Joanna Gaines

Joanna Gaines was born Joanna Stevens on April 19, 1978, in Wichita, Kansas, to Nan Stevens, a Korean immigrant, and Jerry Stevens, of Lebanese-German heritage. In 1990, when she was 12, her family moved to Austin, Texas, and later to Waco, where her father opened a Firestone Tire franchise. Joanna appeared in commercials for the business. Growing up, she was often the only Asian-American student at her schools and faced bullying, though she said things improved in Waco, where she was named homecoming queen.

She attended Baylor University, majoring in communications, and interned at Waco's KWTX television and KWBU radio, plus a semester in New York working on 48 Hours. She hoped to become a broadcast journalist. In 2001, she met Chip Gaines while working at her father's tire shop, and they married in 2003. They have five children: Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie, and Crew. Joanna is American and of mixed-race primarily Asian ethnicity.

As a business woman and reality TV star, she co-hosted Fixer Upper with Chip, which aired on HGTV starting in 2013. Together they run Magnolia, a media brand including an e-commerce site, a Target home decor line, a magazine, a TV network, and a realty brokerage. Joanna is also a New York Times bestselling author of seven books. Her Instagram has 13.7 million followers. She is 5'7" tall, slim, with black hair and brown eyes.