Chip and Joanna Gaines are two of the most popular HGTV hosts in network history. The renovation duo became famous for transforming dilapidated old homes into modern farmhouse stunners. Over time, Fixer Upper became the most-watched show on the network, and the Gaineses became millionaires many times over.
Fans flocked to HGTV to gobble up all the content they could find about Chip and Joanna. But they were amazed to find that these hosts don’t even watch their own series. That’s because the Gaineses didn’t own a television when they shot the Fixer Upper pilot.
And the wildest part of all? They still don’t have a TV to this day.
Chip and Joanna Gaines want their kids to play outside
Instead of letting their kids binge-watch cartoons or spend hours on tablets, the Gaineses prefer to let them enjoy the beauty of nature on the family’s 40 acre Waco farm. The five Gaines children never watch TV. But they do have trees to climb, a pool to swim in, animals to care for, and gardens to tend. Even if they did have a television, they’d probably never have time to watch it.
And Joanna isn’t planning on giving her children cell phones either. In an interview with ET Online, she said, “I tell the kids that you are probably not going to get a cell phone. We want to teach our kids that life happens outside of these devices. It’s just a simple thing to go outside and connect with nature, play with your friends, and get dirty.”
It all fits in with their whole philosophy on screen-free, simple parenting.
The Gaineses are launching a network — but they don’t own a TV
Even after becoming mega-famous thanks to Fixer Upper, the Gaineses never altered their strict no-TV policy. “We still don’t have a television,” Joanna told Fast Company during an event in Oct. 2020. And they’re using the secret to their star power while casting talent on Magnolia Network, too.
“Our secret ingredient to good television is finding people who do not want to be on television,” Chip said during the same event.
“We didn’t go out and do casting calls, anything like that. We just looked around,” Joanna agreed. “It’s what they’re doing in real life that drew us to their story. Without the cameras on them, you could see the passion, you could see the drive, the risk. And then when you’re watching, you’re like, ‘Now I want to go do that.’”
Chip and Joanna Gaines seek to bring families together
Magnolia Network is meant for fans of all ages and as such, Chip and Joanna are hoping they inspire families to bond together over TV watching. Even if the Gaineses still aren’t personally watching television at home.
“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.”
Magnolia Network is scheduled to launch in 2021.
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