"Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have opened up about why they chose to leave Home & Garden Television.
The hugely successful couple revealed to Inc. magazine that they were struggling to balance personal business ventures with their HGTV show. The Gaines also were finding themselves unable to identify with the direction "Fixer Upper" was taking.
The show initially appealed to viewers because of its authenticity, but the network began pushing to play up on the couple's relationship. Chip recalled how they were told to "always be together." The network would say: "Chip, if you're hanging drywall, we need Joanna to be standing there making cupcakes."
The famous home renovators felt like the show was drifting away from what they had originally intended for it to be. At the same time, they were focusing on developing a homewares store as well as a furniture line. They have now added their own network into the mix, but the duo would have struggled to see their dream become a reality if they had stayed with HGTV.
"The show was limiting our involvement in what was taking place here in this office," Joanna said of "Fixer Upper." "We were pouring so much time into doing this thing that had to fit in this format, and it was a conflict with our growing business."
Chip added that, "as things started getting complicated," he made a bet with Joanna. "We bet on ourselves. We knew there was a real chance that everything else would go away without the show. But would it be a complete kick in the pants to end up operating a great construction company in Waco? No. I'd be honored. And, as soon as we accepted that, much greater opportunities started presenting themselves."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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