Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new Magnolia Network show “Home Work” was pulled from the air just days after its launch over allegations of previously shoddy work and inflated rates by the show’s home renovators, Candis and Andy Meredith.
The show about the Utah-based renovators, who have previously appeared on the HGTV and DIY Network show “Old Home Love,” was hyped as the next “Fixer Upper” until angry customers weighed in online with tales of home remodeling and improvements gone horribly wrong.
On Wednesday, Utah resident Aubry Bennion detailed her 2019 experience with the Merediths over 18 Instagram posts. Bennion wrote that the price of her kitchen revamp ballooned from three weeks to five months and cost $39,000, nearly twice the price originally quoted to her. Most of that money was spent on fixing inferior work done by the Merediths, she claimed.
In another post, she lamented that the deck they added to the back of her kitchen was incorrectly built over a sprinkler system, causing $18,000 in damages.
In her 17th post, she wrote that she was sharing the story of the “fraudulent construction project” to “protect potential future victims from their dangerous pattern of behavior. And I share with hope that they will be held accountable for the ways in which they’ve hurt those of us left in the wake of their work.”
Friday, the Merediths responded in a lengthy Instagram post, saying in part, “We have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy. We can only say that there are two sides to every story.” You can read their entire response by clicking here.
Another homeowner, Teisha Satterfield Hawley, came forward with similar complaints, alleging on Instagram that the Merediths went more than six weeks over schedule and then demanded an additional $40,000 to complete the work. She refused to pay the extra money and fired them.
Friday evening, after the decision to bump the show was announced, Allison Page, president of Magnolia Network, said in a statement: “Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith. Within the last few days, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove ‘Home Work’ from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made.”
At press time, all mention of the show appeared to have been scrubbed from the Magnolia Network site.
Deadline first reported the story.
