Here’s Why Chip & Joanna Are Ending Fixer Upper
By now, you’ve heard that HGTV heavyweights Chip and Joanna Gaines are ending their mega-hit home renovation series, Fixer Upper, after 5 seasons. But what you may not be aware of is why the Shiplap-loving duo has decided to retreat from the spotlight.
Calling it a “security issue,” a source revealed to Us Weekly that Chip and Joanna want to keep their family away from prying eyes of Fixer Upper super fans. “People drive by and like to take pictures in front of their house,” they said. “I think they just want to take a step back from it.”
However, Chip and Joanna have been pretty quick to shut down these rumors. “It is not based on concerns for their family’s safety or anything else people might read,” a representative for the couple told Entertainment Tonight on Friday. “They were very open and honest about their reasoning behind this decision when they first shared the announcement.”
While it’s certainly possible that the Gaines family wants to take a break from the spotlight, it’s not as they don’t already have a ton of stuff on their plate. There’s Magnolia Market, and their magazine, Magnolia Journal, a home decor line with Target, and of course, raising four young children. Plus, don’t forget the couple announced their new spinoff, Fixer Upper: Behind the Design, back in March.
Brock Murphy, director of PR for Magnolia Markets, told Us Weekly that the couple’s decision “is truly just based on wanting to catch their breath for a minute, to rest, refresh and spend even more time with their family and growing businesses. … They were very open and honest about their reasoning behind this decision when they first shared the announcement.”
It seems Chip and Joanna are so busy with all their endeavors that they simply hope to focus on what’s most important. According to Business Insider, In Chip’s upcoming book, “Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff,” the DIY entrepreneur provides an inside look into how things have changed since the show skyrocketed to success. “It was really easy for us to feel like we could do it all when the show and the business were in the early stages,” writes Chip. “But the bigger things got — and they got big fast — the less energy we had to devote to all three. So much time was being allocated to filming that the details of the business were slipping.”
Plus, Chip has something else going on: He’ll be the honorary pace car driver at the AAA Texas 500 race.