![Joanna Gaines and Chip Gaines](/wp-content/uploads/500472130_joanna-gaines-chip-gaines-zoom-b4615c93-634d-4e7a-89ab-1dd08ae1ada4.jpg?w=1000&quality=47&strip=all)
Chip and Joanna Gaines are denying a report that claims they’re leaving their hit show, Fixer Upper, in a bid to land a more lucrative contract.
The New York Post’s Page Six claimed on Monday, October 9, that the home renovation stars decided to quit their HGTV series because of what a source described as the network’s “horrible contracts.”
The source told Page Six that the pair, whose show is the highest-rated program on the network, are hoping to land a deal with more money once Discovery Communications finalizes its purchase of HGTV.
Page Six reported that Scripps, which currently owns HGTV, has “very restrictive” contracts for its talent and takes a big percentage of everything their stars make from books, appearances, endorsements and products. The source told Page Six that the couple negotiated a change to their contract so that the network wouldn’t get a cut of profits from their successful Target collection but are hoping to land a deal with “more money, less work, more control.”
Brock Murphy, the director of PR for the Gaines’ Magnolia Market, said in a statement to Us Weekly that “Chip and Jo’s decision to leave Fixer Upper is truly just based on wanting to catch their breath for a minute; to rest, refresh, and spend even more time with their family and growing businesses. It is not based on anything else people might read. They were very open and honest about their reasoning behind this decision when they first shared the announcement.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, the Chip, 42, and Joanna, 39, announced in a post on their website last month that the new season of Fixer Upper, which premieres in November, will be its last.
“It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last,” they wrote in a blog post on September 26. “While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”
Fixer Upper premiered in 2013 and is now reportedly HGTV’s biggest ad revenue earner. In addition to working together on the show, the couple run their Magnolia real estate company as well as Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, Texas.