Chip and Joanna Gaines say tearful goodbye to 'Fixer Upper'
Chip and Joanna Gaines said their goodbyes to 'Fixer Upper' during the hit HGTV show's final episode, thanking viewers for their support and even reminiscing about Chip and Joanna's first date, which included a magnolia tree.
Chip and Joanna Gaines recently announced they are returning to TV but this time with their own network.
After their hit HGTV show “Fixer Upper” finished its fifth and final season in April, the Gaineses confirmed to Fox News earlier this month they are in the "early stages" of developing a lifestyle-focused media network as part of the Discovery family.
Despite their success, the husband and wife from Waco, Texas, have many loyal fans —but have also faced controversy. Here are some major moments and milestones in their careers.
1. 'Fixer Upper' series finale airs, April 2018
The final episode aired on April 3, 2018.
Joanna and Chip both tweeted following the finale thanking viewers for their support.
“We love you guys!!! Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. What a ride,” Joanna wrote.
“And that’s a wrap! Fixer Upper family we are forever grateful for your support over the last 5 seasons. Don’t worry you can always find us here at Magnolia in Waco!” Chip added.
2. Premiere date for 'Fixer Upper: Behind the Design' is revealed, March 2018
The spin-off show kicked off on April 10.
“The new 15-episode series will highlight how Joanna creates breathtaking designs — from strategy to staging — in each stunning overhaul,” the release explained.
“I can’t wait to show our fans how every piece of the design comes together before the final reveal,” Joanna said in a statement before the series premiered. “I want to nail every detail so that, when we walk away, Chip and I know we’ve given a family the one-of-a-kind home of their dreams.”
3. The Gaineses welcome baby No. 5, June 2018
Chip and Joanna announced on Jan. 2 that they're expecting their fifth child. They welcomed son Crew in June, Chip announced on Twitter.
"And then there were 5...The Gaines crew is now 1 stronger! 10 beautiful toes and 10 beautiful fingers all accounted for, and big momma is doing great! #blessedBeyondBelief"
4. The couple announces the show will wrap with its fifth season, September 2017
"It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that Season 5 of 'Fixer Upper' will be our last," the couple wrote in a Sept. 26 blog post.
The Gaineses said the decision to end their show was not easy but they are "confident that this is the right choice for us."
"Our family is healthy and our marriage has honestly never been stronger," they wrote, adding the end of the show has nothing to do with any rumors in the tabloids about their personal lives.
5. Chip and Joanna partner with Target on new brand, September 2017
The Gaineses teamed up with the retail giant for a lifestyle brand called Hearth & Hand with Magnolia in a multi-year deal, Target said in a Sept. 12 blog post.
“The collection reflects a modern take on Magnolia’s signature aesthetic with modern, classic, industrial and vintage touches,” the post said, adding that most of the pieces cost less than $30.
6. Homeowner Kelly Downs says she and her husband were 'deceived,' July 2017
An alleged drunk driver was arrested after smashing into Ken and Kelly Downs’ Waco home on July 8, 2017. Ken and Kelly, who weren't injured, had looked for a home in the Texas city with Magnolia Realty's help, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. The Gaineses also renovated the home.
"It's like the Wild West here," Kelly Downs told the newspaper. "There's been a lot of commotion coming from the bars and the store across the street. It's been a problem from the beginning. We've lived here a year and a half and we feel deceived by the city of Waco and Magnolia Realty."
7. Couple announces Magnolia Table, June 2017
The Gaineses said that Elite Cafe, the historic former Waco restaurant they purchased in 2016, will be named the Magnolia Table and serve breakfast, brunch and lunch.
Joanna wrote in a June 20, 2017, blog post that she has many great memories of family Sunday brunches at the Elite Cafe.
The restaurant reportedly opened on Feb. 26, 2018.
8. Chip and Joanna help paralyzed Waco firefighter, June 2017
Chip and Joanna were among those who assisted firefighter Garth Goodwin after he suffered a freak accident when his tools came into contact with exposed electrical wires. Firefighters reached out to contractor Wes Waller for help building Goodwin a home; Waller in turn sought assistance in building the house through Facebook. "Within a week, 80 percent of the house was donated," he recalled.
Waller asked Chip and Joanna if they could cover the remaining $20,000 needed for lumber. "Yesterday, I [decided] I'm just going to ask [the Gaineses] for it and 30 minutes later, they said yes," he explained.
