DESTROYED BY GREED?

Fixer Upper fans were devastated when Chip and Joanna Gaines announced they were ending their hit HGTV series in September 2017 to give “lots of love and attention” to their family, as they put it. Which is why the couple’s recent announcement that they’re returning to TV and launching their very own lifestyle network, in partnership with Discovery Inc., came as such a shock! “It’s like they can’t seem to give up fame and fortune,” frets a close friend of the Magnolia moguls, who are parents to Drake, 13, Ella, 12, Duke, 12, and Emmie, 8, and who welcomed their fifth child, son Crew, in June. “Everyone questions how they manage to balance family life with business.” In addition to their new TV network, Chip, 44, and Joanna, 40, have built a massive empire that includes The Magnolia Journal, the Magnolia Table restaurant, the Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, Texas, their Hearth & Hand collection at Target and three bestselling books: The Magnolia Story, Magnolia Table and Homebody. And yet it doesn’t seem to be enough, and insiders worry this latest move could cause problems. “There’s a possibility that taking on a whole new business venture, and not a small one at that, could put strain on their marriage, since they’re already finding their weekly date nights difficult to squeeze in,” laments the source. “Most couples need time to themselves, and Chip and Joanna are no different.”