Chip Gaines Was Serious About Making Another Woman His Wife

Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines are one of home renovation’s cutest couples, but in the latest issue of the duo’s magazine, The Magnolia Journal, Chip revealed that their relationship almost didn’t happen because he was “hell-bent” on marrying another woman.

In the fall issue, Chip explained that a previous girlfriend, who he called Amy to preserve her privacy, was, at one time, the woman he saw himself marrying.

“Amy put up with me despite my terrible approach to relationships,” Chip wrote, noting that he would show up to dates hours late and forget to call. “She and I dated for upward of two years.”

After Amy finished school, she took a short-term job in London, where Chip went to visit her.

“As we walked along the River Thames together, the conversation suddenly turned serious,” the contractor wrote. “She asked me where I thought our relationship was headed, and I, being a complete idiot, said something along the lines of ‘You know, I’ve never given it much thought.’ “

On the flight home, after realizing he had “managed to break her heart,” Chip thought about the nature of their relationship.

“I felt convinced that Amy was the one,” he shared. “I walked off that plane hell-bent on making that young woman my wife.”

Back in Texas, Chip actively pursued Amy and even asked her parents for her hand in marriage, although they declined. He even built a miniature version of a stone retaining wall his construction company had been hired to build in front of Amy’s apartment, leaving it there with a note. Unfortunately, her friends found the structure, and without context, it appeared to be a tombstone.

After “that disaster,” Amy’s father sent Chip a “very kind but stern letter that expressed his concerns over my level of persistence,” Chip wrote. “I really respected this man, and for the first time throughout this whole ordeal, I realized that even though my intentions were good, I had pushed this too far.”

As the theme of the issue was gratitude, Chip reflected on the fact that while it didn’t seem like it at the time, ending his pursuit of Amy was actually a good thing.

“It’s hard for me to articulate how grateful I am that we don’t always get what we want,” he noted. “Sometimes it takes a strongly worded dad letter to convince me that it’s time to leave a dream behind.”

Later on, when he met Joanna, he knew that she was someone he could see a future with.

“I knew almost from the beginning that I wanted a future with [Joanna],” he said. “I wasn’t ready to settle down at that moment, but the idea was no longer foreign.”

Chip and Joanna have now been married for over ten years and share four children as well as a home design empire, so it’s safe to say things turned out just as they were meant to.

Photo Credit: Instagram / @chippergaines