The Bible Belt is bringing about a reckoning on Chip and Joanna Gaines.
The home renovation superstars sparked backlash for featuring a gay couple on their new reality show “Back to the Frontier.” Conservative Christian leaders like Reverend Franklin Graham – son of late star evangelist Billy Graham – and podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey both slammed their decision, with Graham calling the casting “very disappointing.”
Sources told The Post Chip and Joanna have a tough position to negotiate – satisfying the demands of an increasingly diverse audience across the US and growing their network while staying true to their faith and fanbase.
Graham was clear in his stance, writing: “His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman.”
This prompted Chip to pour gasoline on the controversy by tweeting: “The way of ‘modern American Christian culture’ is ‘Judge 1st, understand later/never.’ ”
The remark was seen as a rebuke of conservative Christians, who claim the “Fixer Upper” duo for their own.
A source close to Chip and Joanna – who cast married couple Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs and their 10-year-old twin sons on “Back to the Frontier” – says they have long been inclusive people.
“It’s uncomfortable for a super traditional audience to come to terms with … [Chip and Joanna] don’t live their life the way a traditional conservative evangelical population does,” the source told The Post.
“They’ve never been concerned with what people think in that capacity – they believe in what’s right.
“They believe in what they believe in, if you’re traditional minded and you don’t believe in that, then that’s your prerogative.”
The TV couple – parents to five children ranging between 20 and seven in age – are active members of the traditionally conservative Antioch Community Church of Waco.
A source close to the church says this leads evangelical Christians to feel the couple are “theirs.”
“It’s the bible belt — you have a lot of conservatives, a lot of religious people. They see it as [Chip and Joanna] sold out. [Like] some LA director told them to put this gay couple in and they did it for the money,” the second source, who also once worked with the couple, speculated.
However, the source also added Antioch would have no problem with the casting.
“They’re a pretty progressive church. They wouldn’t condemn them for having a gay couple on their show.”
Magnolia takes Waco
Chip and Joanna ricocheted to stardom with their home renovation HGTV show, “Fixer Upper,” in 2014. It followed the pair’s home renovation and redecoration business centered around Waco, Texas, where they turned run-down homes into souped-up modern living spaces.
The pair soon built an empire – including a five-acre shopping complex, Magnolia Market, the Magnolia Press coffee shop, the Silos Baking Co. bakery and Magnolia Table restaurant. It catapulted the small Texas town into one of the state’s top tourist destinations almost overnight.
“The only thing people knew Waco for was Baylor University and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians [cult]. Chip and Joanna brought another positive aspect to Waco,” one source told The Post, although they noted success also brought a downside to the small town.
“There were more and more tourists, people got more and annoyed at the traffic. It was less convenient. [But] most people still have positive feelings about them,” the source added.
After launching their lifestyle brand including books, apparel, furniture and design, the pair pulled the plug on “Fixer Upper” with HGTV in 2017.
The following year, they teamed up with Discovery Inc., to start their own network, born and bred in their central Texas town. They have since launched a string of shows such as “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home”, “Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse” and “Fixer Upper: The Hotel.”
However, a third source told The Post they haven’t hit the same stride and created a blockbuster like their first show.
“Their network hasn’t been the explosive success Discovery hoped for. None of the shows has been a breakout,” a source noted.
Fans and Faith
Over the years, people have noticed Chip and Joanna’s lack of diversity in their shows and criticized them for failing to feature LGBTQ+ couples, something they have previously defended against.
“Sometimes I’m like, ‘Can I just make a statement?’ Joanna told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.
“The accusations that get thrown at you, like ‘You’re a racist’ or ‘You don’t like people in the LGBTQ community’ — that’s the stuff that really eats my lunch, because it’s so far from who we really are.”
However, sources say their current spat isn’t going to tear down the empire they’ve built.
“How they’re dealing with the backlash? You have two people who feel proud to stand on what they actually believe in. It’s not keeping them up at night,” the industry source added.
