5-time dad and mom Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines first began rising their household in 2005 after they welcomed their eldest son, Drake Gaines. In keeping with their 2016 guide “The Magnolia Story,” his identify was impressed by the historic Drake Lodge in New York Metropolis, the place the Magnolia Community founders stayed throughout their honeymoon. Rising up, Drake spent a lot of his time in his dad and mom’ house decor and attire retailer, Magnolia Market, in Waco, Texas, which is the place Chip and Joanna first met. “I took him to the store with me each single day. Some folks may see that as a burden, however I’ve to confess I cherished it,” Joanna gushed. “Having him in that BabyBjörn was one of the best feeling on the earth.” She additionally remarked, “Drake was a store child. He would come house each evening smelling like [a] candle.” 

After skyrocketing to fame as hosts of HGTV’s “Fixer Higher” in 2013, the house renovation specialists made a aware effort to maintain Drake and his siblings — Ella, Duke, Emmie, and Crew — out of the highlight. In 2014, Joanna shared their reasoning in an interview with Waco’s Journal. “We need to shield them from all this,” she stated. “I simply do not suppose they’re ready to soak up the quantity, the load of it.”

Nevertheless, she and Chip have often provided peeks into their household life over time — together with a serious announcement in 2022, when Joanna revealed that Drake was getting ready to go away the nest to begin a brand new chapter. “Quickly, our oldest son, Drake, can be leaving house for faculty,” she dished within the fall version of Magnolia Journal. They’ve additionally shared uncommon glimpses of Drake on social media.

Earlier than Chip Gaines discovered fame on HGTV as a house renovator, he was a promising baseball participant. After enjoying in junior school, he earned a spot on the Baylor Bears workforce at Baylor College in Waco, Texas, however his goals of enjoying professionally some day have been dashed when the coach who scouted him retired. Although he by no means had the possibility to go professional, his oldest son inherited his athleticism and keenness for sports activities. In 2016, Chip shared a uncommon picture of Drake Gaines standing on an indoor area as he shook fingers with Baylor College’s former head soccer coach. “Me and the boys had a blast yesterday and might’t wait to look at our Bears rock and roll!” Chip captioned the snapshot. Behind Drake stood his father and little brother, Crew Gaines, who was wearing the same Baylor baseball T-shirt and hat.

Following in his father’s athletic footsteps, Drake took up baseball and spent 4 years as a varsity outfielder whereas attending highschool at Valor Preparatory Academy in Texas. After graduating, he joined the workforce on the College of Mary Hardin-Baylor. CRU Athletics listed him at 5 toes, 10 inches tall and 180 lbs. as of 2025, highlighting Drake’s athletic construct. Through the years, he has dabbled in different sports activities as effectively, together with jet snowboarding and golf — regardless of his father’s disdain for it. “I am not going to lie… I completely HATE golf,” Chip joked in a 2018 Instagram put up, displaying his sons out on the course. “My nemesis sport, the anti-baseball. However you realize what I do not hate, time effectively spent with these lovely boys. #DoSomething.” 

By 2020, Drake Gaines was sufficiently old to lastly drive with grownup supervision. His mom shared the proud second to Instagram together with a uncommon snap of Drake getting his learner’s allow. “Drake waited in line for an hour and eventually acquired known as as much as get his driver’s allow,” Joanna Gaines captioned the picture. “After which my 15 yr previous little boy drove house with Chip and rapidly he’s all grown up.” The snap was taken with Drake’s again to the digital camera as he walked towards the desk to say his license. He was carrying a blue and grey baseball T-shirt with a cap hanging on the belt loop of his denims. Reflecting on that second, Joanna could not assist however be overcome with emotion. “So many laborious and delightful moments of beginnings and ends,” the mom-of-five added. “Parenthood is all about coaching these infants as much as ultimately allow them to go.”

Talking with Individuals, Chip Gaines shared his pleasure concerning the subsequent milestone, Drake getting his precise driver’s license, saying he and Joanna had been wanting ahead to that day. “Then we get this child his license, and the primary morning he goes to drive, Jo bawls her eyes out,” he shared with fun. As a father, seeing his youngsters develop and expertise completely different milestones in life provides him a deep sense of pleasure and delight. “I simply bear in mind nice experiences as a child, you realize? Driving your automotive for the primary time, choosing up a younger woman on a date for the primary time,” he instructed Individuals in 2018. “All these have been little milestones to some extent.”

