-Chip and Joanna, welcome back.
It's always great to see you.
What does a typical Valentine's Day
look like for you guys?
-We typically, during the week,
we'll go on a date night Thursday.
So when Valentine's comes around,
we like to include the kids.
So, we'll do a fancy dinner at home.
Steak, lobster -- -All the kids write each other
Valentine's letters. -They all get dressed up.
So, we did it a little earlier since we were gonna be here,
but it's our favorite thing.
-Well, happy Valentine's Day. I'm glad that you're here.
-Fallon -- Fallontine's Day.
-Thank you. Fallontine's Day.
It's amazing. -That's exactly right.
Thank you. -Thank you for having us, Jimmy.
What an honor. -You two --
-There's nothing more romantic
than being on "The Fallon Show" on Valentine's Day...
-True. -Yes.
-...and the show title being "Fallontine's Day."
-[ Laughing ] Yeah. -This is a high bar
for me to try to beat next year. -We did this for you.
-Well, I want to talk to you guys about how you met.
Because it involves a person called Hot John.
-Poor John. -I hope he's watching.
This will be amazing. -How did you meet,
and what did Hot John have to do with any of this?
-Well, I worked for my dad at his tire shop for 10 years.
So I'm selling tires.
His roommate was there getting tires.
-Hot John. -Hot John.
-Okay. That's your roommate.
-Yeah, so all the guys that work at the tire shop, all the time,
would try to set me up with the customers.
And I'd always say, "Y'all, leave me alone."
But this time it felt different.
They're like, "There's this really good-looking guy.
His name is John. If you just walk through the showroom
and to the waiting room, just go talk to him."
-He's wandering. -Yes.
He's just sitting there, waiting for his tires.
So I got the courage to get up, out of my office.
I walk towards the waiting room, and John and I make eye contact.
But I'm not really gifted at making conversation.
-That's true. -So I looked at him,
and I was like, "Now what?" and so, instead of the going
to the waiting room, I walk straight outside,
like I was gonna take a smoke break or something.
As I'm walking outside, Chip is coming in to get Hot John.
And he intersects. -Inadvertently.
-Yep, and unlike her, I'm incredible at eye contact.
[ Laughter ] I always have a one-liner
planned for any occasion where you might meet
one of the most beautiful women on the planet.
You must have that back-pocket line ready to rock.
And so she walked right past Hot John, thankfully,
right into the loving arms... -Awkwardly.
-You know, John's tall, dark, and handsome.
I was sort of shorter, redder, and frumpier.
[ Laughter ] -That's my type.
I was sort of the opposite end of the spectrum.
Jo and I chatted for a few minutes,
and before you know it, the love was in the air.
-Oh, my gosh. [ Applause ]
Well, I'm so happy. You are about to celebrate
your 20th wedding anniversary.
You're 20th wedding anniversary this May.
-Two decades. -Congratulations.
-Oh, my gosh. [ Cheers and applause ]
She looks like the day -- like the day we got married there.
-Well, this is -- It's fitting you're back
in New York, because this is actually
where you went on your honeymoon, correct?
-Honeymoon. A lot of anniversary trips are here in New York.
-Yeah, Jo has always loved this city.
It's always meant a lot to her. She interned, back in the day,
under Dan Rather, which was a cool honor for us
and our community. You know, the whole thing.
She was, like, legendary. That me bumping into her,
you know, fortuitously, it's like, she was the one.
She was the catch in the whole area.
-Well, didn't you name one of your children after a hotel?
-The Drake Hotel. That's where we honeymooned
and then our anniversary. -We have a strange --
It's like the Midas touch, where it's sort of
the opposite end of the spectrum.
Every place that we sort of, like --
that means the world to us, from a relationship standpoint,
those places all go out of business.
So, the Drake hotel, we stayed in,
and it was this sort of legendary hotel.
-It's no longer there.
