After five seasons of their successful HGTV series Fixer Upper, Chip Gaines and wife, Joanna have been keeping a relatively low profile while taking care of their 6-month-old child Crew and continuing to expand their Magnolia business.
But though the couple is enjoying a well-deserved break from the spotlight for, Jimmy Don from JDH Iron Designs, who worked with the couple on the hit reality series, recently disclosed to Closer Weekly why they are staying out of the public eye for now.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“They’re laying low, staying low key,” Don said. “I saw them drive by this morning. They tend to stop by the Magnolia Headquarters occasionally and deal with their businesses in town in Waco. They don’t visit the headquarters too much because they spend majority of their time tending to family matters and spending more time at home.”
The Gaines made headlines when they announced they would soon be returning to television, as part of a collaboration with Discovery to create their own cable network.
“Discovery is thrilled to confirm that we are in exclusive talks with Chip and Joanna Gaines,” Discovery said in a statement at the time. “The Gaines’ are exceptional people, true authentic storytellers and creative visionaries who will nourish millions of people with quality, family-friendly programming accessible on a 24/7 network and across all screens.”
However, Don reveals that he has not noticed any filming around the Waco, Texas, area for the network as of yet.
“There haven’t been camera crews in town. As far as I know there’s no filming going on at the moment. I usually know things and as of right now I do not know when they’re launching their network.” Jimmy told the outlet, “I’m always doing new projects for them for the Magnolia Market. I’m going to have a second showroom in the spring. We’re selling out of a fancy trailer at the moment and have a pop up shop.”
Don adds that he too has been doing “meet and greets” with fans who have seen the show and believes it all to be a lot of fun.
“If the Gaines were to ask me to have a show on their network, I’d jump right on it and have fun with it. I’m not going to ask for it though,” he said.
The couple are parents to Drake, 13, Ella, 11, Duke, 9, Emmie Kay, 8, and 6-month-old Crew. Don had some great things to say about the Gaines’ parenting skills.
“They’re amazing as parents — just like his parents and her parents.” Jimmy told the outlet. “They’re so good with the kids! I feel like a better person because I got to know the Gaines and their parents – they’re all kind people.”
