Chip & Joanna Gaines Display Love For Each Other In First Interview Since Quitting ‘Fixer Upper’

On Tuesday morning, Fixer Upper hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines stopped by at the Today Show to give their first-ever interview since announcing the end of their show. The couple looked very much in love as they sat next to each other, dispelling rumors of divorce and marriage troubles.

The Fixer Upper stars were promoting Chip Gaines’ new book, Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff. Their mood turned a bit somber when the host brought up the topic about Fixer Upper’sshocking ending.

“People are in despair about this. People love you, they love the show, and they don’t seem ready to let it go,” the host commented, echoing the sentiments of Fixer Upper fans.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Chip Gaines detailed his reasons for quitting their hit HGTV show in his new memoir. According to an excerpt, Chip knew that he and Joanna had to step back and focus on their family when he couldn’t get over a tweet from a customer at 2 a.m. In their latest sit-down interview, Chip and Joanna insisted that this was the major reason for leaving television–for now.

“We have this huge, young, growing family,” Joanna said, referring to their four young kids.

Chip further explained that reality television is hard work that requires a big chunk of their time and energy. He jokingly said that when they first started the show back in 2013, they thought it was just a “get rich quick scheme.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not that quite easy. The emotion, and the amount of energy that it takes to pull something like this together,” Chip Gaines began.

“For Jo and I, every day we showed up to work. We wanted it to be the real deal. We wanted to be authentic, legit, sincere. And I think that’s why people were drawn into it.”

While making Fixer Upper certainly wasn’t a walk in the park, the mega-successful home renovation show definitely turned out to be a lucrative business for Chip and Joanna. Because of it, the duo has expanded their humble company in Texas, Magnolia Real Estate, to an empire that it is now. Their businesses include furniture and home accessories line, restaurants, and bed-and-breakfast inns. Their compound, Magnolia Market, is now a major tourist destination in Waco, Texas.

As for the rumors surrounding their marriage, Chip did not discount their fans’ fears. He revealed that their relationship as a couple is “the most important thing in the world,” and that is exactly why they are taking this break to focus on it.

However, the couple insisted that everything is more than okay within the Gaines household. In fact, Chip laughingly acknowledged that he was the original fixer-upper when he first met his wife. In turn, Joanna lovingly described Chip as her biggest cheerleader and motivator.

“I get this firsthand experience of what it’s like to have this guy by my side, who really pushed me to my dreams…Right off the bat, he was the one who encouraged me.”

Capital Gaines is now out in bookstores. Meanwhile, Fixer Upper Season 5 is set to air on HGTV in November.

[Featured Image by Brian Ach/Invision/AP Images]