-But we came back to it, like, years later,
and it no longer exists. -Laser tag, huh?
-Maybe they moved.
-It's like a Hilton or something.
-Maybe. -Time to have another kid.
-That's true. -Tell them. Tell them.
-[ Barks ] -Oh, my God. Just barking.
-In our ecosystem, anytime someone says sort of
an edgy joke like that, we start chanting, "Number six!
Number six!" 'Cause we got five.
So if anybody wants to go along with this,
if Jimmy says something like you should maybe have another child,
then, "Number six! Number six! Number six!"
-I like it. -Number six! Number six!
-You don't like it at all, no.
-Can we talk about -- because I know you have five kids now.
-Yes. -And I know you bond over
Taylor Swift with your daughters. Right?
Do you want to tell the Taylor Swift story?
-I would love to tell it. -You were there.
You were there, Jimmy. -Was I?
-We were in New York. We somehow gotten invited
to this thing called "The Times 100."
And I thought it was segmented out.
This is true. I thought it was segmented out,
like, around -- like, regionally.
So I thought we were the 100 most influential people
in Central Texas. [ Laughter ]
But they, in fact, meant, like, a larger spot.
-Yes, yes. -A larger audience than that.
So we come to this thing, everybody's there.
You were there. You remember.
2019. -2019.
-Of course. [ Laughter ]
-You were sitting in front of us.
-Oh, of course. Yeah, like it was yesterday.
Whenever Timberlake says something,
you know exactly what he's talking about.
[ Laughter ]
But if I mention some bro moment,
you have no idea what I'm talking about.
-We were bro'ing out? -We were bro'd out, bro.
-Really? -So, long story short,
we're in an auditorium similar to this.
-Oh, I remember this! -Taylor Swift comes in.
The whole audience is filled. -But everyone was mingling.
Everyone's mingling. There was The Rock, Martha Stewart.
We were in awe. We were two kids from Waco, Texas.
"What the heck are we doing here?"
-I flirted with Martha Stewart in an aggressive --
in a very real way. -Yeah, you did.
[ Laughter ] -"In an aggressive way."
-I told her, "If anything ever happens to Jo..."
-Oh, gosh. -"...you better watch your DMs."
-Come on. 20 years now in May.
20 years in May. So, Taylor walks in the room.
-She walks in. -All the oxygen...
-And the room goes silent. Do you remember?
Were you in the -- And she walks in,
and all of us just -- [ Gasps ] -- take a breath in.
-And when you're sitting next to The Rock, and you see him gasp
about this amazing creature, we were just like,
"Who in the world -- Who came in?"
We weren't even paying attention.
Taylor Swift rolls in.
She kind of catches eye contact with, I thought, me.
But Jo swears to this day it was her.
This is true. And she goes like this to us.
-But we both thought it's, for sure, someone behind us.
-We're looking over our shoulders.
[ Laughter ] -Like idiots.
-Wondering, "Who in the world is talking to?"
-And I was like, "Me?" -And how hilarious,
'cause, Jimmy, you were actually in the front row
where the real celebrities were. -Yeah.
-And we were a little further back up.
We were, like, back row. -Please.
-And maybe she was doing it to you.
-Wow! -Who's to say?
It was one of us three, for sure.
-Yeah, I do remember. "Is that Taylor?" Yeah.
-Let's go, let's go. -Taylor loves one of us.
Yeah, all right. But let's go ahead and believe that.
-There you go. -It made our day.
We were thrilled. We were smitten.
-How cool is she to just even do that?
-Oh, yeah, she sends us these little gift baskets
whenever she releases one of her albums.
-She's the classiest. She's the tops.
I think I remember this because this is around
when you were kind of launching your network.
Do you remember that? You were here,
and you were talking to me, you're like,
"We're not sure if we're legally allowed to say."
-We were so scared. -And I think you were not
legally allowed to say it, but Chip did.
-I said it. -Of course, right before
we came out, they said, "Don't mention it, Chip."
