After years of renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and making "shiplap" a household name-thing, Joanna and Chip Gaines have announced that their hit HGTV series Fixer Upper will be ending after Season 5. The news comes via Joanna's blog, in which she and husband Chip addressed their fans and officially announced and explained the end of their home renovation show:
It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last. While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.This has been an amazing adventure! We have poured our blood, sweat and tears into this show. We would be foolish to think we can go and go and fire on all cylinders and never stop to pause. Our family is healthy and our marriage has honestly never been stronger. 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.
It appears that Chip and Joanna Gaines are trying their best in their blog to dissuade any conversation that Fixer Upper is going away due to any of the drama that has made headlines in the past (and possibly the future), which makes sense, since the announcement kinda came out of nowhere. With Fixer Upper being one of the highest-rated shows in HGTV history and with the network on the verge of losing another big franchise show, the conversation to end the series almost certainly didn't come from the executives. And while it's unfortunate that all involved feel the need to take a break from the spotlight to do some recovery time, the good news out of all this is that there is still one more season of Fixer Upper for fans to enjoy, and it'll debut this November.
Chip and Joanna Gaines also note their spin-off series Fixer Upper: Behind The Design will be returning as well, although it'll presumably also go away after Season 5 of Fixer Upper is complete. While the Gaines appear confident that this chapter in their life is coming to a close, the couple wants fans to know they didn't phone things in for their final season, and they will continue to affirm their renovation-heavy presence in the Waco area:
We are really, really proud of season 5. 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. Season 5 begins in November and Behind the Design will follow shortly after. There's so much good, new stuff coming your way!Though our Fixer Upper chapter is coming to a close, we aren't done with Waco. We aren't done renovating homes. We aren't done designing things to make your home your favorite place on earth. We aren't done working towards restoration in all things or helping out those who could use a hand. In fact, in all of these of things, we are just getting started.
So is this the beginning of goodbye to the Gaines family? It appears that way, although the couple say later in their blog and video that they'll be keeping in touch with their fans, and that they have a feeling audiences will be seeing them again sometime soon. Let's hope so, because HGTV is going to run out of ways to spinoff House Hunters and Flip Or Flop eventually! Maybe Fixer Upper will do random one-off specials in the future.
As stated above, Fixer Upper will begin it's goodbye when Season 5 kicks off in November. Maybe this break away from television will get Joanna Gaines that new baby (or twins) that she's been talking about. While it's sad to be losing yet another great television family, the fall season has started and there are plenty of opportunities to find more families to latch onto! Those curious as to what these next couple months have in terms of television should check out our fall premiere guide.
