Jo’s home improvement empire. The couple’s growing portfolio of successful businesses includes retail compound Magnolia Market at the Silos (which draws up to 40,000 visitors every week); paint, rug, wallpaper and furniture lines; a quarterly magazine; a real estate company; a luxury vacation renta; a soon-to-open restaurant and a New York Times bestselling book, with a second, Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff, due out Oct. 17.
Despite all their success, the Gaineses have always stayed true to their humble beginnings.
“We’ve been all over the world now,” said Chip, 42. “But there’s something really romantic about not just saying, ‘Remember where you came from,’ but really living that out.”
And if their fame and fortune suddenly came to a halt, well, they’d be okay with that too. “We’ve got everything that our hearts desire,” Chip said. “I don’t see how we could be happier.”
And the couple never wanted their children Drake, 12, Ella, 10, Duke, 9, and Emmie Kay, 7, to grow up in the spotlight. “They’re so young, and we want to give them the chance to have a normal childhood,” said Joanna, 39. “Family is the most important thing in the world.”
So… they’re quitting their incredibly successful show because they want their kids to have a normal life? And yet… the Gaineses are going to keep building their empire, they just don’t want the HGTV show anymore. I don’t know. It feels like something fishy is going on. It feels like there’s going to be more stuff coming out in the next few days/weeks/months. #1 theory: Chip f–ked up. #2 theory: They’re tired of “being in the closet” as conservative Republicans and want to be free to do all of the churchy, Republican stuff they can’t do now on HGTV. If you have any other information, please share it with the group!
Photos courtesy of Getty.
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