Did Chip and Joanna Gaines adjust their parenting style when they got famous? The former HGTV stars share how they held on to some basic parenting principles, despite their runaway success.
Joanna & Chip Gaines Explain Their Parenting Style
In a July 2025 interview with People for their special edition “Chip & Joanna Gaines: Their Next Chapter,” the couple was asked how things have changed after becoming “famous parents.”
They noted that things are a bit different for their youngest child, Crew, 7, now that they’ve raised his older siblings (Emmie, 15, Duke 17, Ella, 18, and Drake, 20).
“In my mind’s eye, it’s almost like we’re sitting at this big long table, and you’re on one side, and I’m on the other side. Crew is this little prep-school kid somewhere in the middle,” Chip joked. “And we’ve got one of those little holders that holds the little egg. And we’re like, ‘Excuse me, Alfred, can we please get another this or not?'”
Chip noted how Crew “is going to have a totally different upbringing,” joking how the other kids “were out shoveling cow manure at [ages] 6, 8, and 10.”
Joanna shared, “It’ll be a little different. But I think we have a little more capacity now to think more ‘future.’ What we care about the most is being together and celebrating moments together.”
Chip & Joanna Have a Vision for Their Family
Moving into a new season of life can present challenges, but Chip and Joanna are on the same page about their family as the kids become adults.
“We can finally have this space to think beyond just the everyday grind,” Joanna noted. “I feel like we’re in this really beautiful season of reflection, but also now we can breathe, and we can see the future.”
She continued, “What’s the vision for our family? What’s the vision for this business? Finally, we’re there, and now it’s like, ‘Okay, sky’s the limit!'”
Chip shared that their priority has always been their family and protecting it. “Ten years ago, we were extremely selfish in our desire to protect our family at all costs, which is not easy,” he explained. “Everybody knows marriages are hard, families are complicated.”
“Family was most important. Business was most important. Our family was sincerely the most important, but it was a very close second that we cared so deeply about this business, and we wanted it to be relevant. We wanted it to be real,” Chip noted.
He added, “Now fast-forward 10 years, and things have shifted in this beautiful way.”
Chip and Joanna’s foundation as a solid couple is an important element of their family life. “I just feel a lot more confident about who we are as a couple now,” Chip shared. “I love who we are together.”
He continued, “And now you look at these beautiful kids who are — knock on wood — evolving into just great human beings. Just to raise kids that are not brats seems like a low bar, but it is harder than it looks.”
Chip noted that while they’d love their children to accomplish greatness, they mostly want them to be good people. “It was just like: Don’t be jerks. We care about our kids being good people in the communities that they eventually step into,” he explained.
Comments
How Being Famous Has Changed Joanna & Chip Gaines’ Parenting