Ever since Fixer Upper introduced us to the charming husband-and-wife team, Chip and Joanna Gaines, we’ve been obsessed.
These two are down-to-earth, seriously talented, and the ultimate definition of couple goals.
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You know what that means: we want to know everything there is to know about them (especially before their return to TV in Oct 2020!), starting with these 10+ facts.
1. It was love at first sight for Chip:
This is too cute.
When Chip paid a visit to Joanna’s father’s Firestone auto shop, he noticed a photo of Joanna behind the register on the wall.
“I knew I’d marry her one day just by the picture on the wall,” he told *PopSugar*.
They finally met in person when Chip had to get his brakes done at her father’s shop.
The first thing he said to Joanna was, “Hey, you’re the girl in the commercials.” It was history from there.
2. Chip was an hour late for their first date:
She shared this not-so-romantic story in their memoir, The Magnolia Story .
“Chip was supposed to pick me up at six. Six rolls around. No Chip. Then six-thirty — still no Chip,” she wrote.
“I thought, Well, maybe he thought the date was at seven, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But when seven came and went, I was officially done,” she wrote.
“Finally, at seven-thirty, a full ninety minutes late, he knocked at the door. ‘Don’t even answer it,’ I whispered to my friends. ‘I don’t want to go anywhere with this idiot.'”
Thankfully, Chip won over Joanna — and her friends — with his signature charm.
“He didn’t apologize for being late, either. He had so much confidence. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Only Chip could be an hour and a half late and have no one mad about it,” Joanna wrote.
3. Joanna is multi-racial:
She’s one-quarter German, one-quarter Lebanese, and half Korean.
“My parents met in 1969 when my dad was stationed in Korea and their story is one you hear about in the movies,” Joanna wrote in an Instagram post in 2017.
4. They both went to the same university, but never met:
While they both went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, they were only on campus together for one fall semester in 1998.
Chip ended up graduating with a degree in marketing, while Joanna majored in communications.
5. Joanna originally wanted to be a news reporter:
She fell in love with being in front of the camera after shooting commercials for her dad’s business.
“And by my senior year, I was fortunate enough to snag a pretty decent journalism internship in New York City,” Gaines wrote in a blog post .
But when she finished the semester, her interest in the career had weaned.
“When that semester ended, I can remember feeling as though I’d just wasted four years working toward a degree that was no longer of any interest to me,” she said.
“I returned to Waco with no plan beyond the fact that I no longer wanted to be a news reporter.”
6. There’s a sweet story behind why their company is named after a magnolia tree:
Chip shared the reason with their kids on an episode of Fixer Upper .
“One of mama and I’s first dates I climbed up a magnolia tree and I pulled her off a magnolia bloom and I gave it to her.”
7. Joanna didn’t start flipping houses until she met Chip:
Meanwhile, Chip had flipped his first house in college.
“Once I caught on to the concept of buying something that is undervalued to then put value into it and sell it for a profit, I was hooked, too,” she told HGTV .
8. They have five kids:
Talk about a handful!
They have Drake, 15, Ella, 14, Duke, 11, and Emmie Kay, 10. They welcomed their fifth child , Crew, together in 2018.
According to Joanna, Chip even wants more kids!
9. They bought (and flipped) their first home together soon after they were first married:
This was the 800-square-foot fixer-upper in Waco — and, according to Joanna, the favorite home they ever flipped.
“Most of what I learned creatively stemmed from this little fixer upper,” Joanna wrote in an Instagram post.
“Small house or big, rich or poor — own the space you live in and love what you have.”
10. They were approached about their own show for HGTV:
This happened after someone from the network saw before-and-after photos of some of the houses they flipped together.
Soon, fans fell in love with the adorable couple and their remarkable talent.
11. They don’t own a TV:
Can you believe it? TV stars without a TV ??
Whenever they want to check out their episodes of Fixer Upper , they’ll go over to a friend’s house or watch it on the road in hotels.
12. They left *Fixer Upper* because life got too busy:
“The show was limiting our involvement in what was taking place here in this office,” Joanna said .
“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.”
13. They’re returning to TV in October 2020:
This is thanks to the partnership they made with Discovery to return to have their own network .
They will have multiple shows on the network, including home design, cooking, and children’s programs.
14. They give back to charity:
This blessed couple shares their wealth.
They often donate to various charities, including St. Jude and the Tim Tebow Foundation. Chip even once shaved off all his famous long hair for charity!
