Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have become household names with successful television careers, but dealing with fame has not been easy, they reveal in a new interview.
The duo – who will launch their Magnolia Network in July on discovery + – sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a discussion on “Super Soul” that will air on the streaming platform on March 13.
In a clip from the interview, the talk show host presses the couple on how they handled their success.
Noting that living in the public eye can be difficult, especially when so many people “know your name”, Winfrey wondered if Chip, 46, and Joanna, 42, “were grounded” before they became known worldwide.
“I want to speak on behalf of Jo, because she would never say things like that, but she is incredibly wise, incredibly grounded – all the things you just described are who Joanna is,” said Chip on behalf of his wife in a clip shared by People.
CHIP AND JOANNA GAINES SHARE MORE DETAILS ABOUT THEIR NEXT MAGNOLIA NETWORK
Chip Gaines discussed how reaching fame impacted him early in his career, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
(Mireya Acierto / FilmMagic)
However, the father of five said he struggles to be the center of attention.
“To be quite frank, I thought it was too,” he said. “Really what happened – and it was true for Jo and me – was not a big deal for her, but for me to become famous, I lost a part of me that was really … it was sad.”
Gaines went on to say that it took “a year or two” while starring in “Fixer Upper” to “fight what exactly I was missing.”
He also mentioned the couple’s decision to move away from the old HGTV series that aired on the network from 2013 to 2018. They decided to end the program after five seasons, although the home renovation series returns on their new cable network, Magnolia, with a revamped version entitled “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home”.
“In that year off, I really think that Jo and I were able to calm down and try to figure out what was in the fame that seemed so incompatible with my personality,” he recalled.
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Chip Gaines praised his wife for being “grounded”, despite reaching fame in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
(Getty Images)
The next series will see the couple working together to renovate homes, which includes shopping in public for Joanna – an activity that has been limited by safety precautions for almost a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the discovery + TCA panel last month, Joanna talked about filming under these circumstances, including visits to flea markets to find antiques, a basic element of her decorating style.
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“With the pandemic, suppliers have become very creative,” she said. “There are so many vendors who literally text me saying, ‘Hey, I have this and this and this’, and this is how I incorporate many of the antiques you will see in this new series with ‘Superior Fixer: Welcome home.’ “
Magnolia airs shows with several other hosts as well, including chef-restaurateur Erin French, Floret Farms owners, Erin and Chris Benzakein, and more. The expansion of the company meant that Chip and Joanna would have to establish the law when it came to staying safe.
In the same panel, the couple discussed the importance of taking care of mental health as they continue to expand their brand.
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“Jo is in virtual therapy 24 hours a day for obvious reasons,” joked Chip Gaines. “… She refers to me as, like, triplets. So she married a triplet and had five children after that. But I will say that we believe in mental health and self-care accordingly.”
The couple shares five children: Drake, 16; Ella, 14; Duke, 12; Emmie, 11; and Crew, 2.