Chip and Joanna Gaines’ 16-year marriagehasn’t always been perfect, but it’stheir genuine love for each otherthat keeps them saying “I do.”
TheFixer Upperalums recently opened up abouttheir relationshipfor PEOPLE’s Kindness Issue, on newsstands Friday, November 8, and shared their secrets for a romance that lasts. The couple, who sharefive childrenand a slew of alifestyle empire, revealed that when things get tough, they always put kindness first — even when they are at odds.
“Jo and I are the best of friends, and yet obviouslywe don’t agree all the time,” Chip, 44, admits. “I’ve conceded to her dozens of times, if not hundreds throughout our relationship, and she has done the same with me.”
He adds, “In the end, Jo and I sincerely care more about one another than we do about one of us being right during a debate.”
Perry Hagopian
His proclivity for kindnessis one of the things Joanna, 41, says she loves most about her husband.
As the couple navigates raising their family and running their Magnolia businesses, Joanna says Chip’s “kindness with no strings attached” has raised their family to new heights.
Chip Gaines and Crew.Joanna Gaines/Instagram
Chip Gaines/Instagram
Chip and Joanna met back in 2001 while she was working at her father’s auto shop in Waco, Texas, and he was holding down a handful of small businesses. Two years later, the couple tied the knot at the historic Earle-Harrison House, and honeymooned in New York City, even naming their first child after the Drake hotel where they stayed.
“Match made in heaven is not the term you would use to describe us. But when we mixed our personalities together, it created a spark,” Joanna told PEOPLE in 2016 of theearly days of their relationship.
St. Jude
Opening up then about making their marriage work, Joanna revealed that after over a decade together, the pair still make sure to prioritize their relationship.
“Chip and I have a standing date night once a week,” Joanna said in the 2018 summer issue of theirMagnolia Journalmagazine. “We usually choose to stay close to home and rotate through our favorite dinner spots.”
Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
This September,the couple spoke about their relationshipat the INBOUND conference, noting that they weren’t always successful in the way the world sees them on-screen today.
“The four or five years before we did the show, when the housing crisis hit, things were so hard for us,” Joanna said during the conference’s closing session. “For years, every Friday we were saying, ‘Are we gonna make it?’”
“But we kept pressing through, even in those hard times,” Joanna told the crowd. “The value of what we learned in that is something I’d never want to do again, but I’d never not want that. The hard is what makes us appreciate this.”
“This is a very hard thing to do, to work together with someone you also have a relationship and a family with,” Chip told the audience. “But we’re this odd yin and yang, this whole opposites attract. It really was this powerful chemistry that happened early in our marriage. We enjoyed spending time together, taking on challenges together.”
Chip then went on to reveal “our secret ingredient to our marriage and working relationship is a solid mutual respect.”
“It’s not perfect,” he said. “A lot of hard work goes into this, but if you can get to a mutual place of respect, you can change the world.”
PEOPLE’s first-ever Kindness Issue is dedicated to highlighting the ways, big and small, that kindness can make a difference and change lives. Clickhereand pick up the issue, on stands Friday, Nov. 8, for more stories on the impact of kindness from Julia Roberts,Tiffany Haddishand other stars, as well as everyday people practicing kindness in their communities.
source: people.com