9. Chip announces plans for a memoir, May 2017
"I've done so many dumb things in my day that I had enough material to write a book...so I did!" he wrote in an Instagram post. He said the book will be called "Capital Gaines - Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff."
The book was eventually published in October.
10. Chip is sued by two of his former business partners for fraud, April 2017
Magnolia Realty's former co-owners John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark sued Chip in a million-dollar fraud lawsuit, alleging he bought their shares while they worked with HGTV before it became a sensation. The company was first launched between the three men in 2007, with Gaines buying them out in 2013, the plaintiffs' petition says, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Lewis and Clark's lawsuit alleged that "at a time when only the Defendants knew that 'Fixer Upper' had been fast-tracked for a one-hour premiere on HGTV and was on the verge of radically changing their lives and business enterprises, Chip conspired to eliminate his business partners -- notwithstanding their longstanding friendship -- in order to ensure that he alone would profit from Magnolia Realty's association with Fixer Upper."
"We are confident that these claims will be found to be meritless," an attorney for Chip told Fox News.
11. Spin-off show is announced, March 2017
Describing the new show in a video posted on Instagram on March 22, Gaines said that viewers will "get a more inside scoop of how we came up with a lot of the decisions and the design elements that we got to incorporate."
12. 'Fixer Upper' season 3 participant claims house-hunting on the show isn’t real, November 2016
Show participant David Ridley told Fox News that he had bought his home before being picked to appear on “Fixer Upper."
"You have to be under contract to be on the show,” he said. “They show you other homes but you already have one. After they select you, they send your house to Chip and Joanna and their design team."
His claim apparently was backed up by the show’s application. HGTV told Fox 411 that fans of the program "enjoy the series because it focuses on the playful banter between Chip and Jo, their home renovation expertise, innovative design tips and families who get the help they need to transform a fixer upper into the home of their dreams."
13. BuzzFeed article focusing on couple's church and pastor is published, November 2016
An article published in late November on BuzzFeed reported that the couple's church, Antioch Community Church, is against gay marriage, and that pastor Jimmy Seibert called homosexuality "a sin." The article was criticized online, including in a Washington Post op-ed and in a tweet from New York Times columnist Ross Douthat.
Siebert told Fox News columnist Todd Starnes their church is “absolutely not” anti-gay.
"We are not only not anti-gay, but we are pro-helping people in their journey to find out who God is and who He has made them to be," he said.
Chip tweeted in early December, “In times of trouble.. you'll find the gaines family at church.” He also called on people to “respect” BuzzFeed reporter Kate Aurthur, who wrote the story.
“We don’t discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows,” HGTV told Fox411. “HGTV is proud to have a crystal clear, consistent record of including people from all walks of life in its series."
14. Chip and Joanna release 'The Magnolia Story,' October 2016
The couple's book was released on October 18, 2016. Their website calls it "a story about love, adventure, and dreaming big."
The first issue of the couple's quarterly lifestyle magazine, "The Magnolia Journal," also came out earlier that month.
15. Magnolia House sells out six months’ worth of reservations, August 2016
The couple's Magnolia House, a vacation rental, opened up bookings in August 2016 for January-July 2017 - and reportedly sold out in just one hour.
In February, the house opened bookings for July-December 2017 - and were filled in five minutes, People reported.
16. Magnolia Market at the Silos opens, October 2015
The couple opened a complex in Waco in October 2015, where fans of the show can shop, eat, and also enjoy a lawn and garden, according to the Magnolia Market website.
"The Market itself is staged and set up with one goal in mind: to inspire you to own the space you're in," it says online. It is named for two silos at the site.
Joanna previously had a store that wasn't as large named Magnolia Market in Waco, Country Living reported.
17. 'Fixer Upper' premieres, May 2013
The first episode aired on HGTV on May 23, 2013.
18. The Gaineses get married, March 2003
The couple tied the knot two years after meeting in 2001.
Joanna had worked for her father's Firestone business and starred in its television commercials, Country Living reported.
Chip told PopSugar that Joanna's father had put a family photo up behind a store counter, recalling, "I knew I'd marry her one day just by the picture on the wall."
Chip regularly went to the business looking for Joanna, and when he met her, he told her that he recognized her from the commercials, according to Country Living.
Together, Chip and Joanna are parents to Drake, 12; Ella, 11; Duke, 9; and Emmie, 7.
Fox News’ Kathleen Joyce, Sasha Savitsky and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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