In the sneak peek of his 'Super Soul' interview with wife Joanna, the 'No Pain, No Gaines' author shares how the two of them be each other support system during hard times.
- Mar 13, 2021
AceShowbiz - Chip Gaines has gotten candid about the reason behind him taking a break from being a TV star. Sitting down with Oprah Winfrey for a "Super Soul" interview, the "Fixer Upper" star talked about how the fame he got from his and his wife's home design and renovation HGTV show has negatively affected him.
In a teaser for the interview airing on Saturday, March 13, the 46-year-old revealed that he lost himself under the spotlight. With wife Joanna Gaines by his side, he spilled, "Really what happened - and was the truth for Jo and I - was it was no big deal for her, but for me to become famous, I lost a part of myself that was really… it was sad."
Opening up further about his struggles, Chip continued, "I would say it took me a year or two while I was still filming to try to grapple with what exactly it was that I was losing." Still on the subject of dark effects of fame, the father of five noted that being famous seemed "so incompatible" with his personality.
On the positive note, Chip praised Joanna, his wife of nearly 18 years, for staying the same and grounded amid their fame. "I want to speak on Jo's behalf, because she would never say things like this, but she is so incredibly wise, so incredibly grounded - all the things that you just described, is who Joanna is," he told Oprah.
Chip additionally credited Joanna for helping him calm down during hard times. "I was just such an idiot and I was just so anxious and so excitable," he confessed, before adding, "And Jo has just kind of grounded me in this place to where it's almost like, when I die or I'm on my deathbed, what I'll say, looking back, is, 'I owe you my life because you settled me down.' "
Chip and Joanna spent a year off camera, before deciding to make a comeback recently. When asked about the reason behind their decision, Joanna answered, "On my side it was, when you're filming for four or five years, you begin to lose the 'why.' It's now just this thing of like we're just showing up."
Joanna then explained to Oprah, "I think towards the end we just lost steam, we lost the purpose of it. We wanted to wake up every day and say this is why we're doing this." She continued, "It almost felt like it was wagging our tail and it was controlling us."
Back in 2018, the "Fixer Upper" stars announced they were taking a break in a "Cowboys and Indians" interview. At that time, Chip said, "The first three years of 'Fixer Upper' were some of the best years of my life. The last two years, not that we don't look back on them fondly, but they were more of a job. So, something about breaking out of that has been liberating."
