Since Chip and Joanna Gaines revealed that they were getting their own TV network in 2018, fans have been anxiously awaiting every update from the home renovation stars.
And as the launch approaches, the couple are dropping more and more details about what to expect from their latest venture.
“We have some fun stuff that we’ve been dreaming up,” Joanna, 41, tells PEOPLE.
However, on April 22, the Gaineses shared that the premiere date, initially October 4, has been pushed back, like so much else, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Right now, it’s important that we all continue to look out for one another by upholding the guidelines set forth by the experts, leaders and front-line heroes working tirelessly to get us all through this difficult time,” Chip and Joanna said in a statement. “With this as our top priority, we’ve decided to delay Magnolia Network’s launch until we can safely resume production. We have an incredible team behind us and we look forward to the days ahead when we can get back to work, telling good stories that encourage, motivate and inspire hope.”
When Did They Announce the Network?
In November 2018, just over a year after announcing they would end Fixer Upper following its fifth season, and seven months after the show’s bittersweet finale, the Gaineses announced they would partner with HGTV’s parent company, Discovery Inc., and return to TV with their own lifestyle media network.
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What Is It Called?
Since then, the couple have shared the channel’s official name: Magnolia network. Magnolia is also the name of their Waco, Texas, retail destination Magnolia Market at the Silos, their home building company, their real estate business and their lifestyle magazine.
The flower holds special significance to the couple.
On Fixer Upper’s series finale, Chip, 45, tells their older kids — Drake, 15, Ella, 13, Duke 11, and Emmy, 10, (they also share 20-month-old Crew) — the sentimental story behind the name.
“You know what’s interesting about a magnolia tree?” he asks his mini construction crew after requesting their help in planting the greenery on the show’s last project. “One of mama and I’s first dates I climbed up a magnolia tree and I pulled her off a magnolia bloom and I gave it to her.”
When Will It Launch?
The network was planned to go live on October 4, the Gainses revealed at a Discovery Inc. event in January 2020. However, in April, they announced that the launch would be pushed back due to production delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. They have not yet announced a new premiere date.
Magnolia will take over the DIY Network, which will shutter, a representative for Discovery confirmed to PEOPLE.
An April 2019 press release from the company stated, “DIY Network, currently in more than 52 million U.S. homes, will be renamed for the venture.”
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Will It Play Fixer Upper?
Chip and Joanna have said that, in addition to several new original series they have planned, the channel will be home to the complete Fixer Upper archive and air the series in syndication.
Are There Going to Be New Shows?
Yes! Ten have been announced so far. Here’s what we know.
Home on the Road
In October 2019, Chip and Joanna announced the first new show being produced for Magnolia would star their family friends (and favorite band) Johnnyswim.
The six-episode series, titled Home on the Road, will follow husband and wife Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano Ramirez as they tour North America with their band, plus son Joaquin, 4, and daughter Luna, 1, in tow.
“Amanda and Abner are magnetic,” Chip and Joanna said in a statement about the news. “Ever since we met them a little over five years ago, we’ve been drawn to the way they navigate family, community, and life on the road. They’re not just musicians, they’re storytellers and together, they are a true picture of the relentless pursuit of following a dream and making it a reality.”
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Growing Floret
In March 2020, they confirmed another original series that will follow Floret Flower Farm founder Erin Benzakein as she and her team attempt to transform a problematic 20-acre parcel of land in Washington state into a beautiful and sustainable organic flower farm in just one year.
“One of the biggest motivators for building this network was a desire to tell the stories of brave people who are chasing big dreams,” said Joanna, who is a home gardener and a self-professed “plant lady.”
“Ever since discovering the incredible team behind Growing Floret, I have been endlessly inspired by the grit, hard work, and beauty that they’re putting into the world. We are so excited to tell more of their story as they take the courageous steps to expand their flower farm and grow their business,” she added.
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In April, Chip and Joanna announced eight more series that will be part of the network. They range from design-centric (Bespoke Kitchens) with a family twist (Super Dad, Home Work) to food and travel focussed (Family Dinner, Restoration Road, Inn the Works).
Bespoke Kitchens
This design show ventures way beyond Waco to spotlight the kitchen projects of the creative minds behind deVOL Kitchens, located in the U.K. Joanna has been a fan of the company for years, she revealed in 2019.
