Between the design drama of clients renting out their Gaines-renovated homes on Airbnb, and controversy surrounding homophobia accusations at their church, Chip and Joanna Gaines have faced their fair share of ups and downs over the course of four seasons of Fixer Upper. On Tuesday, they took to Jo’s blog to announce that the upcoming fifth season of their hit HGTV show would be the last.
In a blog post (and corresponding vlog) called “Our last season,” Joanna explained to fans that the decision to end the show, though difficult, is the right one for their family at this time. And contrary to any rumors you may hear, they’re quitting while they’re ahead.
“Our family is healthy and our marriage has honestly never been stronger,” she wrote. “This has nothing to do with a fraudulent skincare line or anything else you’ll inevitably read. This is just us recognizing that we need to catch our breath for a moment. Our plan is to take this time to shore up and strengthen the spots that are weak, rest the places that are tired, and give lots of love and attention to both our family and our businesses.”
She added that the show has been “an amazing adventure,” and that they are grateful for the fans who’ve stuck by them through the years. “Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen,” she wrote. “How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”
In the short video that accompanied the post, Chip elaborated on their feelings about the series. “This journey has been indescribable,” he said. “The opportunity of a lifetime. Our family has grown up, before our eyes, on national television. Which is an experience, which I can tell you, is an experience which is beautiful.”
What a ride…BUT #season5IScoming#onelasthoorah [Watch the full video here: https://t.co/f5qIt4XUVO] pic.twitter.com/y9Dww6YSoW
— Chip Gaines (@chippergaines) September 26, 2017
And yet, they know that now is the perfect time to walk away from the show. “We are really, really proud of season five,” Joanna wrote. “We laid it all on the field and didn’t hold anything back. We think it’s the perfect finale to this amazing journey we’ve been on.”
And although they’re leaving television, they promised they would stay active in their hometown, working, raising their family, and bringing all they can to their businesses.
“We’re not going anywhere. You can come visit us in Waco, Texas,” Chip said in the vlog. “You never know, you might see us at a local Little League game in town with the kids.”
He added: “We want to take this time to really say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for letting our family become a part of your family. The experience has been like nothing we could have ever predicted.”
Season five of Fixer Upper begins in November on HGTV.
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(Photo via Laura Cavanaugh/WireImage)