Joanna Gaines is opening up about a first date secret that her husband Chip has stayed mum about all these years. While the HGTV star doesn’t know why he was so late for their date, she doesn’t seem bothered that he’s never spilled the tea about his tardiness.
Joanna Gaines Says Chip Has Kept 1 Secret From Her All These Years
During an interview on the November 5 episode of the “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce” podcast, Joanna shared the details of her first date with Chip in 2001.
Chip was very late for their first date and he’s never revealed why.
“He was like almost an hour and a half late,” Joanna shared. “He always gets mad when I say that, but I’m like, ‘Babe, you were.'”
She continued, “And he always tells our girls if a guy is an hour and a half late, do not open the door.”
“What was his excuse?” Kelce asked.
Joanna shared, “It’s a mystery. He won’t tell me.”
The “Fixer Upper” star said she had a feeling that Chip might have been ending another relationship before their date, but he’s never confirmed her suspicion.
“I guarantee you, he was either like breaking up …,” she began. “I kind of like that I don’t know. It’s just fun.”
“It’s like the one thing I don’t know about Chip. But, to his point, when he came in, he was like so disheveled and like frustrated and upset. So he was working through some stuff with somebody,” Joanna explained.
She added, “I wish I could say more, because he just won’t tell me. And I think he also likes that it’s a mystery.”
Kelce noted, “That’s such a nice mystery to have of like, what was happening in that hour and 15 minutes.”
Joanna responded, “I know it involved a past relationship. I know it did, but I just don’t know what.”
Joanna Gaines Shares Secret to Her Happy Marriage
That little secret between them hasn’t impacted their relationship negatively, however. The “Fixer Upper” star shed some light on the secret of their 23-year marriage.
“What’s the secret? I love just how opposite we are,” Joanna explained. “I do feel like once you understand that Chip’s strengths and my strengths are very different, but together, it really does create, like, magic.”
“There’s a tension there, but then there’s, like, a power there that really happens when you embrace it,” she noted.
The HGTV star continued, “I think for both of us, we’re okay evolving. It’s not like this is who I am, and that’s who you are. We’re constantly, like, pushing each other to our best in the season. And it really is ’cause of Chip. I mean, if it were up to me, I’d have been the same person I was at 14 … Chip is just challenging me every day.”
“But I think it’s holding each other’s differences with this respect and almost this awe,” she explained.
“There’s always a challenge so that we’re never just comfortable with each other,” Joanna shared. “And we’re always learning something new together.”
She added, “So enjoying the unfolding, enjoying the evolution, but also always pushing each other to a way that’s, like, good and not pushing in a naggy [way]. He really is my best friend, like, I love it.”
Joanna Gaines Reveals the Decades-Long Secret Chip Has Kept From Her: ‘He Won’t Tell Me’