Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” and founders of The Magnolia Network, celebrated their twentieth anniversary this year. The couple, who are parents to five children, say that while their differing personalities may have caused trouble early in their relationship, it now helps them balance each other.
Joanna, originally, had her eye set on Chip’s roommate, but when Chip asked her on a date, she agreed. Chip, in character, was an hour and a half late for that date, but somehow earned a second. Joanna said, “He didn’t apologize for being late, either. He had so much confidence. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Only Chip could be an hour and a half late and have no one mad about it.”
Their second date, however, wasn’t for months later, on account of a bet between Chip and his roommate. When it finally came, though, neither of them could deny the spark they felt:
”This near-stranger had drawn out a side of me that I didn’t yet know existed,” Joanna wrote. “My gut told me there was something there worth waiting for. Our lives have beat to this same rhythm ever since.”
Since then, they’ve welcomed five children: Drake, Ella Rose, Duke, Emmy Kay, and Crew, as well as a major homegoods brand and a television network.
Though they may seem like “salt and pepper”, the couple likely couldn’t have made it to this point without each other. Joanna sums it up, telling People,
“We both were like, ‘This isn’t really what we thought we’d end up with.’ But now we realize it was a perfect thing for us.”
Sources:
Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Relationship Timeline (people.com)
Chip and Joanna Gaines’s Relationship Timeline (brides.com)
Chip and Joanna Gaines Open Up About Their Difficult First Year of Marriage (people.com)
Chip Gaines Proposed to Wife Joanna at a Mall without a Ring (people.com)
