Chip and Joanna Gaines Get Real About Life in the Spotlight

It’s easy to forget that Chip and Joanna Gaines are DIY experts not actors so fame is a relatively new experience for them. After all, Fixer Upper didn’t start until 2013, so their life in the spotlight has taken some adjustment.

While they are loving their thriving business, they admit it’s caused some changes. For instance, too many people know them so they can’t have an ordinary argument like any married couple. The pair recalled that they were once arguing in a parking lot and noticed people staring.

“All of a sudden, we were just going back and forth, and you just see people driving by and going, ‘There’s Chip and Jo.’ They only know us on the show, so the fact that so many people were getting this as their first impression of the ‘real’ Chip and Jo was not good,” Joanna recalled.

Being in the spotlight also means facing criticism as well as praise. They shared that they received a lot of negative feedback about the rental price of The Magnolia House.

“They don’t realize it’s not for a room, it’s for a whole house!” Chip explained. “Our entire mission with this thing was to give our guests the chance to stay in a Fixer Upper. And this one is special because it’s modeled after our house.”

They try to be as genuine as possible, which means that it can be hard for them to delegate work on their projects. Chip especially finds it difficult to stay hands off.

“He’ll linger around and do something more,” Joanna shared, “because it’s important to him: ‘I did this, I’m not an actor.’ It’s very important to him that it’s authentic, because I remember all the days when he did everything by himself, so this is really who he is. He would stick it out and finish.”

Despite all of that, they are loving the rollercoaster ride they’ve been on.

“It’s just such an honor to be in this position, and the opportunities, the things that come with this that we would’ve never dreamt of in a million years, I think certainly overshadow the fact that there are some downsides to this, and those are somewhat obvious,” Chip said.

It has given them the opportunity to do work they love and improve a community they care about.

“I want to be known for what we love to do, what we’re passionate about, and if that brings our town up in the midst of that, good,” Chip added. “But again, it’s one of those things. It’s, like, I don’t want to be responsible for it. We’re going to do the best we can, but we’re all humans.”