Chip and Joanna Gaines Still Manage to Watch ‘Fixer Upper’ — Even Though They Don’t Own a TV
Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines skyrocketed into stardom when their show Fixer Upper premiered on HGTV in 2013. The series highlights the power couple’s remodeling and design business and has led to several spinoffs, such as Fixer Upper: Welcome Home and Fixer Upper: The Castle. They have previously discussed why they don’t keep a TV in their home, but the couple still manages to catch episodes of their own show.
Power couple Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines don’t own a TV
Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines married in May 2003. The couple is approaching their 20-year anniversary, and their marriage began with taking one small piece of advice.
“Our first year of marriage, we had a fun couple that was our pre-marital counselors, and they said, ‘Hey, we want to challenge y’all for the first six months of marriage, don’t do a TV,'” Joanna told Glamour in 2015.
“Then, six months later, we looked at each other and said, ‘How about another six months?’ And it just became one of those things where, 12 years later, we still don’t own one.”
The pair still manage to watch episodes of ‘Fixer Upper’
Chip and Joanna Gaines don’t keep a TV in their house, but that never stopped the couple from watching Fixer Upper.”When the show comes on, we get to go to some of our really good friends’ house and have a little mini watch party,” Joanna told Glamour.
“I am so funny—like I can see why people watch this. I’m extremely easy to watch, I think I’m generally handsome, charming,” laughed Chip.
Although Chip and Joanna have since started Magnolia Network, in 2020, they told Fast Company, “We still don’t have a television.” However, the couple was excited by the prospect of bringing families together through Magnolia Network.
“You see how everyone watches television now—everyone’s in their own room, on their own device,” Joanna said. “It’s no longer a thing of bringing families together. We got excited about just that idea of getting people back around that television, and being with family, and leaving and being inspired.”
Joanna almost never stages homes with a TV
After renovations for Fixer Upper are completed, Joanna stages the homes with beautiful furniture and decor. However, that doesn’t mean that everything she puts in the home will stay put. “The furniture budget is not part of the renovation budget, it’s something some clients add at the end,” Joanna explained during a Q&A preserved by the Wayback Machine.
“About half of our clients already have all their own furnishings (some of which I use for the reveal), and others buy the items I decorate the home with. The main reason I decorate the rooms for the reveal is because I want the clients to get the full picture of how to maximize their newly renovated space.”
Joanna almost never stages a TV in the newly renovated space. However, she has made the occasional exception. In Fixer Upper Season 2 Episode 7, the Blount family had a TV in their final reveal. Joanna also included a TV when she and Chip worked on their employee John’s home in Fixer Upper: Welcome Home.
