Everything Chip and Joanna Gaines Have Revealed About Their New TV Network: ‘We Have Some Fun Stuff We've Been Dreaming Up’

Since Chip and Joanna Gaines revealed that they were getting their own TV network in 2018, fans have been anxiously awaiting every update from the home renovation stars.

And as the October 2020 launch date approaches, the couple are dropping more and more details about what to expect from their latest venture.

“We have some fun stuff that we’ve been dreaming up,” Joanna, 41, tells PEOPLE.

When Did They Announce the Network?

In November 2018, just over a year after announcing they would end Fixer Upper following its fifth season, and seven months after the show’s bittersweet finale, the Gaineses announced they would partner with HGTV’s parent company, Discovery Inc., and return to TV with their own lifestyle media network.

What Is It Called?

Since then, the couple have shared the channel’s official name: Magnolia network. Magnolia is also the name of their Waco, Texas, retail destination Magnolia Market at the Silos, their home building company, their real estate business and their lifestyle magazine.

The flower holds special significance to the couple.

On Fixer Upper’s series finale, Chip, 45, tells their older kids — Drake, 15, Ella, 13, Duke 11, and Emmy, 10, (they also share 20-month-old Crew) — the sentimental story behind the name.

“You know what’s interesting about a magnolia tree?” he asks his mini construction crew after requesting their help in planting the greenery on the show’s last project. “One of mama and I’s first dates I climbed up a magnolia tree and I pulled her off a magnolia bloom and I gave it to her.”

When Will It Launch?

The network goes live on October 4, the Gainses revealed at a Discovery Inc. event in January 2020. It will take over the DIY Network, which will shutter, a representative for Discovery confirmed to PEOPLE.

An April 2019 press release from the company stated, “DIY Network, currently in more than 52 million U.S. homes, will be renamed for the venture.”

Will It Play Fixer Upper?

Chip and Joanna have said that, in addition to several new original series they have planned, the channel will be home to the complete Fixer Upper archive and air the series in syndication.

Are There Going to Be New Shows?

Yes! Three have been announced so far. Here’s what we know.

Home on the Road

In October, Chip and Joanna announced the first new show being produced for Magnolia would star their family friends (and favorite band) Johnnyswim.

The six-episode series, titled Home on the Road, will follow husband and wife Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano Ramirez as they tour North America with their band, plus son Joaquin, 4, and daughter Luna, 1, in tow.

“Amanda and Abner are magnetic,” Chip and Joanna said in a statement about the news. “Ever since we met them a little over five years ago, we’ve been drawn to the way they navigate family, community, and life on the road. They’re not just musicians, they’re storytellers and together, they are a true picture of the relentless pursuit of following a dream and making it a reality.”

Growing Floret

In March, they confirmed another original series that will follow Floret Flower Farm founder Erin Benzakein as she and her team attempt to transform a problematic 20-acre parcel of land in Washington state into a beautiful and sustainable organic flower farm in just one year.

“One of the biggest motivators for building this network was a desire to tell the stories of brave people who are chasing big dreams,” said Joanna, who is a home gardener and a self-professed “plant lady.”

“Ever since discovering the incredible team behind Growing Floret, I have been endlessly inspired by the grit, hard work, and beauty that they’re putting into the world. We are so excited to tell more of their story as they take the courageous steps to expand their flower farm and grow their business,” she added.

The third show, a food-centric series, will star Joanna and special guests. (Details below.)

Will Chip and Joanna Star in Any of the Shows?

The Gaineses confirmed that Joanna would host her own cooking show back in November.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon told the couple, “I don’t wanna tell you how to do your network, but I would do a cooking show if I were you,” he said, citing Joanna’s success with her first cookbook, Magnolia Table.

After joking about Chip making the calls on what shows get made, Joanna then confirmed that they are, in fact, developing a cooking series with her as host, and that they plan to have special guests join her in the kitchen for the show.

“We’re doing one!” said Joanna. “Yes, we’re gonna do it!”

Last March, the couple were also spotted filming outside Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez’s Malibu beach house with a camera crew. A source confirmed to PEOPLE at the time that they were considering remodeling the oceanfront property together — but no decisions had yet been made.

“Jennifer wanted to walk the space with Joanna in person,” the source said. “They’re both extremely busy, but it’s hard to take on any kind of home project without actually seeing the space.”

Lopez admitted on an episode of Ellen that she’s a self-professed super fan of the Gaineses, and that her fiance had set up a FaceTime call with Joanna as an anniversary gift.

The HGTV alums did not release further details about what the footage might be used for and the source noted, “There is no formal plan for any of the footage and there have not been any final decisions made in terms of whether Joanna will be involved [in designing the house] or to what extent.”

While Chip and Joanna are excited to share their latest project with the world, this time around, they plan on doing things a little differently.

When they walked away from Fixer Upper, “It was such a whirlwind, and while it was amazing, I think at some point along the way, I forgot to have fun,” Joanna told PEOPLE in a March 2019 cover story. “It was almost like we were on autopilot. Once we stepped out of it, I realized that whatever we end up tackling in the future, my priority is that I want to enjoy it.”

Moving forward, “If I’m not going to have fun, then I’m not doing it, because it’s not worth the grind,” she said.

And viewers aren’t the only ones eager for the couple’s next venture. “Even our kids are excited,” Joanna said. “They’ll say to us, ‘You guys should do this or try that.’ They’ve really been helping us with market research.”

The Magnolia network will be the latest addition to Chip and Joanna’s massive list of successful businesses, including their lifestyle magazine The Magnolia Journal (which is published by Meredith, PEOPLE’s parent company), their product line at Target, as well as the ever-expanding Magnolia Market at the Silos, which has turned Waco, Texas, into a tourist destination. They recently opened their coffee shop, Magnolia Press, and have plans to debut a boutique hotel just a few blocks away in 2021.

The Magnolia network launches on October 4, 2020.

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