Talking of milestones, Drake Gaines graduated from highschool in 2023 when he was 16 years previous. To honor the event, Joanna Gaines posted a heartfelt tribute to her son on Instagram, displaying footage of Drake with Tracy Lawrence’s music “Time Marches On” enjoying within the background. “It looks like simply yesterday that we have been cheering him on as he took his first steps,” wrote the Magnolia Community star. “However final weekend, as he walked throughout the stage to obtain his highschool diploma (!!) we have been cheering him on as he took his first steps right into a world past what he is identified. We’re so happy with you Drake.”

The clip captured candy moments of Drake along with his dad and mom — from his first stroll to him enjoying baseball to him dressed as a cowboy. Joanna additionally uploaded a snap of Drake at his commencement ceremony, displaying him hugging his brother Crew along with his again to the digital camera. “Soften. My. Coronary heart,” Joanna captioned the picture.

Although he teased his spouse about being an “emotional wreck” when Drake began his last yr of highschool, Chip Gaines acknowledged it was an enormous second for his or her household. “She sees Drake off to his first day of college, which in kindergarten, it is sensible that you simply get actually emotional. Your senior yr, this can be a celebratory second,” he instructed Individuals. In the meantime, Joanna defined why it is laborious for her to let go of her youngsters. “I believe for us, it is the belief that we’re this tight little household unit and we’re an even bigger household,” she stated. “There’s seven of us, however realizing the second that one child leaves, it adjustments that dynamic.” 

Drake Gaines is formally an grownup; he celebrated his twentieth birthday on February 5, 2025. Though his dad and mom did not share something concerning the event, Joanna Gaines had beforehand given him a candy shoutout on his sixteenth birthday in 2021. Sharing an lovely throwback of child Drake in a Santa Claus costume on Instagram, she wrote, “This cutie is 16 as we speak.” She additionally mirrored on these early years, saying, “Drake was my little store child and he got here to work with me each day. I used to be both carrying him on me or he was sleeping within the pack ‘n play behind the counter.” 

She went on by sharing the one piece of recommendation she used to get from different moms who would come to their retailer: “‘Cherish this time and maintain him tight, as a result of earlier than you realize it, he can be driving someday after which off to school,'” recalled Joanna. “[And] dang they have been proper, it occurred so quick!”

Even longtime followers of the Gaines household have been stunned by how a lot Drake had grown since they final noticed him on “Fixer Higher.” In 2020, he made a uncommon look alongside his siblings — Ella, Duke, and Emmie — in a particular Father’s Day video the place Chip Gaines learn them dad jokes. One fan famous how shy and reserved Drake appeared, whereas one other chimed in, “Typical of a teen rising into manhood!” Others identified how a lot the then-15-year-old takes after each of his dad and mom: whereas one viewer thought he appeared like Joanna, one other stated he resembled Chip. “Drake is a replica of his dad,” they stated of the teenager. 

In 2022, Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines shared that their eldest was getting ready to go away house for faculty. “Within the grand scheme of heartbreaking issues, this one comes with a number of gratitude and pleasure,” Joanna penned within the Fall 2022 version of the Magnolia Journal. “However, nonetheless, my first little one is transferring away, and our household dynamic will change due to it, and that may really feel like a lack of its personal.”

In 2024, Drake Gaines began his sophomore yr on the College of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, the place he’s pursuing a level in enterprise entrepreneurship. Forward of his sophomore yr, Joanna shared an emotional second along with her son as she ready to ship him off as soon as once more. “Saying goodbye would not get simpler,” she captioned the snap on Instagram. She additionally opened up about her son leaving in an interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Present,” admitting it took her a full yr to regulate. “I am not likely an emotional particular person,” harassed Joanna. “[But] I changed into a distinct lady. So, then I simply cried within the quiet. No one knew, however I am higher.”

Now that Drake is in his 20s and is in school, he not has to comply with the strict guidelines Chip and Joanna have set for his or her youngsters, considered one of which is staying off social media till they flip 18 years previous. The pair mentioned their strategy whereas showing on “TODAY with Hoda and Jenna” in 2024. “Our home rule is you get social media the summer time earlier than you go to school … so 18,” defined Joanna. For his half, Chip admitted, “It is a problem. You’ll be able to inform these youngsters need it earlier than that.”