Updated Oct. 10, 2017, 8:00 a.m. PT: Chip and Joanna Gaines may have heard the rumors that they’re only threatening to end their wildly popular show, Fixer Upper, in order to land a more lucrative contract, but their rep says that’s simply not true.
A source told Page Six this week that the Gaineses were only holding out until Discovery Communications completes its purchase of HGTV, the network that airs their show, because its current owner, Scripps, has “very restrictive” contracts with talent that take a cut of everything they make from books, appearances, endorsements and products, all things the Gaineses have going on on the side. With their newly launched home decor line at Target, the Page Six source said, they were hoping for a better contract that would allow them “more money, less work, more control.”
The PR manager for the Gaineses, however, denies that.
“Chip and Jo’s decision to leave Fixer Upper is truly just based on wanting to catch their breath for a minute; to rest, refresh, and spend even more time with their family and growing businesses,” their rep said. “It is not based on anything else people might read. They were very open and honest about their reasoning behind this decision when they first shared the announcement.”
And for fans, don’t worry — there’s still another season of Fixer Upper set to air before the couple calls it quits on the show that made them famous. They’ve been tight-lipped about whatever plans they may have for the future, but we highly doubt this is the last we’ll see of Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Original story:
It’s the end of an era at HGTV. Chip and Joanna Gaines, the couple behind the massively popular house-flipping series Fixer Upper, have announced that they intend to end the show after the next season.
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“It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last,” they wrote in a joint statement on their shared blog Tuesday. “While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”
While fans of the show will no doubt struggle with the news, it seems like a good time for the Gaineses to move on. After all, they’ve probably fixed up every house in all of Waco, Texas, on HGTV’s dime. And knowing them, they have something new in the works. We just don’t know what it is quite yet.
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But based on their statement, it might be a minute before we see more from the Gaineses. It sounds like they might be ready for a break.
“We’ve been all over the world now,” they wrote. “But there’s something really romantic about not just saying, ‘Remember where you came from,’ but really living that out.”
And they want to give their four kids, ages 12, 10, 9 and 7, a chance to grow up outside the spotlight.
“They’re so young, and we want to give them the chance to have a normal childhood,” they said. “Family is the most important thing in the world.”
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We’ll be waiting to see what the Gaineses have up their sleeves, but in the meantime, we hope they enjoy taking a little break from their nonstop lives as international celebs.
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