Back To The Frontier: Magnolia’s Quiet Surrender

The Gaines’s newest show a departure from the family values that made them household names

Friday, July 11, 2025, Chip and Joanna Gaines unveiled Magnolia Network’s latest production, Back to the Frontier, a reality series following three families who abandon modern conveniences to live as 1800’s pioneers.

The show’s announcement drew immediate backlash from many conservatives after viewers discovered that one of the featured families is a same‑sex couple raising two children adopted through surrogacy.

Since the breakout success of Fixer Upper, the beloved home‑renovation duo and Magnolia founders have been regarded in Christian circles as champions of traditional family values and a wholesome vision of home life. Their Magnolia brand - spanning television, publishing, and hospitality - has become a fixture in many conservative households.

For countless Christians, this announcement felt like a jarring departure from the values that first drew them in, a betrayal of the base largely credited with fueling their rise to success.

Rather than offering a public apology, Chip Gaines responded on X, standing by the decision to produce and air the program despite mounting criticism.

The apparent shift stunned many longtime fans, especially those who remember the couple’s silence in 2016 when BuzzFeed questioned their position on same‑sex marriage. At that time, scrutiny centered on their pastor at Antioch Community Church, who had preached traditional biblical teachings on sexuality. Fixer Upper never featured a same‑sex couple during its five‑year run, and the hosts issued no official comment beyond a single, measured tweet from Chip.

With this new controversy, some are now asking whether that earlier silence stemmed from conviction or caution. In hindsight, there were signs that Magnolia’s values were shifting. For instance, Clint Harper—a close friend and frequent guest on Fixer Upper—is openly LGBTQ‑affirming and was a vocal supporter of Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential campaign.

The Gaines family also maintain close ties with Magnolia photographer Billy Jack Brawner, who has publicly shared that he lives in a polyamorous relationship with another man while remaining married with five children. Rather than distancing themselves, the couple has been seen affirming his choices—indicating as early as 2021 that they no longer viewed such behavior as sinful.

For now, Chip and Joanna Gaines have remained silent beyond Chip’s brief remarks on X, leaving many longtime supporters to wrestle with what this shift means for Magnolia’s future. For many Christians, the disappointment runs far deeper than a single casting decision; it stands as a complete and utter compromise of the very beliefs that once made the couple a symbol of Christian conviction, an open surrender to the cultural pressures they once stood against.

As the conversation continues, believers should pray for the Gaines’s repentance and restoration, exercise discernment in the media they support, and remember that even those with great influence are not immune to the sway of a culture at odds with biblical truth.