Chip & Joanna's UNTOLD STORY

Dynamic duo Chip and Joanna Gaines have made a name for themselves gutting homes and building them back up again. But the couple’s relationship was their very first fixer-upper. Shortly before they met, Chip, 44, was “completely obsessed with another woman,” an insider reveals. “Due to his immaturity, though, he kept messing up and eventually drove her away.” Soon after, he wooed Joanna, 40 — and almost made the same mistake twice. Still as immature as ever, Chip showed up for their first date an hour and a half late and waited a few months before calling Jo again because he’d made a $50 bet with a friend over who could wait longer to call their date. Understandably, while “it was love at first sight for Chip,” the insider says, “it took a while for Joanna to truly relax and trust him. She had her guard up.” Even after the pair finally got together, their romance’s foundation needed strengthening. When Chip left Joanna to watch over his three businesses while he went to Mexico to learn Spanish, she “freaked out” over his messy bookkeeping, the insider details, and demanded he come home and whip his finances — and his life — into shape. “She threatened to dump him if he didn’t,” the insider recalls, adding that her ultimatum finally gave Chip the maturity boost he needed. “He couldn’t bear the thought of losing Joanna, so he apologized and returned to Texas. And they’ve been a solid unit ever since.”