Chip Gaines Was Once Arrested to Spare New Mom Joanna Gaines From Punishment
Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines have a wholesome reputation as HGTV stars, but one of the Fixer Upper stars was once arrested to save the other from punishment. Here’s how the famous couple got in trouble with the law just after their first child was born.
Chip Gaines once said he ‘owes [his] life’ to his wife, Joanna
The Fixer Upper stars have been married for two decades, and Chip once said that he owed Joanna his life. In a March 2021 interview for Super Soul, Oprah Winfrey asked the couple how they brought out the best in each other.
“For me, it’s perfectly clear. I was, like, chasing my tail. I was like a dog chasing his tail in a circle, trying to be all the things for all the people,” Chip answered. “And I can just, beyond the shadow of a doubt, quickly say she grounded me. And it’s almost like the dog then saw the tennis ball or whatever and calmed down.
He claimed his “energy” was “anxiety-inducing” and credited his wife for calming him down. “I was just such an idiot and I was just so, so anxious and so excitable,” Chip said. “My dad used to [say], in a loving way, ‘Son, talking to you is like trying to get a drink of water out of a fire hydrant.’ I was always that kind of energy, it wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t cute. It was, like, anxiety-inducing. And Jo has just kind of grounded me. When I die or I’m on my deathbed, what I’ll say looking back is that ‘I owe you my life because you settled me down.’”
In return, Joanna said that she could be “robotic” at times, and her husband helped her remember to find “joy” in the moment. “Chip is always teaching me, if you’re not having fun, if you’re not enjoying, and savoring these moments, then why are you doing it?” she said. “And he also pushes me to do it.”
Perhaps Chip was trying to pay his debt to Joanna when he was arrested to save her from going to jail.
Chip Gaines was arrested to spare pregnant Joanna Gaines from punishment
Joanna and Chip got into trouble with the law over unpaid fines for allowing their dogs to roam outside their house without leashes. They opened up about the incident in their 2016 book, The Magnolia Story.
The couple had racked up over $2,000 in fines over the dogs, and the police came to arrest Joanna, since the pets were in her name, shortly after she had given birth to the couple’s first baby, Drake.
“‘Is Joanna Gaines here? We have a warrant here for her arrest,’ the officer said. It was the tickets. I knew it,” Joanna wrote. “And I panicked. I picked up my son and I hid in the closet. I literally didn’t know what to do. I’d never even had a speeding ticket, and all of a sudden I’m thinking, I’m about to go to prison, and my child won’t be able to eat. What is this kid gonna do? I heard Chip say, ‘She’s not here.’”
When the couple went to the courthouse to put the dogs in Chip’s name, he was immediately arrested and taken to jail. Joanna had to scrape together $800 to bail him out.
The reality TV couple has ‘more dogs than children’
Chip’s arrest didn’t deter the reality stars from acquiring more pets. They are known animal lovers and raise cows, goats, chickens, and more on their farm.
In an August 2019 Instagram post, Joanna revealed that the couple, who have five children, were outnumbered by their dogs after Chip surprised them with a new pet.
“Chip told me he hadn’t surprised us in a while with a new animal and that it was long overdue,” she captioned a photo of their youngest son, Crew, pointing to an English Mastiff puppy. “We now have more dogs than children [crying laughing emoji] #englishmastiff.”
