NEW YORK — Chip and Joanna Gaines made a name for themselves thanks to their knack for renovating homes. Now they’re ready to put their skills to work on building an entire TV network, AP reported.
The couple known for restoring old homes and buildings into styles varying from industrial to farmhouse are making the transition to TV executives with the Friday launch of the first steps towards their Magnolia Network. It will feature dozens of hours of new unscripted content and archive shows.
“It’s become this passion project for us and we’re just so excited about it. And now we’re finally here, and we can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been working on,” said Joanna Gaines.
The shows will vary from Atlanta-based farmer Jamila Norman helping families transform their outdoor spaces to designer Brian Patrick Flynn beautifying interior spaces. Motels get makeovers in one show, and vans get remade into tiny homes in another.
Joanna Gaines stresses that what Magnolia Network will offer mainly is not scripted shows as much as “real people doing real things.”
“The thing that I think wakes us up in the morning and gets us to work is the idea that we get to tell people’s stories,” she added.
Andrew Zimmern, an Emmy and four-time James Beard Award winning TV chef, signed on to host “Family Dinner,” in which he visits families across America to hear their stories and explore their food history. He’s known the Gaines for many years.
“They’re very genuine. They are who they are. They are consistent. They are reliable. They believe in taking risks and they believe in vulnerability,” he said. “They did not put any boundaries about what kind of show I was going to make. They essentially let me make the show I felt was important.”
Another host they tapped was Clint Harp, a carpenter who had been featured on the couple’s influential show “Fixer Upper.” Harp will debut “Restoration Road with Clint Harp,” following his trip across the country searching for items to fix.
“Joanna didn’t have to call me to keep making furniture for ‘Fixer Upper.’ She didn’t have to. They were fine on their own,” he said. “But she kept giving me opportunities. And I’ve told her this to her face and in front of other people before, just how grateful I am… And of course, whenever that phone rang and I saw her name on there, it was like, ‘Yes, what’s up? Let’s go!’”
The lifestyle channel will make its digital debut first, on discovery+ and the Magnolia app. Viewing requires a discovery+ streaming subscription, which starts at $5 per month and includes the app. Magnolia Network will then take over Discovery’s DIY network when it arrives on cable in January 2022. Chip and Joanna Gaines promise not the same old programming.
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