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‘Home Work’ is coming back to the Magnolia Network

The new magnolia network had pulled the utah-based home renovation show.

By Herb Scribner

Utah-based home renovation show “Home Work” is coming back.

The news: Magnolia Network said Wednesday that it will bring “Home Work” back to its lineup after conducting an investigation that found “ill or malicious intent” in the complaints, according to Variety.

• “Magnolia Network is dedicated to sharing hopeful and genuine stories,” Allison Page, president of Magnolia Network, said in a statement Thursday, according to Variety.
• “In doing that, we strive to meet people with compassion, and to cautiously approach difficult moments with honest understanding.
• “After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for ‘Home Work,’ and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent.
• “While ‘Home Work’ will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent, but those who put their trust in them and this brand.”

Flashback: “Home Work” was originally removed from the new Magnolia Network’s opening lineup because a number of Utah residents spoke out against Candis and Andy Meredith.

• The residents said the couple created renovation issues like growing budget, workmanship issues and multiple difficulties.

Page said: “Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith.

• “Within the last day, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove ‘Home Work’ from the Magnolia Network lineup pending a review of the claims that have been made.”

The reaction: The “Home Work” hosts said Wednesday that they did not approve of their show's removal.

• “We do not believe in bullying online, we feel like this attack was particularly calculated for the day before the network launch and we are hopeful that this can allow the narrative to continue on a more equal playing field without malicious intent,” Candis Meredith told Today.com .

The Merediths released an Instagram series of post that explained their side of the story, saying that the affected families orchestrated to hurt the Merediths because they did not support beliefs of the Magnolia Network, which was created by Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Utah couple’s home renovation TV show will return after complaints of shoddy work, cost overruns

Magnolia network say there was no ‘malicious intent.’ candis and andy meredith call some clients ‘malicious.’.

(DIY Network) Candis and Andy Meredith's home renovation show will return to TV after the Magnolia Network pulled it because of allegations of shoddy work, long delays and big cost overruns.

A home renovation show hosted by a Utah couple will return to the Magnolia Network after an investigation found no “ill or malicious intent” was behind shoddy work, delays and cost overruns some of the couple’s clients claimed they experienced.

However, “Home Work” stars Candis and Andy Meredith are calling some of their unhappy clients “malicious” for making their complaints public. Episodes of their show are scheduled to resume airing on Feb. 1.

Magnolia Network president Allison Page issued a statement acknowledging that some of the Merediths’ renovations had gone awry. “After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for ‘Home Work,’ and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent,” Page said.

On Jan. 6 — two days after the Magnolia launched on cable and satellite systems — the network pulled “Home Work” after at least four Utah homeowners went public with claims that they signed contracts with the Merediths, but had experienced monthslong delays, ballooning costs, substandard work and a lack of communication. Magnolia did not dispute any of those claims. Page said the network has committed “to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with ‘Home Work’ fell short of our network’s standards. While ‘Home Work’ will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent, but those who put their trust in them and this brand.”

Magnolia is a co-venture of Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines, the hosts of the popular “Fix Upper” home renovation show. It launched online in July 2021 — all 13 episodes of “Home Work” had been streaming for months. The Gaines have made no comment on the show getting pulled from and restored to the Magnolia schedule.

“Home Work” is the Merediths’ second TV series. In 2015, they hosted four episodes of “Old Home Love” on the DIY Network. (Magnolia replaced DIY on Jan. 4.) Their home renovations caught the eye of Joanna Gaines on Instagram, leading to their current series. The Merediths have been compared to the Gaines – both married couples who work together to renovate homes; both parents with a lot of children. The Gaines are the parents of five; the Merediths, a blended family, have seven — Candis and Andy each brought three children into their marriage, then had a seventh. The Merediths are Utah natives — she’s from American Fork; he’s from Bluffdale.

In social media posts, the Merediths “adamantly” denied that they had “scammed, stolen or lied to any of these clients. We have paid our own personal funds on every client project for our show and did not charge anything for the hundreds of hours we put into the projects.”

The Merediths said they “took on too much at one time” while producing episodes of “Home Work,” but placed much of the blame for their troubled projects on contractors. They also claimed that one of the unhappy clients who went public “has made false claims and is purposely trying to take anything she can from us.”

The couple posted on Instagram that they had been “warned that the ‘Instagram mafia’ would come for us, and we are in an extremely difficult position defending ourselves while not attacking or diminishing the feelings of others. At this point, due to the literal threat to the safety of our family, we have no choice but to share these things.”

The Merediths said their children had been bullied at school, and they had received death threats. They said they “understand the frustrations” of their dissatisfied clients, but — despite the fact that the renovations were undertaken for a television show — added that the disputes “should have been resolved privately … and not in this malicious and salacious attempt to take away our means of living.”

Although the Merediths have been working on additional episode of “Home Work,” Magnolia has not confirmed that there will be a second season of the series.

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Inside the Drama Behind “Home Work,” Which Magnolia Network Pulled—and Then Reinstated

Following a flurry of social media drama last week, the show was pulled—now it's back on.

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Home renovation shows are feel-good television, chronicling inspirational transformations many homeowners can only dream of. But are some of them too good to be true? Over the past week, several families featured on the new show Home Work— hosted by fixer-uppers Andy and Candis Meredith,as part of the starting lineup at Chip and Joanna Gaines 's new Magnolia Network —have stepped forward with deeply concerning allegations leveled at the show's producers. They report fraudulent promises, financial disarray, and unsafe (even illegal) labor conditions at their own home renovations, which were all filmed for the show.

On Thursday January 6, in response, Magnolia Network officially pulled Home Work from all its platforms.

So What Happened?

Three homeowners—Aubry Bennion, Teisha Hawley, and Vienna Goates—spoke out in a series of damning Instagram posts , condemning Andy and Candis for over-promising and under-delivering. The allegations range from the couple blowing budgets by tens of thousands of dollars (and then demanding additional funds to finish the work), to inexcusible lapses in work and communication, to hiring unlicensed contractors who created unsafe conditions.

"After our meeting and finding out about the blown budget we had multiple conversations via phone, text, and email," wrote Hawley. "We were told that we had to wire $10,000 immediately to have anything done."

For their part, the Merediths owned up to some shortcomings on the projects, including sometimes being “left with outstanding balances,” per their own Instagram post addressing the allegations on Saturday, “but we always pay, even if it takes some time for us to make arrangements.” In an exclusive interview with House Beautiful , Candis also confirmed that some of the timelines on the renovations in question were extended. “I'm only relaying what I'm being told by contractors about timeline. Unfortunately, I can't control that when I'm not the one swinging the hammer and running the wires, as much as I'd love to,” she says. “And I would love to budget more time for client projects in the future. If I ever do client projects again, that's absolutely something that I've learned.”

Another homeowner featured on the show, Jeana Quigley, voiced her support for the Merediths after the show was canceled, acknowledging that while her renovation did take longer than expected, she felt that “Candis truly wanted me to love that space,” per an Instagram story posted on Friday. “I’ve done other remodels in the past and have never had one go absolutely perfectly. Every project has issues,” she wrote.

What Went Wrong?

This is not the first time a home renovation show has presented a perfectly polished product only to have the veneer crack. In 2005, the Higgins family featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition sued the network for “fraud, breach of contract and infliction of emotional distress,” per the Los Angeles Times , though a judge ultimately dismissed the case. Then in 2017, after starring on HGTV’s Love It or List It, Deena Murphy and Tim Sullivan sued the show’s network, the production company, and general contractor for “breach of contract, faulty workmanship, and unauthorized retention of funds,” per the Triad Business Journal . They settled out of court.

TV aside, no renovation goes off without a hitch. Home renovations often go over budget—a 2020 Houzz survey of nearly 90,000 homeowners reports that 31 percent of respondents went over budget during renovations in 2019. And timelines are often extended : “It is not only common but also a guarantee that issues will arise on major renovations,” says Kentucky-based interior designer Isabel Ladd . “Instead of thinking, 'I wonder what issues will arise on this project,' I shift my thinking to, 'I wonder what solutions I'll conjure up during this project.' You simply don't know what will happen when walls start coming down.”

Additionally, Andy and Candis assert that some of the claims made by their clients are unfounded. In their own Instagram statement, they wrote, “We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven't defrauded ‘so many families’. We worked with licensed general contractors.” While Candis wouldn’t elaborate on specifics, she did tell House Beautiful, “I look forward to sharing more details if and when I can.”

One of the bigger issues plaguing the production of Home Work is that the Merediths seem to have taken on far more roles than is typical for reno show hosts (and even real-world designers). “[Candis] was truly operating as a one-man band,” Bennion tells House Beautiful . “She oversaw the design. She oversaw the construction. She was on-air talent. She was the project manager.” Both Andy and Candis served as executive producers on the show, while Candis also served as director and design producer—all while managing eight or nine client renovations during Home Work ’s several-month production period.

“The reason for that is I'm so passionate about creating a different kind of show,” says Candis. “I was asked to make the full show that I wanted to make, and I was really excited to do that. So that meant that I took on quite a bit of the roles because it truly was my show, was my vision.”

But she also says that she felt less burdened by managing the production of the show than she did by managing the actual renovations. Prior to Home Work , she and her husband didn’t focus on client-driven work—their previous show, 2015’s Old Home Love on HGTV, saw the couple restore old houses with no clients involved. That lack of experience could explain, in part, why the Merediths’s expectations for the renovations didn’t square with reality.

“Oh my, do I feel for the Merediths. Reading about their situation has evoked so much empathy from me because I absolutely understand how things can go so wrong, especially when an extensive renovation is underway, supply chain issues are abundant, and surprises are beyond our control,” says Ladd.

Who's to Blame?

While it seems as if the Merediths did bite off more than they could chew, Bennion also questioned the role of the show’s production company in the mismanagement.

In unscripted television, networks typically outsource the day-to-day production of shows to third-party companies. For Home Work, Magnolia Network, which is owned by media giant Discovery, Inc., appears to have contracted a company called Linguine Pictures to produce the show, per the credits. Bennion confirmed that she was aware of Linguine and its owners and executive producers, Anne and Dan Fox, having met with Anne twice early on in the process. But as the renovation went on, she says, the Foxes were absent and the Merediths were the only point people.

