Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines is revealing how discrimination accusations against her and husband Chip Gaines have impacted her life. The married couple became household names across the country from their hit HGTV series Fixer Upper, which debuted in 2014, though the pilot actually aired in 2013. After five seasons, Fixer Upper came to an end in 2018. But the couple is hard at work on their next ventures. They will be launching Magnolia Network, formerly known as DIY Network. The pandemic delayed the launch, so some of Magnolia's shows will first premiere on Discovery+, including a reboot of their HGTV series called Fixer Upper: Welcome Home.
Joanna and Chip Gaines were known as a very wholesome couple on Fixer Upper. But scandal has plagued them over the years nonetheless. Viewers accused them of never casting same-sex couples on Fixer Upper. They have chosen to associate with a pastor who is against marriage equality and once said that LGBTQ+ individuals are living a life of sin. Then just this year, Chip's sister, Shannon Braun, made it known that she doesn't support critical race theory, a hot-button topic in the country lately, during her run for a school board position in Texas. She ended up winning the seat this month. Joanna and Chip donated $1,000 to her campaign, and Chip and Shannon's parents donated $2,000.
These discrimination accusations against the Gaines family have impacted Joanna's life. She told THR, "Sometimes, I'm like, 'Can I just make a statement?' 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. That's the stuff that keeps me up." Chip admitted that "it's hard to be perfectly diverse" as someone who is white and male.
The Fixer Upper star also talked about what it was like growing up as a biracial child. She and her family were faced with harassment in the United States after her mother emigrated from South Korea in the '70s. Her mother felt helpless when she would come home from school and mentioned various names that kids called her. As she explained, "Growing up as half-Asian, half-Caucasian, I get what that feels like to not be accepted and to not be loved. That's the last thing I want anyone to ever feel."
The Fixer Upper couple is clearly very aware of the criticisms they've received and the way they've been perceived by certain people. THR notes that when Magnolia Network launches, at least one of the initial shows will star an openly LGBTQ+ individual, and some of the shows feature people of color. So it seems like they've taken all that criticism to heart and are directly addressing ways to make sure their shows are more inclusive going forward.
Fixer Upper: Welcome Home premieres July 15 on Discovery+.
Source: THR