Chip Gaines Just Revealed He Almost Married Another Woman
Just last week, Chip Gaines shut down divorce rumors with three simple words: "Won't ever happen." But it turns out, his enviable marriage to Joanna Gaines almost didn't happen, either. In the latest issue of Magnolia Journal, the Fixer Upper star revealed that before he met his wife, he was "hell-bent" on marrying another woman.
A post shared by Joanna Stevens Gaines (@joannagaines) on Jul 8, 2017 at 1:28pm PDT
In the essay, Chip gives his former girlfriend the pseudonym "Amy" and explains that he wasn't the best boyfriend.
"Amy put up with me despite my terrible approach to relationships," he said. "She and I dated for upward of two years."
When she went to London for a job, Chip visited. During a walk along the River Thames, Amy asked him where things were going. "I, being a complete idiot, said something along the lines of 'You know, I've never given it much thought.'"
On his flight home, Chip realized he had broken her heart and made up his mind. "I felt convinced that Amy was the one," he says. "I walked off that plane hell-bent on making that young woman my wife."
And for some eye candy.. How about those legs.. I mean hard wood floors! #tbt
A post shared by Chip Gaines (@chippergaines) on Dec 17, 2015 at 5:41am PST
So when Amy returned to Texas, Chip began seriously pursuing the relationship. He even asked her parents for permission to propose (they said no). Then, he took things a little too far-unintentionally, of course.
"My small construction company had just been hired to build a stone retaining wall here in Waco," Chip wrote. "So just after I finished that wall, without any forethought, I hooked up my trailer containing leftover stone and building materials, and I drove to her apartment in the dead of night."
Thinking Amy would appreciate it, he built a smaller version of the retaining wall and left a note. Amy's roommates discovered the stone structure but not the note, and they were freaked out. "It's not like I told anyone the note was hidden there," he says. "So the only thing any of these young ladies saw was this wall …which apparently resembled a tombstone."
Amy's dad wrote Chip a "very kind but stern letter that expressed his concerns over my level of persistence," he continued. "I really respected this man, and for the first time throughout this whole ordeal, I realized that even though my intentions were good, I had pushed this too far."
A post shared by Joanna Stevens Gaines (@joannagaines) on May 31, 2014 at 7:08am PDT
With that, Chip Gaines gave up on pursuing his relationship with Amy, and of course, went on to meet and marry Joanna. Just imagine: An alternate universe in which Chip married Amy instead. There would be no Chip and Jo, no HGTV show, no Magnolia Market, and no Drake, Ella, Duke, and Emmie.
"It's hard for me to articulate how grateful I am that we don't always get what we want," he said. "Sometimes it takes a strongly worded dad letter to convince me that it's time to leave a dream behind."
And of course, his experience with Amy was all part of preparing him for the real love of his life. "I knew almost from the beginning that I wanted a future with [Joanna]," he concluded. "I wasn't ready to settle down at that moment, but the idea was no longer foreign."
(h/t: People)
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