Neither Magnolia Network nor Linguine Pictures has responded to a request for comment about the production of the show, though Magnolia previously issued House Beautiful the following statement by its president Allison Page regarding pulling Home Work from its programming: "Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith. Within the last few days, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove ‘Home Work’ from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made."

Magnolia Network launched its streaming services on July 15, 2021, and debuted on cable on January 5, 2022. As a relative newcomer, the network is clearly experiencing some hiccups as it figures out its workflow, perhaps especially because it has taken a unique approach to finding hosts.

In an interview with Variety last week, Joanna Gaines explained Magnolia Network’s atypical casting process. “It’s...talent that we’re just completely enamored with as far as what they do, what they’re passionate about,” she said, noting that they don’t ask for people to send in casting tapes, which is a more standard industry practice. “It’s been a little harder, honestly, because it takes a lot of time on the phone and hours of talking them into even wanting to do television.”

It’s an innovative method that’s particularly on-brand for the Gaineses. According to an interview with HGTV , the Gaineses—who before going on TV ran Magnolia Homes, a home renovation company—were originally approached for a show when a production company noticed one of their renovations on a "high profile blog," though at some point they did film a casting tape, which was released last week with the cable launch of Magnolia Network. That ultimately led to the extremely popular five-season original run of Fixer Upper on HGTV.

Andy and Candis, notably, followed a similar path, having gotten their start in the design industry by renovating their own home before they were approached to take their skills to TV. But there are two key differences between Fixer Upper and Home Work : The Gaineses had years of client-focused experience under their tool belts before getting a TV show, and they did not serve as executive producers on their show, meaning they likely had more capacity to focus on the renovations rather than the logistics of television production.

“All we wanted to do was do something beautiful together and put it on a beautiful television show that people could enjoy it," Candis tells House Beautiful. " And I'm so sorry for any of the experiences that have been less than ideal for these clients. My heart hurts for them. It really does.”

Being overburdened during a renovation is not an excuse for a designer to lie or dodge the client. All parties involved in shows like these, from producers to hosts, hold responsibility for the actual work being performed on real clients' homes. Hopefully Magnolia Network's investigation into the claims surrounding Home Work will shed more light soon on what went wrong.

From Bennion’s perspective, Magnolia Network has already done right by pulling the show—but she is concerned that their official statement is a little too open-ended. “I want them to be accountable for what they've done, and I also want them to stop doing this to other people,” she says.

The Merediths, meanwhile, are hoping for a second chance. “We will always stand by that this has been difficult for these clients, and I don't want to take away from anything that anyone has said,” says Mrs. Meredith. “We all make mistakes. That doesn't make it okay, but we have to be given the chance to learn from our mistakes and do better.”

Hopefully, this will become a lesson for future renovation TV endeavors, under the Magnolia umbrella and beyond. In fact, that sentiment is part of Magnolia’s DNA; per the company’s manifesto , “We believe that failure needn’t be a negative thing; rather, we learn from our mistakes and fail smarter next time.”

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Stars of Magnolia Network's 'Home Work' Speak Out After Clients Recount Renovation Horror Stories

Andy and Candis Meredith defended themselves against accusations of broken promises, busted budgets, and shoddy workmanship as their show was removed from the network Friday

Mackenzie Schmidt is the Home and Travel Editor for PEOPLE. She's worked at PEOPLE for over five years as a writer and editor on the Lifestyle team.

Andy and Candis Meredith have spoken out after several of their former clients detailed how they believe they were scammed by the couple.

"We've seen stories that has [sic] been circulating, and although we cannot speak for anyone but ourselves, we can say that we have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy," the pair, whose show Home Work made its TV debut with the launch of Chip and Joanna Gaines's Magnolia Network on Wednesday and was pulled off the network Friday, wrote in a lengthy Instagram post . The show follows the Utah-based couple as they renovate a 20,000-square-foot schoolhouse into a home for their blended family of nine and tackle room makeovers for clients.

They continued, "We will never take away their truth and how they are feeling. We can only say that there are two sides to every story and while we chose not to go public with our truth, because we know how hurtful this feels, we understand that only hearing one side can paint a negative picture."

"We ask that these threats and piling on without the full story stop, they are the same handful of stories spinning and spinning, looking like there are 'so many' hurt people in our wake,'" the statement adds. "So many believe that we are frauds, have hurt people intentionally, and that we are not who we say we are. That is simply not true."

At least three homeowners the Merediths recruited for their show, as well as a local real estate agent they worked with, have come forward in the last few days with stories of shoddy or incomplete work, unsafe conditions, ballooning budgets and timelines, and a lack of communication from the couple.

Magnolia Network president Allison Page addressed the accusations in a statement shared with PEOPLE: "Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith. Within the last few days, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove Home Work from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made."

Home Work first debuted on the Discovery+ streaming service in July 2021, when Magnolia Network launched digitally. No episodes are currently visible on the app.

Aubry Bennion, an acquaintance of Candis's whose kitchen makeover was filmed for Home Work, shared an 18-post Instagram series documenting the months-long process of the Merediths' remodel of her Utah kitchen that began in the fall of 2019. The posts include receipts, screenshots of text conversations with Candis, and emails with a flooring company claiming they had not been paid. In an interview with Today , published Friday night, Candis confirmed they had not paid the flooring company, Lemco Design. "We were advised not to pay another penny towards her renovation after we were threatened with lawsuits," she said.

Bennion, an engineering project manager who also runs the crafting company Hello, Maypole , says she was promised a three-week timeline and a $25,000 budget for her project, but after several months with little work done and a surprise increase in budget to $40,000, she still had an empty box where her kitchen had been.

She filed a complaint with the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection in September 2021. The Merediths told Today that they were aware of the filing and were in contact with the state. "We have dealt with every agency that has reached out to us," Candis said.

Jeff and Teisha Hawley also recounted their renovation experience in a series of Instagram posts . They allege the timeline also increased dramatically for their multi-room project, during which they lived in their basement with their kids. They also claim faulty work and unsafe conditions, sharing a video of an incorrectly installed wood floor that bubbles up when you step on it and claiming that a worker fell through their floor. The Hawleys ended up pulling out of the project altogether after they say the Merediths told them they needed to increase their budget of $45,000 and requested an additional $35,000 to $40,000 to finish.

The Merediths confirmed the budget increase Bennion shared to Today , but would not comment on the Hawleys.

RELATED VIDEO: Chip and Joanna Gaines Introduce the Magnolia Network

A third client, mother-of-five Vienna Goates, came forward on Friday.

She also shared an 18-post series on Instagram with details of her renovation — or lack thereof. Goates says she was approached for the show in the fall of 2019 as well. She and her husband took out a home equity line of credit and claim they paid $50,000 of a total agreed-upon budget of $100,000 to the Merediths for an addition, but no work has been done on the house to date. Goates says after her husband lost his job in May, they tried to end the project, but Candis convinced them to stay on and even paid back some of the money from their deposit, but still have not received back the full amount they are owed. The homeowners also say they had Candis sign over a "confession of judgement," by which, they hoped they would receive an automatic court award if Candis did not pay them back on schedule.

A former collaborator of the Meredith's has also shared his history with them.

Provo, Utah-based real estate agent and house flipper, Aaron Oldham of The Home Scoop , who says he worked with the Merediths as long ago as 2013, took to social media with his story on Wednesday, hosting a nearly hour-long Instagram Live that he later posted to his feed. He claims he partnered with the Merediths on a home flipping project that he then planned to sell, but upon touring the house, found numerous code violations that made it structurally unsound. Oldham claims he ended his business dealings with the couple and, with the help of a lawyer, recovered $15,000 he had invested in the property. He completed the project for a total of $65,000 and later sold it, he says.

One client has come to the Merediths' defense after hearing news of the show being pulled.

Jeana Quigley said she worked with the couple on her backyard "reading cottage," which was going to be featured on Home Work .

"I feel like I need to speak up reading all the attacks on them," she wrote in an Instagram Stories post that showed off the room. "Andy and Candis did beautiful work on my space, and while it took longer than I hoped, I ultimately feel that Candis truly wanted me to love the space." She continued by noting that no renovation she's done has "gone perfectly" and complimenting the series: "The first season of the show is one of the best home shows I've ever seen done. The world will miss out if we cancel them now."

In their statement posted on Instagram, Candis and Andy address some of the claims made by the homeowners.

"We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven't defrauded 'so many families.' We worked with licensed general contractors. It is true that we are sometimes left with outstanding balances, but we always pay, even if it takes some time for us to make arrangements. To say anything otherwise is truly not ok. We have paid every amount of money we could to make things right and have continued making payments when necessary."

They admit that at least once, during the Goates family's project, "money we gave to a general contractor was misallocated." They call the situation "horrendous" but say, "We can't fully defend anything without taking down so many others and ruining their livelihood We have to be able to live with that, and again, wouldn't wish this on anyone."

Seemingly addressing the photos and videos posted by their clients, they continue, "We also have 'receipts' of things that have happened, working with general contractors can be so challenging and we have tried to carry as much of that burden from anyone we have consulted with at great personal cost to us financially, mentally and physically."

The couple also claims they "have not made a single penny" from these projects and have paid out of pocket for certain things "to create an overall positive outcome."

"One day we may have the courage to put everything out publicly to defend ourselves against the 'instagram mafia' that was called up. But in this moment, we know that anything we say will only be turned against us and hurt so many more."

The couple has turned off comments on the post.

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Candis And Andy Meredith Dish On Their New Show Home Work - Exclusive Interview

If you're a romantic at heart, you've probably admired a gorgeous but timeworn vintage building and daydreamed about restoring it to its former glory. But if you seriously investigated making that dream a reality, you learned the hard truth: Renovating a historic structure is a daunting and expensive proposition, not to mention wildly unpredictable — old buildings come with decades or more of hidden surprises, not all of them good.

None of this stopped Candis and Andy Meredith when they spotted and fell in love with their future dream home, an abandoned century-old schoolhouse. In their new Magnolia Network show "Home Work," they share in detail how they painstakingly converted the schoolhouse into the home of their dreams — from undoing an earlier renovation of the second floor, which had been converted into office space, to choosing unique vintage decorative touches to honor the building's history and their family's personal style. And for the Merediths, the project is truly a family affair — the couple shares seven school-age children who are getting a crash course in the joys and challenges of building a dream home.