-The final word, "Do not announce the network."
-Which then makes him go, "Got it."
-"Well, I've got to announce the network now."
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-It was serious. -And so -- we were nervous.
We were nervous that we were gonna go offstage to handcuffs.
We don't even know if this is a real thing.
-Now it's a massive hit.
I'm obsessed with Magnolia Network.
I love it so much. -Thank you.
-I'll tell you what I like. I like "Maine Cabin Masters."
-Yeah, they're the best. -I love that show.
I think it's just feel-good. I love it.
I love to see what they do. They're brilliant.
They're geniuses. -Totally.
-I love the whole beginning, end of that stuff.
I love that. I love "Magnolia Table."
-Thank you. -I love "The Lost Kitchen."
-Yeah. Let's go. -"Lost Kitchen."
-Let's go. -When you watch one show
on Magnolia Network, there's commercials for other shows.
And I go, "Honey, we gotta start DVR'ing that one."
So, I'm basically watch the network 24/7 now, nonstop.
But I want to go through "The Lost Kitchen."
I want to work there. -Yeah, that's true.
-What a dream. -They're brilliant people.
-I know. -But congratulations.
-You have to fill out a postcard to even get a reservation.
-You have to send them a postcard.
-Yes. -She gets thousands,
so she's like, "Ugh." -And she's so cool.
It's just the best. Can we talk about your book,
as well, by the way? I'm into this.
I just finished Matthew McConaughey's book,
and it was very inspiring for me and moving.
And I'm ready for another one like this.
And it's perfect.
I'm moving right into this.
You almost didn't release this and publish this.
-Yeah. -What was it?
It was just an exercise? -It was me moving into
my mid 40s, feeling like everything
was a little bit foggy.
And I told Chip, "I need to look at my life.
I need to evaluate it and really --"
I felt like I was at this emotional threshold,
really trying to figure out, "What do I need to bring with me
as I move forward? What served me well?"
And then, "What doubts and insecurities and fears
do I just need to leave behind
as I move forward in this new season?"
But I also think, if you take off that jacket,
there's me as a 6-year-old. And a lot of my writing
in that practice was writing back to her.
I feel like as we get older, we chase maturity and wisdom.
And I think all that's great, but I think we also forget
that child-like spirit we all once had.
And so I was trying to get back to her.
That's, like, the wholist I was, the freeist I was.
And so a lot of the writing
was writing back to my 6-year-old self.
-Let's go! -But I want to ask you --
[ Cheers and applause ] -I love that.
-I love asking this question.
Because there's something about that child-like wonder
that we all had. -Yeah.
-Jimmy, what would you tell your 6-year-old self?
-Well, I actually thought you might ask that.
-Okay, so you're prepared.
-I have a photo of me when I was 6.
So, I'll talk to myself. -Oh, my gosh.
-Aye-aye, Captain. -What a doll.
[ Applause ] -Jimmy...
Jimmy, you've served four years in the U.S. Navy.
[ Laughter ]
-You're a patriot and a hero at 6 years old.
I would say, it's all gonna be okay.
-Yeah. -It's all gonna work out
pretty awesomely, by the way.
You're gonna make millions of people laugh.
-Wow. -You're gonna work with some of
your biggest idols, and your wife is pretty hot.
[ Laughter ] -Oh, I love it!
[ Cheers and applause ] I love it.
-Whoo whoo whoo whoo!
-The book is awesome. I'm loving it.
I'm loving everything I'm reading so far.
Not only is it interesting but it helps other people.
It helps me. It helps you when you read this book.
And I think everyone here is going to love it because
you brought one for everyone in our audience tonight.
You're all going home with a copy.
That's what I'm talking about, right here!
We love when you're here!
Please come back!
Chip and Joanna Gaines!
"The Stories We Tell" is available now!
We'll be right back with Rhett and Link!
Stick around! Yeah! Come on!