Anyone looking at Chip Gaines would envy his lavish lifestyle. As a former HGTV star who made millions flipping houses on “Fixer Upper,” he and his family are undoubtedly among the wealthiest reality stars out there. From going on exotic vacations to owning multiple properties, Chip has done pretty well for himself after building the Magnolia empire with his wife, Joanna Gaines, but he didn’t always have an easy life. “I remember when we first got married the only money we had was what was in Chip’s pocket. He always had a wad of cash, but we were broke,” Joanna told People in 2016.
With his loud and boisterous personality, the father of five has become an HGTV fan favorite, but unfortunately, Chip lost some of that fan base when he tweeted a tone-deaf statement in response to Barstool Sports joking about Baylor University’s basketball coach. “Money is boring.. everybody’s got money. We’ve got God on our side,” he quipped. An X user, formerly Twitter, shot back, “Man I love your show and all, and I absolutely get joking about basketball — but this tweet is not cool. The majority of people in this country worry about money because they don’t have enough of it.” That wasn’t the only pushback Chip got from the internet for his careless comment, and unfortunately, being scrutinized as a celebrity is one of the many challenges he’s had to deal with after becoming a reality television star.
Chip Gaines almost lost his son in a crowd
Being a famous face does have its perks, but according to Chip Gaines, there are some horrifying aspects to it as well. In an interview with “Today,” he recalled losing his son Duke in a public setting after getting swarmed by fans. Although he repeatedly asked them if they had seen Duke, his concern wasn’t getting through because they were so enthralled by meeting the “Fixer Upper” star. “The experience of that had become a little bit normal for us because we definitely had gotten to that position in our careers to where we were recognizable in public, but in that exact second, I sort of lost contact with Duke,” Chip explained. He added, “And it sort of forced me to reconcile with whether or not all of this was worth it in some of those kind of big life decisions you have to make in these cases.”
Despite being public figures, Chip and Joanna Gaines try to keep their five children out of the spotlight as much as possible. “They’re so young, and we want to give them the chance to have a normal childhood,” Joanna shared with People. In fact, the kids might not even know how famous their parents are, as the Gaines family follows strict rules and has limited screen time. “So they don’t really understand that we have a show. They don’t get it,” Joanna stated.
Chip Gaines struggled at the end of Fixer Upper
HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” put Chip Gaines on the map, but starring in the show began losing its luster toward the end. In 2017, he and Joanna Gaines announced on their website that they were stepping away from television to focus more on their family and other businesses. However, Chip revealed to Cowboys & Indians that he had an entirely different reason, saying, “TV was a funny thing for me. I’m an authentic, sincere person. So, as long as things are natural and organic, I’m in my element. But the more staged something becomes, or the more required something becomes, it boxes me up, and I felt like toward the end of the ‘Fixer Upper’ journey, I felt caged, trapped.”
In an appearance on “From the Woodshed,” Chip spoke more about why he wanted to quit the show. He shared that as the projects piled up, he started to get burned out, and it didn’t help that they were combining filming the show and construction, which weren’t always cohesive. “When we got into that particular season, and I think it was the third or fourth, man, we were behind on the season we were wrapping. We were trying to get ahead on the season we were about to do. We were screwed. We were doing projects backward,” he stated.
The flipping life wasn’t always easy on Chip Gaines’ marriage
Before his life as an HGTV star, Chip Gaines worked in lawn care until he realized how much more he could earn in real estate. Unfortunately, the unsteady nature of the business, combined with having kids at a young age, put undue stress on his marriage to Joanna Gaines, and they almost didn’t make it. “We pretty quickly had to say, ‘We’re either going to go at each other and blow this thing up, you and I trying to fight each other about every nook and cranny, or we can figure out how to come together as a team,'” Chip told People.
The couple had to overcome major hurdles before finding their footing as partners in marriage and business. “Early, I would buy these houses, and she would throw a kind of temper tantrum. I would bring her to this house, and it was a total no-brainer. Obviously, it needed some work,” he shared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” He then revealed that Joanna would just start crying when he showed her his latest purchase, but in her defense, one was a particularly horrific house that had previously been inhabited by frat guys with pets. “I did cry myself to sleep,” she admitted.
