Chip and Joanna Gaines Take Heat for ‘Roller Jam,’ Which Featured an All-Queer Roller Skating Team

About six weeks after Chip and Joanna Gaines became the center of controversy because they are executive producers of a new reality show featuring a gay couple, the Gaines are again drawing criticism, again related to a reality TV show they decided to executive produce. This time the criticism is because of the show, “Roller Jam,” which premiered last fall and has not been renewed for a second season. 

“Two clips from Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new ‘family-friendly’ reality TV show, which features a queer activist as host, a crossdressing judge who wears ladies’ clothes in every episode, and an all-LGBTQ skate team,” said polemical news site Protestia in a post on Monday, Aug. 25. 

Not the Bee also published an article Monday about the Gaines and “Roller Jam,” saying that the couple has “yet another new reality show that seems to be super-duper gay.”

Chip and Joanna Gaines Executive Produced Last Fall’s ‘Roller Jam’ 

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who became famous for flipping people’s houses on the reality show “Fixer Upper,” have built an empire under their lifestyle brand, Magnolia. The Gaines have also been open at different times about their Christian faith. On July 10, the reality show “Back to the Frontier” premiered under a partnership between Magnolia Network and HBO Max. 

RELATED: Chip and Joanna Gaines Draw Strong Criticism from Evangelicals for New Show Featuring Gay Couple

Chip and Joanna Gaines are executive producers on “Back to the Frontier,” which follows three families as they “re-imagine their lives as 1880s homesteaders” and voluntarily give up the comforts of modern life. One of the families is made up of a gay couple, Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, and their 10-year-old boys, who were born via surrogacy. 

Hanna and Riggs have said that one reason they wanted to be on “Back to the Frontier” was to normalize same-sex families. Hanna also said that a flyer for the show caught his attention because it featured a gay couple.

As word about the Gaines’ involvement in “Back to the Frontier” spread on social media, the couple drew widespread criticism from Christians, who challenged the Gaines for promoting a gay relationship. Chip Gaines responded to the backlash in several posts, including one in which he took issue with “modern American Christian culture” for being quick to judge and slow to listen. 

“It’s a sad sunday [sic] when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian,” he said. Since the controversy occurred, Gaines has been posting Bible verses on his X profile.

Chip and Joanna Gaines executive produced three reality shows that premiered last fall on HBO Max and Magnolia Network: “Human vs. Hamster,” “Second Chance Stage,” and “Roller Jam.” The latter premiered Oct. 10 and featured roller skating teams competing for a prize of $150,000. The show was hosted by “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks, a two-time Grammy nominee, including for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Love Me Like I Am.” 

Two-time Olympian figure skater Johnny Weir served as a judge on the show alongside dancer and roller skating legend Terrell Ferguson. Different guest judges joined throughout the show, with Joanna Gaines being the guest judge in the season finale.