In an exclusive interview, Candis and Andy opened up about "Home Work" and their family life.

Their Brady Bunch-sized family inspired the show

How did the show come about? How did you guys come to do this?

Candis: Oh, man, I think it started with us accidentally having seven kids. So he had three boys, and I had three boys. So we had this giant Brady Bunch of six boys. Then we had a baby girl together, and we were living in the most adorable little cottage, more or less. And we knew we needed someplace bigger.

Andy: Yeah. And years ago, when we were first married, we actually did a short series on HGTV. So we had done a renovation on TV before. After that, we left that world and we started our own production company and our own digital company, where we were producing home renovation series on our own. And we did that for several years.

Candis: And then we found the school, and it was like, you know when things kind of just all come together, and there's this big building that needs love. And we have this big family, and we were doing content. We're like, "Oh, wouldn't this be the best show?"

And I swear, the second we kind of put that out there, Joanna Gaines called us and said, "You guys want to do this show?"

Andy: "You want to come back to TV?"

Candis: So that's kind of how it all just fell into place like that. I mean, a lot of hard work and a lot of getting to that point, but that's kind of the overall story.

Candis and Andy share the biggest challenges — and joys — of renovating the schoolhouse

And that leads to my next question. What has been the most difficult part of renovating the schoolhouse? What was the coolest part of it?

Candis: Well, money's always the worst part. It's always like, "Oh, I wish they had just a little more ..." The school itself was not really very expensive, but everything that went into it really started to add up, and we had structural issues.

Andy: Yeah. I think it was just the scale and the scope. We renovated a lot of old homes, but we've never done anything this big. And on a project like this, when you run into a structural issue, it's not like, "Oh, we need to add a beam." It's like, "Oh, we need to add another house inside of this house."

Candis: Yeah. That was rough. And then we had a big flood too that almost wiped us out, literally and figuratively. And that was a lot to handle.

Andy: Basically, when you have problems on a job that size, you have big problems. And the good side, I think, just watching our kids as we go finishing room by room and seeing how much they love it and just the family feeling we have down there.

Candis:  We work a lot, and we don't hide that at all. This job takes time, and it takes a lot of our time. But I think for them, seeing something go from nothing to something, I think it's very fascinating to them. I think they're very proud of us. And even like guestrooms, they were excited to see those get finished. So it's been a fun journey for them.

Restoring the schoolhouse is a hand-on family project

What do your kids feel about being on the show? Do they like it?

Andy : Yeah. I mean, we're pretty open with them. You'll notice in some of the scenes, we're missing a kid or two. They always have the option, if they're doing something else or they don't want to come down to the school. But they're such hams. Most of the time, they're like, "Can we be in the reveal? Can we come see this room?" And so, we just let them be involved as much as they want. And they honestly —

Candis : They love it.

Andy : If there's a chance for them to get their hands dirty and help us, they love jumping on board.

Candis : Our boys put together our kitchen, for real. Our big kitchen in the school, our boys put together every single cabinet. We're so proud of them. They'll kill me for saying this, but like three of them went through puberty while we were filming the show. So like on a cut, you'll see one of our sons with his little kid voice. And then the next scene, he's got his big kid voice. And it's like, "Oh, we're really watching them grow up right in front of us." And the show did take too long. COVID, everything made it take too long. But the positive of that was really seeing our kids grow up. In a space of an hour, you see them grow up. It's pretty special for us. It's a good time capsule for us.

For Candis and Andy, working together has its pros and cons

I know this isn't your first round in TV, but what have you been your favorite and least favorite parts of filming where this show is concerned?

Candis: We work together. So we love each other very much. But when your wife is your director and producer, there are times when I'm like —

Andy: "Just do it."

Candis: "Can you just give it to me? Can you just give me what I need?"

Andy: And unlike the first time we did a TV series, this time we own the production company. So Candis is the director. We're executive producers. She's involved in every edit in every scene. She picks the music for the show. All the sound, the shots, the transitions, that's all her.

And so, it's kind of funny, because the good part is we really got to create the kind of show we always thought could be made in this genre, more of a docu-follow kind of picture of a family. But the hard part is we actually had to make the show.

So it's me and Candis, working long weekends in edits, and it is just been a lot of work being involved in every aspect.

Candis: Yeah. We have no boundaries and no balance, but it's also kind of beautiful, because what we're sharing is authentic and it really is ours, our true life. And so, I think it's a good trade off.

Andy: Yeah. There's nobody standing on the other side of the camera telling us, "Hey, why don't you tell us about this? What are you feeling? What are you doing?" It's literally us talking to our camera guys. It's real.

They're not done with the schoolhouse yet

So, you are dropping hints for my next question. What can viewers expect to see when they see your show?

Candis: Well, we do edit out all the swear words. So there will be no swear words on our show.

Andy: It's a very family-friendly show.

Candis: But I think you see a lot of realness with us. Obviously, we want to put out there an hour for people to just relax and take a journey with us and see something transform. We also don't want to hide anything, really. But I would still say that you should expect to see beautiful reveals. I want to see before and after. Give me all the before and afters, every satisfying shot. Those are the shots I crave. And so, we've put a lot of that in there. You see a lot of our family.

Andy: One of the biggest things I enjoy about our show is the takeaways. Candis has this mind where she can walk into a room and see not only what it's going to look like finished, but what she needs to do herself to make that happen.

And so, she walks the viewers through that. If you look at this, we've got these giant art pieces. And how do you do that? And the show explains, and it shows her thought process, and it shows us walking through the steps.

So I think in addition to those reveals, which are only a few minutes, if you think about it, those before and afters, the rest of the time, you're going to actually see what it took to get there. And it's not an army of employees. It's not people we're tasking with these things. You get to see us and how we manage to juggle all of this.

And finally, what is next for you after this?

Andy: Even with the school itself, I mean, it's such a big space —

Candis: There's always more to do.

Andy: Thirteen episodes weren't even enough. We have an underground tunnel that goes out to a secret bunker underneath one of the other buildings.

Andy: We have bathrooms and hallways and things we never got to show. And there's just always more for us to do in our school as well as other projects.

Watch all episodes of Magnolia Network's original series "Home Work" now streaming exclusively on discovery+ and the Magnolia app.

‘Home Work’ to Return to Magnolia Network After Probe of Renovation Complaints

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Magnolia Network has decided to return “Home Work” to its lineup after initially pulling the show due to complaints made by homeowners about the quality of work done by the contractors who host the unscripted series.

The probe by Magnolia, the joint venture of Discovery and lifestyle mavens Chip and Joanna Gaines, found no “ill or malicious intent” involved in the complaints and the show will begin airing again in a few weeks after the network helps resolve those complaints. “Home Work” is hosted by Utah-based home renovators Andy and Candis Meredith.

“Magnolia Network is dedicated to sharing hopeful and genuine stories,” Allison Page, president of Magnolia Network, said in a statement Thursday. “In doing that, we strive to meet people with compassion, and to cautiously approach difficult moments with honest understanding. After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for ‘Home Work,’ and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent. Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with ‘Home Work’ fell short of our network’s standards. While ‘Home Work’ will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent, but those who put their trust in them and this brand.”

Magnolia Network temoporarily pulled “ Home Work ” from its lineup last Friday after several homeowners alleged that their homes had been damaged during renovations. Magnolia, the linear and streaming channel curated by the “Fixer Upper” stars, made a splashy linear launch on Jan. 5.

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“Home Work,” hosted by Andy and Candis Meredith, focused on renovating homes in the Utah area. But when at least three homeowners featured on the show came forward on social media this week with allegations of damaged homes, long delays and over-budget renovations, Magnolia Network decided to pull the show from its lineup.

The majority of the homeowners featured on the show were “thrilled” with their experiences, a source close to the network tells Variety . The source says the network committed to working with the Merediths and the handful of homeowners whose experience with “Home Work” fell short of the network’s standards and takes the claims very seriously, which is why the show was yanked so quickly last week.

(Pictured: Candis and Andy Meredith)

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Chip and Jo Premiere the Most Daunting Renovation Show to Date: ‘Home Work’

Chip and Joanna Gaines ‘ Magnolia Network has just released yet another new show on Discovery+: “Home Work,” which features a family even larger than their own, with seven kids! (Chip and Jo, you may recall, are at five kids and counting.)

In “Home Work,” Andy and Candis Meredith work together with their brood to turn a 113-year-old, 20,000-square-foot schoolhouse in Utah into their dream home. It’s a massive renovation project that makes you wonder if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

But their smart upgrades prove these two know what they’re doing, and have a style all their own.

In the premiere episode, “Old-World Kitchen,” Candis and Andy work on renovating their cooking and dining area. Here’s how they pull it together, which might inspire some changes around your own abode, too.

Make a kitchen look classic with plate racks

(Discovery+)

Candis and Andy need to make a kitchen that will be big enough to cook huge meals for their jumbo-size family.

The couple love the history and simplicity of old working kitchens, so they want to give their kitchen a similar old-world look. To do this, Candis installs simple hardware with an aged appearance and brings in a custom 13-foot island with lots of antique style.

Still, there’s one more detail that Candis knows will help bring that old-world vibe to life.

“The biggest thing I think will make it feel like an old kitchen is plate racks versus upper cabinets,” Candis says.

She installs two rows of plate racks on either side of the stove, creating a focal point as well as a unique alternative to cabinets. They’re the perfect choice for this new kitchen with a vintage look.

Use dark colors for a cozy feel

Lots of people want light, bright, and white kitchens, but Candis and Andy want to go in a different direction. While this old-world kitchen already has a lot of personality, Candis’ paint choices really make the space stand out.

She decides to paint the kitchen gray, with some accents of deep green. She knows these colors will give the space a moody look—and a surprisingly cozy feel.

“I like painting dark colors because it feels like it adds this little layer of drama,” Candis says. “Dark colors can make small spaces feel bigger, and it can even make really big spaces feel more cozy.”

Go big with lighting

To finish this massive kitchen, Candis and Andy add a dining table large enough for their family of nine, build a massive frame for a landscape portrait, and install a 7-foot chandelier.

