joanna gaines chip© Photo: Rex

Joanna Gaines candidly discusses 'heartbreak' and 'surrender' in 20-year marriage

The Fixer Upper stars wed in 2003

Deputy Lifestyle Editor
November 10, 2022

Joanna Gaines has been refreshingly honest about the ups and downs of marriage, discussing everything from financial troubles to family heartbreak.

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The Fixer Upper star, 44, met her husband Chip, 47, in 2001 while working at her dad's tire shop. Chip popped the question in a shopping centre in Texas, allowing the couple to design her antique diamond ring together. Joanna and Chip tied the knot in 2003 and went on to welcome five kids: Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie, and Crew.

WATCH: Magnolia Network's Joanna Gaines shares adorable video of youngest son saying 'goodnight' to his plants

In her essay in Magnolia Journal, the quarterly lifestyle magazine she publishes with her husband, she made a candid comment about how she and Chip have "experienced a little bit of all of it."

"In our 20 years of marriage, Chip and I have experienced a little bit of all of it," Joanna began. "Losing a loved one. Shifts in friendships. Bills we couldn't pay. Moments where our hearts were broken," the interior designer said, explaining that that includes her eldest son leaving the nest to go to college.

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The Fixer Upper stars on their wedding day in 2003

"Times when all hope felt lost and circumstances were out of our control. When all I could think to do was lay face down on the floor in surrender," she continued.

Her comments come one year after Chip penned a similar message about "non-negotiable" commitments to his wife and children in The Magnolia Journal.

The couple share five children

"When I look out across the whole landscape of my little corner of the world, there are plenty of places where I fall short," he confessed, adding that he can get "easily distracted" and lose track of time. However, he prioritises the commitments he makes as a father and a husband.

"But there are other commitments—the big ones—that I hold on to with everything I've got. Honoring Jo, being a good dad, my faith, trying to do what's right even when it's not easy, building something that helps other people. 

"Those are commitments I've made that I won't compromise. My non-negotiables. No matter how much the details and circumstances of my life may change, and no matter what storms come my way, you watch: I'm going to get those right," Chip explained.

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