Family Dinner
Hosted by Travel Channel star Andrew Zimmern (who many know from Bizarre Foods), Family Dinner will visit “families across America to explore how the cultural, regional, and historical facets of who we are inform what and how we eat, and all the ways food brings people together.”
Restoration Road
Fixer Upper regular Clint Harp will get his own travel show. The woodworker will criss cross the country “in search of some of the oldest, most beautiful structures still standing today.” He’ll learn about their history and see how they’ve been given new life.
The Fieldhouse
This series seems to step outside of the realm of home and food to follow Justin Bane, an NFL player whose career was cut short by a serious injury, and his wife Annie. The pair opened a gym in Abilene, Texas — the titular Fieldhouse — to help others “turn broken dreams into an inspiring, new reality.”
Super Dad
Comedian and DIY expert Taylor Calmus stars in this playful series, in which he’ll make kids’ wild design ideas for their home a reality, “from a pirate ship in the backyard to a custom ball launcher mounted to their family truck.”
Home Work
A new family is also set to take the spotlight. On Home Work,Andy and Candis Meredith and their seven kids move from a 900-square-foot home into a 113-year-old, 20,0000-square-foot school house and transform it into their dream home.
The Lost Kitchen
A second food-centric show, ventures to the tiny town of Freedom, Maine. Each year, the Lost Kitchen restaurant’s owner receives “hundreds of visitors from around the world.” The catch? The only way to make a reservation is by sending her a postcard.
Inn the Works
In a similar vein as Growing Floret, this series documents the revival of a struggling business, the Oak Knoll Lodge, a 100-year-old campground located in Big Bear, California. The unique destination gets a chance at a second life thanks to the hard work and creativity of owner Lindsey Kurowski and her staff.
Will Chip and Joanna Star in Any of the Shows?
The Gaineses teased that Joanna would host her own cooking show back in November, but so far, nothing that fits the bill has been officially announced.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon told the couple, “I don’t wanna tell you how to do your network, but I would do a cooking show if I were you,” he said, citing Joanna’s success with her first cookbook, Magnolia Table.
After joking about Chip making the calls on what shows get made, Joanna said that they are, in fact, developing a cooking series with her as host, and that they plan to have special guests join her in the kitchen for the show.
“We’re doing one!” said Joanna. “Yes, we’re gonna do it!”
Will there be Celebrity Guests?
Last March, the couple were spotted filming outside Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez’s Malibu beach house with a camera crew. A source confirmed to PEOPLE at the time that they were considering remodeling the oceanfront property together — but no decisions had yet been made.
“Jennifer wanted to walk the space with Joanna in person,” the source said. “They’re both extremely busy, but it’s hard to take on any kind of home project without actually seeing the space.”
Lopez admitted on an episode of Ellen that she’s a self-professed super fan of the Gaineses, and that her fiance had set up a FaceTime call with Joanna as an anniversary gift.
The HGTV alums did not release further details about what the footage might be used for and the source noted, “There is no formal plan for any of the footage and there have not been any final decisions made in terms of whether Joanna will be involved [in designing the house] or to what extent.”
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While Chip and Joanna are excited to share their latest project with the world, this time around, they plan on doing things a little differently.
When they walked away from Fixer Upper, “It was such a whirlwind, and while it was amazing, I think at some point along the way, I forgot to have fun,” Joanna told PEOPLE in a March 2019 cover story. “It was almost like we were on autopilot. Once we stepped out of it, I realized that whatever we end up tackling in the future, my priority is that I want to enjoy it.”
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Moving forward, “If I’m not going to have fun, then I’m not doing it, because it’s not worth the grind,” she said.
And viewers aren’t the only ones eager for the couple’s next venture. “Even our kids are excited,” Joanna said. “They’ll say to us, ‘You guys should do this or try that.’ They’ve really been helping us with market research.”
The Magnolia network will be the latest addition to Chip and Joanna’s massive list of successful businesses, including their lifestyle magazine The Magnolia Journal (which is published by Meredith, PEOPLE’s parent company), their product line at Target, as well as the ever-expanding Magnolia Market at the Silos, which has turned Waco, Texas, into a tourist destination. They recently opened their coffee shop, Magnolia Press, and have plans to debut a boutique hotel just a few blocks away in 2021.
The Magnolia network was planned to launch on October 4, 2020, but has been postposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. No new date has been announced.