Chip and Joanna Gaines have a new show — and it’s been getting a lot of hate from conservative Christians. The new Magnolia Network reality show, titled Back to the Frontier, follows three families as they attempt to live like it’s the 1800s, without modern amenities. Some Evangelical conservatives have complained about the show, not because of the subject matter, but because one of the couples featured on it is a gay couple.
On social media, conservative Christians have complained about the show’s inclusion of a queer couple. One critic on X wrote: “You have succumbed to the world and shown where your true allegiance lies. Cancel this and disavow it.”
Conservative content creator Jon Root called for a “100 percent boycott” of the Gaines’ shows and products. “Don’t spend your money on their products,” he wrote on X. He added, “Don’t watch their shows. Don’t support them as they affirm sin, slander Christians that dare to question them, while parading around as faithful Christians.”
Evangelist Franklin Graham suggested the new show is sinful. “I hope this isn’t true, but I read today that Chip and Joanna Gaines are featuring a gay couple in their new series,” he wrote. “If It is true, it is very disappointing. While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.”
On Sunday, July 13, 2025, Chip took to X to address the backlash. “Talk, ask qustns, listen.. maybe even learn,” Chip wrote in response to all the criticism. “Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never It’s a sad sunday when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.”
Talk, ask qustns, listen.. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never
— Chip Gaines (@chipgaines) July 13, 2025
It’s a sad sunday when “non believers” have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian💔
In 2016, Chip and Joanna came under fire because a gay couple had never been featured on Fixer Upper. Joanna addressed the criticism during a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Can I just make a statement?’” she said at the time. “The accusations that get thrown at you, like you’re a racist or you don’t like people in the LGBTQ community, that’s the stuff that really eats my lunch — because it’s so far from who we really are. That’s the stuff that keeps me up.”
Though Chip and Joanna’s new show has a decent number of critics, others were dumbfounded by the controversy and expressed support for the couple. “Bravo Joanna & Chip,” one person wrote. “It’s about time.”