The chandelier is a showstopper, but this formal piece is certainly unconventional for a family dining space. Still, Candis isn’t worried about the style or the size.

This is “one of those things that I thought was just too big but when you put it in the space, you actually find out, no, it really did have to be 7 feet tall,” she explains.

While not everyone would want this chandelier in their house, this choice has a lesson for us all.

“One of my biggest things I tell people is if you can’t afford to do a lot in your room, spend the money on new paint and a new light,” Candis says. “Because lights really make the whole space feel awesome.”

Go bold with bathroom tile

When not tackling their own home renovation project, the Merediths also renovate other people’s homes in the area. And with Candis giving her own kitchen such a larger-than-life look, it’s no surprise that she gives her clients Anna and Alan  a unique bathroom, too.

“They’re really bold clients, so it’s allowing me to make some bold design choices,” Candis explains.

She chooses a black and white checkered tile for the bathroom wall, a look that wouldn’t work in every house. Still, Anna and Alan think the bathroom looks great. Plus, it fits just fine when combined with other bold features, like a brass bathtub and a stone lion’s head facet.

Use an old table for an elegant bathroom vanity

While Anna and Alan’s bathroom is already memorable, Candis wants to make it feel classic by using an antique table as a vanity. Still, she has to get creative when it comes to actually turning the table into a sink, choosing a sink and fixtures that are new but will still work with an antique.

“The main focus, right when you walk in, is that antique vanity,” says Candis.

“With a brand-new sink on it, [it] feels weird to have plumbing on such an antique piece,” she admits. Nonetheless, “when it gives new life to an antique and we know that sink is going to0 be there for a long, long time, I think it’s worth making a change.”

Jillian Pretzel is a Southern California writer who covers lifestyle, relationships, home, and money management.

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Candis and Andy Meredith transform a 20, 000-square-foot historic school into their family home -- all while juggling projects for clients, rental properties and life with their blended fami... Read all Candis and Andy Meredith transform a 20, 000-square-foot historic school into their family home -- all while juggling projects for clients, rental properties and life with their blended family of nine. Candis and Andy Meredith transform a 20, 000-square-foot historic school into their family home -- all while juggling projects for clients, rental properties and life with their blended family of nine.

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Magnolia Network’s ‘Home Work’: Everything to Know About the Show Amid Controversy

In need of renovations. Chip and Joanna Gaines had high hopes when they launched Magnolia Network, but they were not expecting the controversy that stemmed from Andy and Candis Meredith ’s show Home Work .

The Fixer Upper alums left HGTV in 2018 after becoming some of the network’s biggest stars . The couple branched out on their own with Magnolia Network , which debuted on Discovery+ in January 2021. DIY Network eventually rebranded as Magnolia Network in January 2022.

Home Work originally premiered on the Discovery+ iteration of Magnolia Network in July 2021 before shifting to TV in January 2022. The show follows the Merediths as they transform a 20,000-square-foot school into their home while also doing projects for clients, overseeing rental properties and juggling their family of nine.

Two days after the series first appeared on airwaves, the network pulled Home Work amid allegations of shoddy work, expanding budgets and timelines, a lack of communication from Andy and Candis and unsafe conditions.

“I want Magnolia to be accountable,” Aubry Bennion, a Utah homeowner who was one of the Merediths’ former clients, shared via Instagram in January 2022. “It’s mind-blowing to me that they would put Magnolia’s name and reputation on the line or that they would allow these people to represent them without any sort of oversight or mentoring.”

Teisha Satterfield Hawley, another homeowner who worked with Andy and Candis, came forward with similar claims. “Hopeless is the word that comes to mind when I think of that day,” she wrote via Instagram in January 2022. “We had been living in our basement for months at this point, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays. We were exhausted, we had just been told all of our funds were used and our home was torn apart with bubbling floors laid.”

Amid the controversy, the Merediths denied scamming or lying to their clients but admitted to setting unachievable goals.

“I fully acknowledge how hard any renovation is, especially when it’s a renovation for television. The timelines that were set were too crazy, and I am an optimistic person,” Candis said in a January 2022 Instagram video. “I know better now that I should never have said these short timelines and set these expectations. That is on me, and I take full responsibility.”

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Chip and Joanna, for their part, have yet to react to the ordeal , but prior to the headlines about Home Work , they detailed how they curated the shows on Magnolia Network.

“We don’t do it the typical way. We’re not the network that says, ‘Send in your casting tapes,’” Joanna explained to Variety in January 2022. “For us, it’s been this really authentic way of finding talent. It’s either talent that we’re just completely enamored with as far as what they do, what they’re passionate about. It’s been a little harder, honestly, because it takes a lot of time on the phone and hours of talking them into even wanting to do television. I’d say most of our talent didn’t come to us and say, ‘I want to do a show.’ We came to them and said, ‘Can we highlight what you’re doing? It’s so amazing and inspiring.’”

Scroll through the gallery below for more information about Home Work :

Credit: Lindsay Salazar/Discovery+

In need of renovations. Chip and Joanna Gaines had high hopes when they launched Magnolia Network, but they were not expecting the controversy that stemmed from Andy and Candis Meredith ’s show Home Work . The Fixer Upper alums left HGTV in 2018 after becoming some of the network’s biggest stars . The couple branched out on their own with Magnolia Network , which debuted on Discovery+ in January 2021. DIY Network eventually rebranded as Magnolia Network in January 2022. Home Work originally premiered on the Discovery+ iteration of Magnolia Network in July 2021 before shifting to TV in January 2022. The show follows the Merediths as they transform a 20,000-square-foot school into their home while also doing projects for clients, overseeing rental properties and juggling their family of nine. Two days after the series first appeared on airwaves, the network pulled Home Work amid allegations of shoddy work, expanding budgets and timelines, a lack of communication from Andy and Candis and unsafe conditions. “I want Magnolia to be accountable,” Aubry Bennion, a Utah homeowner who was one of the Merediths’ former clients, shared via Instagram in January 2022. “It’s mind-blowing to me that they would put Magnolia’s name and reputation on the line or that they would allow these people to represent them without any sort of oversight or mentoring.” [sendtonews type="float" key="Zd2FQr5xo1-3115706-14453"] Teisha Satterfield Hawley, another homeowner who worked with Andy and Candis, came forward with similar claims. “Hopeless is the word that comes to mind when I think of that day,” she wrote via Instagram in January 2022. “We had been living in our basement for months at this point, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays. We were exhausted, we had just been told all of our funds were used and our home was torn apart with bubbling floors laid.” Amid the controversy, the Merediths denied scamming or lying to their clients but admitted to setting unachievable goals. “I fully acknowledge how hard any renovation is, especially when it’s a renovation for television. The timelines that were set were too crazy, and I am an optimistic person,” Candis said in a January 2022 Instagram video. “I know better now that I should never have said these short timelines and set these expectations. That is on me, and I take full responsibility.” Chip and Joanna, for their part, have yet to react to the ordeal , but prior to the headlines about Home Work , they detailed how they curated the shows on Magnolia Network. “We don’t do it the typical way. We’re not the network that says, ‘Send in your casting tapes,’” Joanna explained to Variety in January 2022. “For us, it’s been this really authentic way of finding talent. It’s either talent that we’re just completely enamored with as far as what they do, what they’re passionate about. It’s been a little harder, honestly, because it takes a lot of time on the phone and hours of talking them into even wanting to do television. I’d say most of our talent didn’t come to us and say, ‘I want to do a show.’ We came to them and said, ‘Can we highlight what you’re doing? It’s so amazing and inspiring.’” Scroll through the gallery below for more information about Home Work : [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy of Andy and Candis Meredith/Instagram

Who Are Andy and Candis?

The couple tied the knot in 2013 and live in Utah with their seven children. (The Merediths share one daughter, while they each have three sons from previous relationships.) They have been flipping homes together since 2013. Before starring on Home Work , they appeared on a limited series called Old Home Love , which aired on HGTV and DIY Network in 2015, and produced their own Facebook Watch show titled Old Sweet Home . They also released their first book, Old Home Love , in 2017 and launched a YouTube series called Traveling Home in 2018.

What Are the Allegations?

Bennion claimed via Instagram that the Merediths began renovating her kitchen in 2019, informing her that the project would take three weeks and cost $20,000. The price allegedly rose to $25,000 while taping Home Work . It eventually cost more than $39,000 — with much of the sum allegedly going toward fixing the issues created by the project — and took five months to complete. Bennion also claimed that the Merediths created a drainage issue by building a deck over a sprinkler system, which cost $18,000 to repair. 

Hawley, meanwhile, alleged that she gave Andy and Candis $45,000 to renovate her home, but after 10 weeks (the project was only slated for four), little work had been completed. The Merediths then allegedly said they needed another $40,000. Hawley claimed that she told the duo not to come back after they asked for more money.  

Others who worked with the reality stars, including a local real estate agent, came forward with similar allegations via social media. 

How Did Magnolia Network Respond?

The network pulled Home Work from the air in January 2022 amid the controversy. “Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith,” Allison Page , the president of Magnolia, said in a statement at the time. “Within the last few days, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove Home Work from the Magnolia Network lineup pending a review of the claims that have been made.”  

Later that month, the show returned to the network. “After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for Home Work , and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent,” Page said. “Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with Home Work fell short of our network’s standards. While Home Work will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent but those who put their trust in them and this brand.”

What Was the Merediths’ Response?

Andy and Candis shared a lengthy statement via Instagram amid the allegations. “We have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy,” they wrote. “We will never take away their truth and how they are feeling. We can only say that there are two sides to every story and while we chose not to go public with our truth, because we know how hurtful this feels, we understand that only hearing one side can paint a negative picture. We have always kept lines of communication open, there have always been ways for people to recover any damages, there have been purchase contracts in place, legal avenues etc, but taking this public seems to be the easiest way to harm us personally.”  

They claimed that while it was “true that we are sometimes left with outstanding balances” on their projects, they “have paid every amount of money we could to [make] things right and have continued making payments when necessary.”

What Happened to Andy and Candis From ‘Home Work?’

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Magnolia Network’s ‘Home Work’ Could Be the Next ‘Fixer Upper’

Where to stream:.

