As the last season of the HGTV reality series "Fixer Upper" with Chip and Joanna Gaines premieres, a report says the couple lied about the real reason on why they are leaving the show.
The famous reality couple shocked their millions of fans when they announced in September that the show's fifth season will be their last. "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," they said in a blog post.
In October, they revealed through an issue of People the supposed reason on why they were leaving the show, which was to focus more on their family, including their four kids Drake, 12, Ella, 11, Duke, 9, and Emmie Kay, 7.
"We really want to focus on this break and take a step back to let this all soak in," Joanna said in the interview.
However, Vanity Fair is now reporting that the true cause of their decision to leave HGTV was because of clashes with the network. HGTV reportedly refuses to allow them to market or feature products from their Magnolia Market line of home décor within the show.
An industry source who does business with HGTV parent company Scripps Networks told Vanity Fair that the couple has been talking to other media outlets to pitch a new show.
"They kept insisting on showing things with the Magnolia label, even though Scripps does not have a partnership with them on that stuff," the insider said. According to the source, a specific arrangement should be made with Scripps, if artists want to show their products on any HGTV show.
The Gaineses, however, are reportedly having a hard time finalizing a deal with other networks due to an existing contract with Scripps. This most likely prohibits them from doing a similarly themed show with other channels. "They've got to be pitching something in another format — maybe a talk show or something like that," the source added.
The Gaines couple has yet to comment on the rumor.
