Ella Gaines: The Rare Times We've Seen Chip & Joanna's Oldest Daughter

Chip and Joanna Gaines are the proud parents to five children: two girls and three boys. The HGTV stars have put great effort into shielding their kids from the spotlight, allowing them minimal participation in their design business, which spans HGTV and their self-helmed Magnolia Network. Ella Gaines, their oldest daughter and second oldest overall, is no different, as not much is known about her. However, Ella turned 18 in October 2024, which means it's up to her now to decide how public she'd like to be as she embarks on her life in college (like her older brother, Drake Gaines), and eventually, starts up her career. At the time of this writing, she doesn't have any public social media accounts.

However, Chip and Joanna have shared a great deal about their brood over the years. Speaking of Ella, specifically, she's just like her business-savvy mother. "Then Ella is like me," Joanna told People in 2019. The mom-of-five also revealed that she sees success in her future. "I think she'll follow in my footsteps and have her hand in a lot of things. Right now she wants to cook, be a lead designer and have a donut truck." Aside from mentioning that Ella, along with her other siblings, helped to write Joanna's book, "We Are The Gardeners," that was all that the parents shared about their oldest daughter at the time.

That said, her parents have filled in plenty of gaps about her on social media. 

It's not always guaranteed that kids will take up the same kinds of hobbies as their parents. However, that doesn't seem to be an issue for the Gaines children, particularly in Ella Gaines' case. In April 2016, Joanna Gaines confirmed that Ella and her sister, Emmie Gaines, had inherited their parents' creative spirits. The proud mother posted a photo of Ella and Emmie enjoying a super sweet crafting setup in their immaculately decorated living space. As Emmie sat on the couch with a book in hand, Ella was content on the floor looking through her own reading material — probably to shine up her skills.

However, as you can see in the photo, their joint project was a large, colorful quit that was sprawled out in the middle of the floor. In the caption, Joanna explained just how dedicated Ella and her younger sister were to their crafts. "The girls have been taking sewing lessons for a year now and for the last few weeks they have been talking about a surprise they are making," said Joanna. "They finally finished this week and I just love this quilt and so do their 'students' they are reading to! Hello weekend, I'm thankful for you." If you can't tell, the girls' students are the army of teddy bears and other stuffed animals littering the floor and couch. 

Joanna Gaines isn't the only person who enjoys bragging about her children. Her husband, Chip Gaines, has also posted a few photos of their kids over the years, exalting their personalities in the process. For example, Chip posted a super cool shot of Ella Gaines and Emmie Gaines enjoying a car ride (likely during an outing in the Gaines family's hometown of Waco, Texas). As you can see, Ella (pictured at the bottom), seemed especially happy for their father to catch their leisurely moment. "My girls! Unbridled! Untamed! Fearless! World changers! Arrows in my quiver! And... Just like their momma!" the design pro captioned the 2015 Instagram photo.

Three years later, Chip posted another photo centering on Ella. She wasn't pictured in the snapshot, but her presence was felt all the same. The father-of-five used a little of his downtime from his busy schedule to show his followers the adorably sweet message Ella had left for her mom. "Mom! I love you so much! I hope you have an amazing day! You are such a hard worker! Love you — Ella," read the note. In the caption, Chip wrote, "Our sweet and thoughtful Ella Rose.. This made my day so I KNOW it made @joannagaines!"

Sewing isn't Ella Gaines' only creative habit by a long shot. In 2015, Joanna Gaines posted a photo of Ella and her sister, Emmie Gaines, indulging in another fun hobby: baking. Although their faces were partially obscured, the girls could be seen standing around a kitchen island as they kneaded their individual dough. In the center was the result of their hard work, uncooked donut circles. While Joanna didn't show her followers the final result, she did share an interesting tidbit about her daughters' love of cooking. "Their favorite part — the flour. Mine? The dough, eating it," she captioned the post.

Joanna's thoughts about baking had evolved by the time the COVID-19 pandemic rolled around. During an interview with "Today," she revealed to Hoda Kotb that she had been coping with the pandemic by baking. But instead of doing it for the joy of eating, baking had become somewhat of a stress reliever. "But for me, it's dessert, and I realize I need to tone it down a bit, because I feel like every day I'm baking something," she said about the comfort food she'd been indulging in. "But for me ... even the process of it, more than eating it is this creative process that kind of gets my mind off of anything I'm worried about or anxious about." She also revealed that she'd been baking with her kids.

Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines don't often utilize their kids' talents in their projects, but they have allowed them to make appearances on their shows. Ella Gaines appeared on "Fixer Upper" in 2016 to flaunt yet another one of her skills. Proving that she did, indeed, soak up some of her parents' expertise, she showed off her designing skills in the episode. In a behind-the-scenes shot, Ella could be seen arranging items on top of a dresser as cameramen captured her every move. Bonus points for her mother looking on with pride and joy. "Sweet Ella got to try her hand at decorating tonight- so proud of her!" she captioned the Instagram post.

Ella also made a cameo in a different episode of "Fixer Upper." Only this time, she wasn't putting her designer skills to good use. Instead, she and her siblings appeared on camera in 2018 to help unveil their parents' latest home revamp. "Okay, McCalls, are you ready to see your fixer upper?" asked Ella in a video clip of the moment. Of course, she wasn't the only Gaines sibling present in the video, as her brothers and sister were also beyond excited to show the McCall family their new abode. "The whole family is joining in the fun for tonight's reveal on Fixer Upper. Are you watching?!" read HGTV's caption.

After Ella Gaines turned 18 years old in October 2024, Joanna Gaines took to Instagram to celebrate her oldest daughter's milestone birthday. Ella wasn't pictured in the post, further cementing Joanna's desire to protect her kids from public life. But it was special all the same. Joanna posted a video of her living room and kitchen covered in blue, white, and green balloons. She also panned toward a Paris-themed birthday tablespace, complete with what appeared to be homemade cupcakes, blue gift boxes, and several books about the famous city. Whether these clues meant that her parents were treating her to an overseas trip was not revealed, but the chances seem good!

And while Ella obviously still has a ton of new things to look forward to now that she's started a different chapter of her life, it didn't take her long to check another major milestone off of her list after celebrating her 18th birthday. In November, Chip Gaines posted a photo of himself and Ella wearing "I voted" stickers, signifying that they had cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election. Of course, Chip gave no indication of who he or his daughter voted for, which caused quite a bit of controversy in the comment section. What's more interesting, however, is the fact that Ella decided to cover her face with a large emoji. Or maybe it was Chip's way of protecting her from internet trolls. Either way, it's clear that Ella's family is very serious about her privacy.