It’s hard enough to capture reality TV lightning in a bottle, let alone managing it twice, and yet that seems to be what HGTV darlings Chip and Joanna Gaines have accomplished. The Waco, Texas couple shot to fame with their uber-popular home renovation hit Fixer Upper and are now poised to launch their own channel, the Magnolia Network , in July. Of course there will be a lot of Chip and Jo, but there are dozens of new stars waiting in the wings. First and foremost Candis and Andy Meredith of Home Work . Of all the shows available to preview on the Magnolia Network tab on Discovery+, Home Work seems like the most obvious hit. It has all the charm of a classic HGTV show with a distinctive style, and charm, that’s all its own.

Home Work is my bet for the next Fixer Upper -level hit.

When Fixer Upper first debuted on HGTV in 2013 (followed by its first full season in 2014), the network was undergoing something of a rebirth. Following on the heels of the success of Canadian import Love It or List It , HGTV had started filling its programing slots with shows that focused on the power of renovating houses. In 2013, HGTV also started airing another Canadian hit, Property Brothers , and a half-hour flipping show called Flip or Flop . The allure of these shows wasn’t just watching how a space could be marvelously transformed but watching the interplay of real-life family members.

When it came to nailing this marriage of reality TV tropes, Fixer Upper stars Chip and Jo Gaines reigned supreme. Their impressive renovations, trademark style, and cutesy romantic banter was television gold. In the last decade alone, they’ve managed to not only become the king and queen of HGTV, but the overseers of a vast empire that includes spin-offs, a Target line, a magazine, and a tiny lifestyle “theme park” in Waco. And now they have their own network.

But the Magnolia Network can’t thrive on Chip and Jo’s fame alone. It will need other stars and new hits. Enter Home Work. 

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In many ways, Home Work feels like more of the same. After all Fixer Upper ‘s success launched a series of HGTV imitators from the mother-daughter duo of Good Bones to the down South charms of Home Town, and Home Work fits into that same mold. The show follows Candis and Andy Meredith, a charming couple with a big Brady Bunch -style blended family who work with clients to renovate drab interiors into lush escapes. However Home Work adds in a fun extra twist. We watch Candis and Andy work on their own dream house project in tandem with clients’ requests. The two have purchased an old schoolhouse with the intent of making it a luxurious space for them and their huge litter of kids. And wow, the work they’re doing is impressive!

Indeed, the exact thing I found so charming about Home Work might be otherwise be considered a ding against it. The show had an ease to it from the jump. It was a fully-formed home renovation show complete with a telegenic family and a designer with honestly great ideas. I will never not be wowed by Candis’s trick of ordering a huge painting printed on a vinyl tarp and framing it up with gold spray-painted molding. It’s a cheap shortcut to instant class when you’ve got luxe taste and a small budget. Moreover, I want to see how the house evolves. There’s a reason for me to keep watching!

So, yeah, if I had to bet on one Magnolia Network show, it’s the one that feels the most like all my favorite HGTV hits.

You can catch the first episode of Home Work on the Magnolia Network preview tab on Discovery+. The series will officially premiere on the Magnolia Network when it launches on July 15, 2021.

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Candis and Andy Meredith transform a 20,000-square-foot historic school into their family home.

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2021– reality series 1 season 14 episodes.

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‘Home Work’ Will Return to Air After Magnolia Network Finds ‘No Malicious Intent’

‘Home Work’ Hosts Andy & Candis Meredith Address Allegations of Shoddy Work

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They thought they were getting a home makeover. It turned into a fiasco

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Four years ago, Aubry Bennion bought a 1950s house on half an acre just north of Salt Lake City. It was small, but she was smitten with the red brick facade with its scalloped trim.

“It’s, like, my little baby. I love it so much,” said Bennion, who shares pictures of home DIY projects on her relentlessly cheerful Instagram account , alongside pictures of popsicle-color manicures and vibrant bouquets. She even gave the house a hashtag, #thewallsthatballsbuilt, a nod to the felt ball business she runs in addition to her day job in public relations.

Bennion, 40, hoped to fix up the generic kitchen, with its laminate countertops and vinyl floors, but figured she’d need to save at least $40,000 to do the job right.

Then, in August 2019 came an exciting opportunity: Andy and Candis Meredith, a local couple known for renovating and flipping older homes, were looking for clients for a new TV show they were making for Magnolia Network , the cable venture being launched by Chip and Joanna Gaines . The show, called “Home Work,” would document the couple as they juggled work for clients with the renovation of a 20,000-square foot, century-old school building into a family home for their seven children.

Did she want to be a part of it?

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The Merediths promised they could complete the job in three weeks on a budget of just $20,000. Bennion thought this figure seemed unrealistically low, but she had been instantly charmed when she’d met the couple a few years earlier at an event for their one-season HGTV series, “Old Home Love.” “I remember joking with people like, ‘They’re my best friends. They’re not your best friends,’” she said. “That’s still haunting.”

Even more compelling to Bennion was the imprimatur of the Gaineses, the telegenic couple that had leveraged their popular HGTV show “Fixer Upper” into a lifestyle empire, including a lucrative home goods line at Target and a series of bestselling books. In the process, they transformed Waco, Texas , once synonymous with the fiery demise of a messianic cult leader, into a theme park of farmhouse chic. In April 2019, Discovery Networks formally announced that the Gaineses would undertake their biggest renovation to date by overhauling HGTV’s neglected sister network, DIY, and relaunching it as Magnolia .

Bennion implicitly trusted Magnolia; she had a relationship with the brand dating back several years. She had been invited to events at Waco’s the Silos, the cotton mill-turned-shopping complex owned by the Gaineses, and had started selling her felt balls at their store there, Magnolia Market.

“For a lot of reasons, I felt like I was part of the Magnolia family,” she said recently by phone. “Probably not anymore.”

Days before Magnolia Network officially launched in January, Bennion set off a frenzy when, in a lengthy series of Instagram posts, she shared the fiasco she’d experienced behind the scenes on “Home Work.” That “three-week” job ultimately took five months, during which she cooked on a hot plate in her guest room. Weeks went by with no contact from the Merediths, except when they asked her to wire money while they were on vacation in Europe.

The Merediths eventually completed enough work to make the kitchen camera-ready, and Bennion feigned excitement as they filmed a reveal for the TV show. (She ultimately paid the Merediths $13,000, and her renovation was not featured in “Home Work.”) Within days, paint on the laminate cabinets had begun to chip. Bennion said she later discovered that a deck the Merediths had persuaded her to add had been improperly installed over sprinklers, leading to drainage issues she says she has spent $18,000 to repair.

Company Town

Chip and Joanna Gaines forming their own TV network with Discovery

One of America’s most popular television couples — Chip and Joanna Gaines of “Fixer Upper” fame — are returning to television to launch a new TV network in partnership with cable programming giant Discovery.

Nov. 10, 2018

Bennion coordinated her posts with those of two other women whose renovations were intended to appear on “Home Work,” Teisha Hawley and Vienna Goates, who came forward on Instagram shortly after Bennion did and whose ordeals followed a similar pattern. (Neither Hawley’s nor Goates’ renovations aired, either.)

Hawley said the Merediths promised to renovate her family’s kitchen and living area for $45,000. She didn’t mind the inconvenience of living in the basement with her husband and kids, “because we were told we had been hand-picked by Joanna Gaines,” she said on Instagram.

The job was marked by long delays and mishaps, including a worker who fell through a hole in the floor and flooring that visibly bubbled when anyone stepped on it. To complete the job properly, the Merediths said they would need an additional $35,000 to $40,000. The Hawleys walked away from the show and finished the renovation on their own.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by aubry bennion (@aubryeliz)

Goates, a mom of five, had the most harrowing tale of all. She and her husband paid the Merediths a $50,000 deposit — half their $100,000 budget — to build a much-needed addition to their small home, but work never started. When Goates’ husband lost his job in May 2020, they tried to back out of the show and get their money back so they could repay a loan. They say they are still waiting.

A few days later, the Merediths tearfully responded to the women’s horror stories on their shared Instagram account. They claimed that an unwarranted internet pile-on had led to death threats and bullying. They admitted making mistakes but denied being consciously deceitful or using their clients’ money to foot a lavish lifestyle. They also shared a supposedly exculpatory video of Bennion squealing in delight at the sight of her finished kitchen.

The back-and-forth quickly consumed a certain corner of the internet, like “Bad Art Friend” recast with Utah influencers.

Were the Merediths simply working parents who took on too much by trying to make a reality show while raising seven kids and renovating a dozen or so properties during a pandemic? Or were they running “the equivalent of a construction Ponzi scheme,” as Kyle Adams, a lawyer for Bennion and the Hawley family, said in an interview with The Times? (The Merediths did not respond to multiple interview requests.)

The debacle went viral at the worst possible time for Magnolia, the launch of which had already been delayed by more than a year because of the pandemic. The network initially pulled “Home Work” from its lineup, pending a review, then announced a week later that it would return to air.

HGTV builds into a top cable network on foundation of no-frills shows

As hard as it may be to imagine, there was a time not so long ago when few Americans had ever heard the expression “man cave.”

July 18, 2014

“We do not believe there was ill or malicious intent,” network President Allison Page said in a statement. “Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with ‘Home Work’ fell short of our network’s standards.”

The Gaineses have remained silent throughout the matter, despite a slew of negative comments on their personal Instagram accounts. The couple weathered an earlier controversy over their affiliation with a church whose pastor opposes same-sex marriage and espouses conversion therapy for LGBTQ people .

When asked whether the “appropriate resolutions” included compensation for the aggrieved parties, or if there were plans to make future episodes of “Home Work,” a spokesperson for Magnolia declined to comment. The network also did not respond to questions about when it became aware of the issues on “Home Work.”

Adams, the attorney, says he sent a letter on behalf of the Hawleys to the Merediths’ lawyer, copying Magnolia Network, in June 2020. In her Instagram posts, Goates said she heard from a lawyer representing Discovery after she submitted a complaint online in a desperate attempt for help. Bennion also says she was in contact with Magnolia’s in-house counsel in November 2021 to discuss the terms of her nondisclosure agreement with Magnolia Market.

