Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines started becoming household names when their 2013 show, Fixer Upper began airing. Over the years, their popularity has only soared and their program has reached greater heights.

However, just as the popularity of Fixer Upper peaked in 2017, they took a break from TV, dedicating more of their time and energy to grow their Magnolia empire. The couple even got their own network named Magnolia Network on Discovery.

Today, the network has hundreds of shows, all of which can be streamed on Discovery+ or the Magnolia app.

Here’s a look at the couple's journey through the years leading up to the Magnolia Network.

Chip Gaines and Joanna Stevens' ‘Fixer Upper’

Chip and Joanna starred in Fixer Upper, the HGTV reality series about home design and renovation. The show revolved around the duo’s home renovation and revocation business in Waco, Texas. It saw its pilot air in May 2013.

Fixer Upper got its first full season in April 2014, with the second and third seasons beginning in 2015. The two subsequent and final seasons aired in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

When talking to Cowboys & Indians, Chip revealed that he and his wife stepped away from TV because the show was beginning to feel more like a chore.

I’m an authentic, sincere person. So, as long as things are natural and organic, I’m in my element. But the more staged something becomes, or the more required something becomes, it boxes me up, and I felt like toward the end of the Fixer Upper journey, I felt caged, trapped… The last two years… they were more of a job.

Magnolia Table & Magnolia Journal

After taking a break from TV, the couple started their Waco eatery, Magnolia Table. Soon, it grew into one of Waco’s most popular destinations. Opened in 2018, it’s the couple’s only full-service restaurant.

Chip and Joanna also started a new lifestyle magazine named Magnolia Journal. It’s a quarterly publication that offers fresh inspiration for life and home in each new season. 

The Fixer Upper stars also share their insights and tips for home projects, decors, outdoor living, and gardening, among many others.

Magnolia Network

Though the couple took a break from TV in 2017, they still had plans to start a lifestyle-focused media network. The couple announced they were in early talks of bringing their plans to fruition during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in November 2018.

Half a year later, Discovery officially announced in April 2019 that they would replace DIY Network with Chip and Joanna’s Magnolia Network. However, because of the pandemic, the original launch date of October 2020 was delayed.

And though the pandemic stopped the launch of their network, Chip said it gave them a much-needed break.

As sad as we are collectively for the year that we’ve all experienced together, we’re thankful in a lot of ways that it gave us a little time out. It felt like there was a little pause that gave us the ability to really fill in lots of blanks.

Because of the delay, some of the Magnolia Network’s programs debuted on Discovery+ on January 4, 2021. Finally, almost a year and a half after the initial date, Magnolia Network launched on July 15, 2021.