“Ten years too late on this” — Michael Knowles slams Chip Gaines’ defensive tweets after receiving backlash for casting a same-sex couple in new show

Chip Gaines has been trending ever since he received criticism for casting a same-sex couple in his show, Back to the Frontier. According to Today magazine, the new show featured Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, who share two children.

While Chip Gaines has already responded to the backlash in a tweet on July 13, 2025, Michael Knowles has now slammed the same in a video shared through his YouTube channel on Wednesday, July 16.

The political commentator referred to Chip Gaines, saying that he was possibly not well aware of the fact that he might get involved in some trouble after casting a same-sex couple. Knowles claimed that an individual cannot be a Christian if they “promote two fellas purchasing children” on reality television. Michael also stated:

“If you don’t do that, how can you even call yourself a Christian? This is really pathetic. Looks like they’re going along with the culture. But too late. That’s the funny thing is they’re not even going around with the avant-garde culture.”

Knowles mentioned that the avant-garde culture is not convinced of the s*xual revolution and added:

“They’re ten years too late on this. They finally caught up in 2012 and they’re promoting weird gay stuff in contravention it would seem of their religion. This, to me, is a sign of the times. I don’t merely say this because I’m a macro snapping papist. You know I have many many Protestant friends of all sorts of varieties and a beloved Baptist grandfather.”

In the latest video, the author and media host also referred to the appearance of Jason and Joe’s children, alleging that casting a child on reality television is “child abuse.” He further stated:

“Why is it that two of the most prominent public Christians in the popular TV are promoting this? How did Chop and Joanna Gaines from what I know of them, from what little I know of them, have at least tacitly or somewhat reservedly defended marriage over the years, have resisted calls from the cancel to demand that everyone support gay marriage and all the rest.”

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Chip Gaines responds to the criticism emerging from the casting of his show

According to People magazine, criticism of Chip Gaines’ show, Back to the Frontier, started with a post shared by pastor Billy Graham’s son, Franklin. The show premiered last week on Thursday, July 10, on Magnolia Network, which Chip and his wife Joanna launched around three years ago.

As mentioned, the show featured a same-sex couple with their children, and Franklin addressed the same in a post shared through his official handle on X on July 13, 2025. Graham wrote that he was disappointed to know the same and added:

“While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.”

The trailer of Chip Gaines’ reality series was released last month, and the basic idea of the show is to send three American families from the modern world to the 1880s. Notably, the families have to live their everyday lives without the facilities they have in the modern world.

While Graham’s post started trending, Chip Gaines shared a statement on the same platform, responding to the criticism. Although it remains unknown if his post referred to Franklin, Gaines wrote:

“Talk, ask qustns, listen.. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never It’s a sad sunday when “non believers” have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.”

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Apart from Magnolia Network, Back to the Frontier is also available for streaming on Max. The show has eight episodes, and apart from Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, two more families have participated in the show.

Edited by Bharath S