Chip and Joanna Gaines are trading their fixer uppers for something even rougher: reality without modern plumbing. Their latest Magnolia Network show, Back to the Frontier, is a major change for the design duo who once made Fixer Upper a household name.
Premiering July 10 on HBO Max and Magnolia Network, Back to the Frontier is a social experiment that drops three modern American families into the wild—literally—on 10,000 acres of untamed nature, stripped of every 21st-century comfort. The premise is to survive as 1880s pioneers for eight weeks, which means no running water, no electricity, and not a single smartphone in sight. The families are tasked with learning skills that kept homesteaders alive through brutal winters—farming, foraging, raising livestock, rationing supplies, and, perhaps most crucially, figuring out how to coexist without the buffer of modern distractions.
Chip and Joanna are executive producers this time, letting the wild do the heavy lifting while they watch from a safe distance—no demo day, just pure, unfiltered frontier grit. The show’s timing is spot-on: in a world obsessed with digital detox and “authentic” experiences, this is the ultimate unplugged challenge.
Back to the Frontier may not feature a single subway tile or barn door, but it carries the same DNA that made Fixer Upper a cultural phenomenon: the belief that sometimes you have to strip everything down to its foundation to build something better. In this case, that foundation happens to be 1880s frontier life, complete with all the humility, hard work, and harsh realities that our ancestors endured—and that these three families are about to rediscover.
Julia Cancilla is the engagement editor (and resident witch) at ELLE Decor, where she oversees the brand’s social media platforms, covers design trends and culture, and writes the monthly ELLE Decoroscope column. Julia built her background at Inked magazine, where she grew their social media audiences by two million and penned feature articles focusing on pop culture, art, and lifestyle.