Bennion says that she, Hawley and Goates heard about one another’s troubles through the grapevine and started to hatch a plan last year over dinner at a Salt Lake City sushi bar. They decided to take their complaints to social media only after exhausting other channels, including opening a claim with the Utah Department of Commerce.

“I wanted the Merediths to be held accountable for what they did to people,” Bennion said. “And I don’t want them to be given more rope by which to hang, not themselves, but other people.” In October, she drove to Waco and cleaned out her storage unit there, figuring her relationship with Magnolia was done. With help from her dad, she sanded and repainted her cabinets, from a womb-like pink to “the sweetest, creamiest white,” she said. “I had to, for my well-being, not be in Candis’ kitchen.”

It is easy to see why Bennion and others felt duped, especially if they caught any of “Home Work,” which followed the Merediths as they renovated a cavernous schoolhouse in rural Utah using a studiously high-low approach.

The Merediths applied inventive strategies to realize their luxurious old-world style on a budget — for instance, creating a Renaissance-style wall tapestry out of an inexpensive photo blanket.

But they also splurged on lavish antiques, hand-painted wallpaper and Dutch Masters-style oil portraits of their entire family dressed in period costume. The couple traveled to Europe for design inspiration, ultimately painting their family room in a dusty pink inspired by Queen Victoria’s ballroom at Kensington Palace in London. (“Victoria’s our homegirl,” says Candis.) Budgets and timelines are kept vague. The only time we hear the specific cost of an item is to celebrate when Candis has found a bargain.

Each episode focuses on a different room in the schoolhouse and begins with an earnest voice-over, in which Candis and Andy riff on themes of family and community to a jangly acoustic soundtrack. Their reflections always tie into the room they’re working on: In the episode about their master bedroom, Andy likens their blended family to a home improvement project.

“Our life together is something beautiful that we’ve renovated and built and put together,” he says. “We took the antiques of our past that were good and added new family members, new skills, new relationships and just built something really beautiful.”

This blurring of the personal and professional is also a hallmark of “Fixer Upper,” which often shows the Gaines family at home, as well as its many copycats — a reality subgenre so prolific it has spawned a “South Park” spoof called “White People Renovating Houses.” (Shows including “Property Brothers” and “Windy City Rehab,” both on HGTV, have been slapped with lawsuits from unhappy homeowners.)

The Merediths’ relationship has always been integral to their wholesome yet hip brand. They each had three boys from a previous marriage, then married in 2013 and had a girl together, bringing the total number of kids in their blended family to seven. The couple started flipping houses together and, by 2015, the year “Old Home Love” launched, owned 16 properties .

HGTV had found the couple — where else? — on Instagram.

“The fact that we have a big family with seven kids was appealing,” Andy said in an interview at the time . “People want to see couples doing this that really do it — so reality TV that’s more real.”

For the Merediths, the possibility of becoming the next Chip and Joanna may have been dangerously seductive, said Adams: “I think they probably had bigger eyes than brains. They saw a shot at fame and publicity, and took way too much on.”

Watch L.A. Times Today at 7 p.m. on Spectrum News 1 on Channel 1 or live stream on the Spectrum News App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Systems on channel 99.

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Magnolia Network pulls 'Home Work' after homeowners share 'nightmare' experiences

Families featured on the Magnolia home renovation show “Home Work” are alleging that their remodels turned into “nightmares,” sharing experiences like months of delayed construction, tens of thousands of dollars   in unexpected additional high costs and a lack of communication from the show's hosts.

At least three Instagram users have shared posts detailing their experiences with Candis and Andrew Meredith, a Utah-based couple who restore and renovate homes. Candis began her career restoring and selling homes at 21, and Andrew joined her in the work shortly after the couple wed in 2013. In 2015, the duo began hosting "Old Home Love" on HGTV before launching "Home Work" on Magnolia Network, run by Chip and Joanna Gaines , in 2021.

The 13-episode series, which finished airing its first season in October, showed the Merediths renovating their own home, a 20,000-square-foot former schoolhouse, while also remodeling the homes of other families.

Two homeowners whose remodels were part of the show both shared similar stories on Instagram and with TODAY.

Aubry Bennion, a Utah-based project manager, had just finished renovating her own bathroom when she applied to the show and was contacted in October 2019. Her kitchen needed a renovation, and she was willing to do it on a budget. On Instagram on Jan. 5, Bennion shared her experience across 18 posts and in journalist Meg Conley's newsletter .

“On the eve of a Magnolia Network cable launch, the well-edited version of the story will show only their side of October 2019 and beyond," Bennion wrote in one caption. "People, bank accounts, livelihoods, families, our health, sanity… all of us have been left on the cutting room floor.”

In an interview with TODAY, Bennion further detailed her disappointment, explaining that she was eager to work with the Merediths. “Candis is a great designer,” Bennion said. “I thought ‘This is a good chance to have a room ... look like something Candis Meredith would do.’”

Homeowner Jeff Hawley shared a similar story with TODAY. “Two times, somebody fell through the floor into our basement,” he alleged, sharing photos of a hole being patched up in the basement ceiling where he says one of the incidences happened. 

In response to the allegations, Candis and Andy Meredith gave their first interview to TODAY, in which they said they were “upfront” about the risks of a home remodel at the beginning of the process.

“We were very upfront in the beginning that this is hard,” said Candis, emphasizing that this was the first time she and her husband had taken on client projects. “It is extremely difficult to pinpoint everything that’s going to happen or things that might change."

When asked about the incident with the floor, Candis told TODAY that she wasn’t there when that happened. “I do know that the contractor patched the ceiling,” she said. “During construction I know a lot of things can happen by accident, and I do not want to condemn the contractor for that happening.”

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"

Jeff Hawley's wife and mom of three, Teisha Hawley, told TODAY that she and her husband were thrilled to be chosen for the show after they submitted to an online casting call in 2019. The two had purchased their Utah home a few years earlier and the chance to have their home remodeled by the Merediths was too good to pass up.

"I've followed Candis and Andy forever. They've worked on HGTV, they have worked with the Bucket List family ," Teisha told TODAY. "I was like, if we're lucky enough to get this, it's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The couple told TODAY that they initially had goals of renovating their family room, living room and kitchen, emphasizing the kitchen. Candis, they said, suggested more changes, like knocking down walls and moving the kitchen from one side of the house to another.

"It sounded so wonderful. But I also was like, 'I don't know, I don't think we can afford it.' I was like 'Can you really do that?' on tape," Teisha said. “And (Candis) was like, 'I know all the secrets ... I've never gone over-budget on anything.'"

"We thought it would be really cool to take our style and our lower budget the way we do renovations and try and save money and be creative if we could take that out to some people," Candis told TODAY.

The couple said they agreed on a final budget of $45,000, with $35,000 being wired to the Merediths and $10,000 being used to purchase furniture and appliances. The couple said they had planned to take out a home equity loan to fund the remodel, but then they said a producer called wanting to start the work the next day, so they wound up using their own funds.

The Hawleys — as well as Bennion — said they believed they could still live in their homes while the renovations were ongoing, though it was not encouraged by the Merediths. Since the Hawleys said Candis promised a turnaround time of three weeks, they decided to live in the basement with their three children. Teisha told TODAY that she thought the renovation might take longer, but was still comfortable staying in the basement for up to six weeks, more than double the time the Merediths initially outlined. Bennion said she had also been told that her kitchen renovation would take three weeks.

"Hostages in our house"

Jeff Hawley said that minor frustrations, like missed appointments by contractors and limited contact from Candis and Andy, began quickly, but he and his wife soon became concerned about larger issues with the demolition process.

"There was another point where they started cutting a hole on a wall that was on the corner of where another door was, so two doors would be going into each other. ... My wife was basically noticing something was wrong, calling Candis and saying 'Hey, I think they're doing this wrong.'"

Teisha said that she and her children were home for much of the day, confined to the basement, leaving them “emotionally drained” as the "nightmare" remodel continued. The Merediths told TODAY that they regret letting clients live in their homes while the renovation went on.

“We didn’t make the people move out of their houses, which looking back, that was probably a mistake,” Andrew said.

Bennion said that she also noticed escalating issues in her home, especially as new entrances were suggested, a deck was installed and her backyard was leveled. Like the Hawleys, work stagnated and she sometimes had difficulty contacting the Merediths. Concerns, she said, Candis attributed to the oddities of creating a television show.

The Merediths told TODAY that construction errors were the fault of contractors who had been hired, though they declined to name the general contractor they used in the renovations.

"Our agreement stated that we were consulting on the renovation, we were not performing the work," Andrew said. "We worked with contractors. We were not swinging hammers at their property ... We hired a general contractor, and he was in charge of all hiring."

Bennion said that as a project manager herself, she felt that the Merediths’ approach was flawed.

“I truly don’t know if (Candis) understood the concept of her role as a project manager to manage her clients scope and schedule and budget,” said Bennion. “I do that for a living. It’s like 101.”

Throughout the process, both homeowners said that it was impossible to get a fixed budget or breakdown of costs, despite multiple requests. In response, the Merediths told TODAY they "did (their) best to communicate" quickly throughout the process.

Andrew continued that the first four clients the couple had worked with —including Bennion, the Hawleys, Vienna Goates (who shared her experience on Instagram ) and an unnamed fourth party — had been their first-ever clients, which led to bumps in the road. However, six other clients whose homes were filmed for other episodes of the show “went wonderfully,” Andrew said. One client named Jeana, who runs the Instagram account HotCocoaReads , posted to her stories on Friday a reel of the space the Merediths did for her:

"Andy and Candis did beautiful work on my space and while it took longer than I hoped, I ultimately feel that Candis truly wanted me to love my space," it read.

Both the Hawleys and Bennion, however, said that things took a turn for the worse as construction continued: The Hawleys were left with floors that were uneven and had been installed incorrectly, while Bennion said she was living "in chaos" and raising concerns about the work being done as the renovation carried on. In the end, both homeowners had what Bennion called "tough" conversations with the Merediths, only to find that they were significantly over-budget for their projects.

On a heated call with Candis in early February 2020, Bennion said she was told that her $25,000 renovation was now $40,000.

