Chip and Joanna Gaines smiling at the camera on a red carpet© Getty Images

Joanna Gaines shares glimpse from special trip with her family to South Korea

The Magnolia Network founder's mom, Nan Stevens, is originally from Seoul

Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
April 3, 2023

Though Joanna Gaines has lived in Waco, Texas with her husband Chip Gaines for over two decades, and it is where they established both their familial roots and their massive home renovation empire, she doesn't let herself forget about her own family's heritage.

The Magnolia Network founder grew up in Kansas, and was raised by an American dad, Jerry Stevens, and a South Korean mom, Nan Stevens, who emigrated from Seoul, South Korea in 1972.

Now she is making sure her own kids – Drake, 18, Ella Rose, 16, Duke, 14, Emmie Kay, 12, and Crew, four – get a glimpse of their grandmother's home country.

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Over the weekend, Joanna took to Instagram to reveal that she has jetted off from her current home of Waco all the way to Seoul, and she couldn't be more eager.

The star shared tidbits of her journey there on Instagram stories, sharing her view of a snow-capped mountain range from the airplane, appropriately set to Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 song "Free Bird."

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She then confirmed her arrival in the South Korean capital, sharing another airplane view of the bustling city with Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle" from 1976 in the background.

© Instagram

Joanna shared glimpses from her travels to Seoul

Joanna shared videos once she got off the plane too, one which captures the road she is being driven on, a tearful emoji written onto it, plus, revealing she has quickly adapted to her new location, she shared a video of the car's dashboard, which is playing a K-pop girl band's music video on it.

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Though the Gaines are typically very private, Joanna has opened up about her Korean background, most notably in 2021, during a time of rising anti-Asian rhetoric in America.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, she recalled times when her family received hate and harassment over their Asian heritage, explaining: "Growing up as half-Asian, half-Caucasian, I get what that feels like to not be accepted and to not be loved. That's the last thing I want anyone to ever feel."

She said: "My mom is so tough, but with one look or comment, I would just see her shut down," adding that: "That's why she didn't know how to help me when I would come home and say, 'So-and-so called me this.' It was also happening to her."

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