“I said, ‘Tear it out. Tear it out and take it back,’” Bennion recalled. “Like, ‘I can’t pay you, do what you need to do to get done, and then take it all out and take it back.’ This is not my kitchen anymore. I have asked you about (cost) at every turn and you've always told me that it was going to be OK. This is not the appropriate time to tell me that's what you've already (spent.) You've had times to tell me, I've been begging you to talk to me and you haven't."

At around the same time, the Hawleys say they were being asked to double their budget after having been told that their initial $35,000 only covered the cost of demolition.

When TODAY asked the Merediths about the price increases, they confirmed the numbers Bennion presented but would not comment on what the Hawleys gave.

Teisha said that she considered paying another $20,000 to finish the work, but the couple decided it was too risky based on the work process that was already completed.

"In my head, it was like, 'We're already stretched. If we stretch that far, we're going to be stretched beyond what I felt we could repair,'" Jeff recalled. "For us to stretch that much further, we would have just been beyond a point where we could actually return and fix this and not be just hostages in our house."

Final results

Jeff said that on Feb. 20, 2020, he and Teisha decided not to send any more money and instead quit the show. A family friend later helped them repair the home for a deep discount, but repairs still cost about $25,000.

Bennion had her project finished by the Merediths, but didn't pay Candis the extra money she had asked for. Candis said that she paid "tens of thousands" of dollars out of her own pocket to finish the work, but declined to specify a number, citing legal advice she received. Bennion confirmed that she only paid the Merediths about $13,000 of the initial project, but had made it clear to Candis that she couldn't pay for any more work.

"(Candis) turned it into like, 'Well, I have been spending my own money, and I'm totally happy to, we can work this out afterwards and you can pay me back,' and I was like 'Hell no, I'm not mixing my finances with you forevermore,'" Bennion recalled. "I don't even want to do this right now, let alone more or longer."

Later, Bennion said that she found out the Merediths had not paid the flooring company, Lemco Flooring, that had laid the floors. She said that she paid the company immediately once they contacted her. The Merediths confirmed to TODAY that they had not paid the company.

"We were advised not to pay another penny towards her renovation after we were threatened with lawsuits," Candis told TODAY. "It’s not that we didn’t want to pay Lemco.”

Bennion said that she was told by Lemco Flooring that the floors had not been properly sealed, leaving them prone to damage, and looking at the paint used on her laminate cabinets, she found that they had been painted with a material that wasn't designed to be used on them. She also said having a landscaper fix her yard after it was leveled for "Home Work" also cost about $18,000."

The Hawleys and Bennion both said that they have connected with other homeowners impacted by the "Home Work" series, and have considered pursuing legal action, but aren't taking any steps at this time. Complaints have been filed with the Utah Department of Commerce's Consumer Protection Division. The Merediths confirmed that they were aware of the complaints and said that they had been in contact with the state.

"We have dealt with every agency that has reached out to us," Candis said.

The couple shared a seven-page statement on Instagram Friday with their response to the Instagram allegations made this week.

“Watching a single sided narrative unfold and these hateful comments from said narrative is extremely painful,” it reads. “We have always done what we could to to remedy anything within and outside our control.”

In a statement, Magnolia president Alison Page told TODAY that the network was "aware" of the situation.

“Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith," Page said in a statement emailed on Thursday. "Within the last day, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove Home Work from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made.”

The Merediths told TODAY that they are no longer taking on client projects.

" We have not spoken to these people and we have not looked for new clients in over two-and-a-half years. We don’t go out looking for people to work with," Andrew Meredith said. “Our living is not doing client projects.”

"We don't want to do this ever again," Candis added. "We never intended to hurt anybody ... It's just impossible to share a full truth without hurting people."

Update 1/7/22: This story was updated to include the positive experience Jeana posted on the @HotCocoaReads Instagram account.

Update 1/12/22: The Merediths posted a series of videos and statements on Instagram on Jan. 12, 2022. TODAY covered their posts here.

Update 1/13/2022: Magnolia Network announced that it would return to airing “Home Work.” TODAY wrote about the announcement here.

Kerry Breen is a reporter and associate editor for  TODAY.com , where she reports on health news, pop culture and more. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from New York University. 

The Real Reason Magnolia Network Temporarily Pulled The Show Home Work

Insider  has confirmed that Magnolia Network's show "Home Work" has been pulled two days after its launch. The show followed Andy and Candis Meredith, a couple from Utah, and their journey renovating houses. The show's beginning was going to follow their journey renovating an old school into a home for the couple to live in, and then move on to renovating other people's houses. This is where the issues began to arise.

Aubry Bennion released an 18 part series of posts on her  Instagram , detailing her experience with the Merediths. In the posts, she claims the Merediths told her they could renovate her kitchen for $25,000, and they began filming. After a five-month-long process, for what was supposed to be a three-week project, Bennion was out $39,000. Bennion also states the renovation created a slew of problems that she had to repair with her own money, such as the Merediths building a deck over her sprinkler system that cost her $18,000 to repair. She also stated that she was not allowed to see the Merediths' budget, that the couple often made false promises, and when she brought up issues to both Candis and Magnolia Network executives, little to nothing was done.

The devastating behind the scenes impact of Home Work

Bennion is not the only "Home Work" homeowner that had an issue with the Merediths. Teisha Satterfield Hawley has released her own eight-part series of  Instagram  detailing her and her husband Jeff's less than pleasant experience working with the Merediths. Hawley claims she and her husband gave the Merediths $45,000 to renovate their living room, which they said they would be able to do in four weeks. After 10 weeks of living in their basement, the Hawleys were devastated when the Merediths told them they would need an additional $40,000 to complete the renovation. Teisha said nothing significant had been done to the living room at that point. They told the Merediths to leave and were left to clean up the Merediths' mess on their own.

The Goates family was duped by the Merediths. Vienna Goates released an 18 part series of  Instagram  posts, in which she said she and her husband, Rob, gave the Merediths $50,000 towards a $100,000 renovation that was to take place in February of 2020. Nothing happened for months, and Rob was laid off in May of 2020. Candis offered to help with the renovation costs, but nothing ever came of it. When September of 2020 rolled around, and renovations still hadn't started, the Goateses asked for their money back, per  Insider . Candis agreed but delayed payments. The couple got a lawyer involved, but as of now, the Merediths have only paid back $14,000.

Andy and Candis Meredith's response

The Merediths have denied all claims made against them to  Insider  and posted about it on their  Instagram . The Merediths claim "there are two sides to every story" and that the public accusations "seem to be the easiest way to harm us personally." The couple claims they are suspicious about the allegations' timing because they all came out around the same time as the show airing. "We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven't defrauded 'so many families,'" the Merediths wrote. As per the specific claims made by the Goateses, the Merediths claim the money was given to a contractor who misallocated the funds and that they are doing all they can to remedy the issue.

The statement is relatively vague otherwise, the couple claiming that defending themselves would "[take] down so many others" and "[ruin] their livelihood," adding that they have "receipts" of what happened between them and the contractors, which has cost them "financially, mentally, and physically." They call the accusations calculated and claim that they represent a "single-sided narrative." They end the message by claiming they don't intend to respond with a "similar smear campaign" unless they are forced to, and one day may defend themselves against the "'Instagram mafia' that was called up."

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network pulls show after homeowners allege that makeovers ruined their houses

• Magnolia pulled its series "Home Work" two days after the network's cable premiere.
• Some homeowners featured on the show alleged that Candis and Andy Meredith ruined their houses.
• They said renovations went over budget by tens of thousands of dollars and weren't finished in some cases.
• If you want to get in touch with Insider regarding Andy and Candis Meredith or "Home Work," email [email protected].

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network is removing a show from its lineup just two days after its cable launch on Discovery+.

"Home Work" was set to star a Utah couple, Andy and Candis Meredith, following their renovation of a school into their family home, as well as their work on other people's homes in their area, People reported . The show, originally Joanna Gaines' idea, was poised to be the next "Fixer Upper," according to Decider .

But "Home Work" was pulled from the network after some homeowners featured on the series alleged that the Merediths had damaged their homes and that renovations went over budget by tens of thousands of dollars in some cases.

The Merediths have denied the accusations on Instagram and in a statement provided to Insider. Allison Page, the president of Magnolia Network, confirmed to Insider that the network was pulling the show and said it was reviewing the claims made against the couple.

Aubry Bennion says working with the Merediths led to a slew of issues

Aubry Bennion, a Utah homeowner who said she had her kitchen renovated for the series in 2019, shared an 18-post tale about her experience on Instagram on Wednesday.

Bennion wrote in the posts that the Merediths initially told her they could renovate her kitchen in three weeks for $20,000. They ultimately decided on a budget of $25,000 during the first taping of the show, Bennion told Insider.

But the process ended up taking five months, Bennion said, adding that it cost her over $39,000, with much of that money spent on fixing issues created during the renovation.

Bennion wrote in another post that the Merediths added a deck to the back of her kitchen but built it over a sprinkler system and created a drainage issue. Bennion wrote that her home almost flooded because of the deck and that it lowered the value of her home. Bennion told Insider she had to pay $18,000 to repair it.

A post shared by aubry bennion (@aubryeliz)

Bennion also said the Merediths never showed her a budget during the renovation, despite her multiple requests for one.

Bennion said that she spoke to the Merediths about the issues she had with the renovation throughout the process and that Candis typically responded with excuses or promises of things arriving the following day. But these promises rarely came true, Bennion said.

The homeowner said she reached out to producers at the Magnolia Network for help during the renovation. She said in a post that they gave Candis a "stern talking to" after her call but that no real change occurred.

Bennion said she had developed trust in Chip and Joanna Gaines' brand after building a professional relationship with Magnolia Market by attending its vendor events through her small business, so the experience with the network disappointed her.

"I want Magnolia to be accountable," she said. "It's mind-blowing to me that they would put Magnolia's name and reputation on the line or that they would allow these people to represent them without any sort of oversight or mentoring."

Others featured on the show described similar experiences

After Bennion shared her story, another "Home Work" homeowner, Teisha Satterfield Hawley, detailed her experience with the Merediths.

Hawley wrote on Instagram that she and her husband, Jeff, gave the Merediths $45,000 to renovate their living space in four weeks. Ten weeks later, with little work done on the home, the Merediths told the Hawleys they would need an additional $40,000 to make the project work, Hawley said in a follow-up post .

"Hopeless is the word that comes to mind when I think of that day," Hawley wrote in the caption.

"We had been living in our basement for months at this point including Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays," Hawley added. "We were exhausted, we had just been told all of our funds were used and our home was torn apart with bubbling floors laid."

Related stories

In another Instagram post , the Hawleys wrote that they told the Merediths not to come back after they asked for the additional money, choosing to figure out how to fix their home without their help.

A post shared by Teisha Satterfield Hawley (@teishahawley)

"People with 'celebrity' status can't have power over others just because they feel like they can," Hawley told Insider, adding that "the Magnolia name (as well as Chip and Jo's)" gave them "a sense of safety and security" in working with the Merediths.

"There are many families and even businesses that have been harmed by these people," she said of the Merediths. "It all needs to be put to an end."

Vienna and Rob Goates also shared their "Home Work" experience on Friday on Instagram.

The Goateses, who have five children, wrote in a post that they gave the Merediths $50,000 for the $100,000 renovation they were going to do on their home in February 2020. The post said the Goateses wired the money after Candis asked them for the amount to secure deposits for subcontractors working on their home.

Another post from the Goateses said months passed and work did not begin on their home, adding that when Rob was laid off in May 2020, Candis told the couple that she could help pay for the renovations. The couple said they tried to give Candis the benefit of the doubt, particularly because she'd come endorsed by the Gaineses.

"We had faith in the reputation of Chip and Joanna and their beloved Magnolia brand and Candis's repeated assurances that everything would work out," Vienna wrote on Instagram .

The Goateses told Insider that by September 2020 the Merediths still had not started working on their home, and they decided to ask for their money back. They said Candis agreed to pay them back but kept delaying payments — even after the couple hired a lawyer.

To date, the Goateses said on Instagram , the Merediths have paid them $14,000 of the $50,000 they owe.

The Goateses told Insider that they were hesitant about going public with their allegations but that it felt like the only option they had left. "We've been doing everything in our power to resolve this privately for the last two years," Vienna said. "We got a lawyer. We went through all the proper channels. We tried our best, and it just never happened."

The couple said that they also reached out to a Discovery+ lawyer but that the attorney "brushed off" their concerns.

"They said that we believe that they intend to repay you and you've already got a lawyer involved, so we don't feel that this is something we need to get involved with," Vienna said of her email exchange with the lawyer.

"The knowledge that we're in the right here, that we were kind and that we always took the high road, is some comfort," the Goateses wrote in an Instagram post . "That kindness and our extreme patience were taken advantage of, and that is such a huge violation that we feel so deeply, but our consciences are clear, and that's no small thing."

Magnolia Network says it's investigating the claims made against the Merediths, though the couple denies the allegations

In a statement provided to Insider, Allison Page, the president of Magnolia Network, confirmed that the Merediths' show would be pulled from the network.

"Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith," the statement said. "Within the last day, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove 'Home Work' from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made."

In a statement to Insider that was also shared on Instagram , the Merediths denied the claims made by the Hawleys, the Goateses, and Bennion.

A post shared by Andy and Candis Meredith (@andyandcandis)

"Although we cannot speak for anyone but ourselves, we can say that we have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy," the couple wrote, adding that they "adamantly deny" they stole money from clients.

"It is true that we are sometimes left with outstanding balances, but we always pay, even if it takes some time for us to make arrangements," they said.

The Merediths also provided Insider a link to a satisfied client's Instagram page . The user, whose handle is @hotcocoareads, shared photos of a reading cottage designed by the duo and wrote that "Andy and Candis did beautiful work" and that though the project "took longer than I hoped, I ultimately feel that Candis truly wanted me to love the space."

In their statement, the Merediths also questioned the timing of the public allegations, saying the claims' coming out the week that their show was supposed to premiere was intended to "hurt us the most."

"The fact that this story is coming out now is extremely calculated," they said, adding: "One day we may have the courage to put everything out publicly, to defend ourselves against the 'Instagram mafia' that was called up. But in this moment, we know that anything we say will only be turned against us and hurt so many more."

If you want to get in touch with Insider regarding Andy and Candis Meredith or "Home Work," email [email protected].

• Main content

Should Utah elementary schools kick homework to the curb?

By deanie wimmer, ksl tv | posted - nov. 14, 2017 at 10:31 p.m..

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PARK CITY — Wednesdays have become Lindsay Thompson's "insanity days," as she called them. She shuttles daughters between dance and home until 10 p.m. Homework and dinner get squeezed into spare minutes.

"Sometimes homework is a struggle," Thompson said.

But the temptation to skip homework for a more relaxed evening is just a fantasy.

"What is it teaching my child if I say, 'Let's just not do homework tonight?'" she asked.

That is precisely the question Park City School District is asking their families. Jeremy Ranch Elementary School is piloting a policy of no homework, except for reading.

"I would say for the last several years, we have noticed an increase in student anxiety," said principal Shawn Kuennen. "So, we began looking with the faculty at causes and solutions."

Educators at Jeremy Ranch encourage students to spend more time with family, play outside, and not spend the time watching TV or playing on devices.

"So, it's not a free for all," Kuennen said.

The reaction among families was more positive than they'd expected.

"It's completely changed our family," said Bonita Hutchison, who has children attending Jeremy Ranch.

On the day KSL visited, the Hutchisons' evening was a stark contrast with Thompson's "insanity day." The family ate dinner together, talked about their day, and actually played a game.

"We've gone from a family that was fighting and arguing and crying — sometimes all of us crying — over doing homework," Hutchison said. "It's changed the entire dynamics of our evening."

She and other parents were initially skeptical of going homework-free. They feared their children would be ill-prepared for middle school.

"Honestly, I was like: How are we going to know if she is learning this stuff if she doesn't bring it home?" Jenny Pelt said, referring to her daughter.

But happier home life and research have won over the vast majority.

The most-cited research is a 2006 meta-analysis by Harris Cooper entitled " Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? " The key summaries:

• There is no evidence of homework achievement correlation in grades K-6.
• There are modest gains of homework achievement correlation in grades 7-12.
• Homework achievement correlation in grades 7, 8 and 9 exist when homework is in small amounts of time. It disappears entirely when students spent more than one hour on homework.

"We wanted to say, 'Hey parents, we trust you to spend time as your family time, and we'll take care of the school while they're here,'" said board member Jennifer Price.

Here, too, kids are encouraged to spend time with family and engaging in creative play.

"I think too often homework can take the joy out of learning," said Emily Jorgensen, a teacher at Franklin Discovery Academy.

She and other educators at the school say the no homework approach is one of the draws to their school.

Back at Jeremy Ranch, teachers are closely watching reading scores. They also provide resources for any families that feel their children aren't mastering the work at school.

If the pilot is successful, all four of Park City's elementary schools will go homework-free. Hutchison believes it is the right move.

"There's just too much pressure on kids today," she said. "And if this is one step to get them to a better place, then it's a step in the right direction."

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Breaking news, couple suspected of ‘archeological theft’ at canyonlands national park in utah.

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking the public’s help in tracking down a couple who allegedly stole artifacts from Canyonland National Park in Utah.

In  a press release , the agency said that on March 23, the couple entered the Cave Spring Cowboy Camp in the Needles district of the park and went into a closed area of the camp to remove artifacts from a cabinet.

The NPS said that the couple “handled historic harnesses in a manner that had the potential to damage them.”

“National parks are some of the most special, treasured, and protected areas of our country,” the NPS wrote in Wednesday’s announcement.

“To protect their natural and cultural resources for this and future generations, all visitors to national parks are expected to follow park laws and regulations and practice Leave No Trace principles to minimize their impact on park lands.”

Park officials are asking for tips from anyone who was in the area, as well as anyone who can help identify the suspects.

Tips can be made by calling 888-653-0009, or emailing  here .

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Northern lights may be visible in northern Utah during geomagnetic storm

by Victoria Hill, KUTV

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Northern Utah is included in the viewing line for an extreme geomagnetic storm on Friday night, meaning some in the state may catch a glimpse of northern lights.

Those away from city lights, possibly in the Bear Lake area, may be able to see the phenomenon when looking north and low on the horizon.

The geomagnetic storm is listed as a G5, meaning it will be extreme. That level has not been observed on Earth since 2003.

2News meteorologist Chase Thomason said the best time for viewing an aurora borealis is around midnight. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies in northern Utah.

The northernmost top of Utah is included in the main line of viewing of Friday night's aurora forecast from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.

Many in the state were able to view the colorful spectacle nearly one year ago , on April 23, 2023.

Submit any photos you see of the northern lights to us at kutv.com/chimein .

🥎 DI regional results, schedule

🔮 Baseball bracket predictions

🏃‍♂️‍➡️ DIII track and field selections

🏆 Methodist wins DIII mens golf title

NCAA staff | May 15, 2024

2024 ncaa di men's golf championships: schedule, how to watch.

The 2024 NCAA DI men's golf championship began with selections on Wednesday, May 1. Regionals, which kicked off on May 13, concluded on May 15, and determined the 156 participants advancing to the championship round. The championship will take place from May 24-29 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.

Click or tap here to see every team and individual qualifier for the regional round .

2024 DI men's golf championships schedule

National championships

• Omni La Costa Resort & Spa | Carlsbad, CA
• East Tennessee State
• North Carolina
• Georgia Tech
• Oklahoma State
• West Virginia
• North Florida
• Florida State
• Texas A&M
• Wake Forest
• Ethan Evans, Duke
• Nick Mathews, NC State
• Cameron Huss, Wisconsin
• Andi Xu, San Diego
• Ben Warian, Minnesota
• Kelvin Hernandez, UNCG

Selection show for regional teams and individuals

• May 1:  Watch full show
• Team results  |  Individual results

How the championship works

Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted to determine the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals (not on those qualifying teams) who will compete in the finals. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals (not on those teams) will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals (not on those teams). The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals.

All 30 teams and six individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play. Following 54 holes of competition, the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will advance for one additional day of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition and the 72-hole stroke-play individual champion. The top eight teams after 72 holes of play will be placed into a bracket thereafter.

The 2024 national championships will be hosted by the University of Texas at Austin and held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

In team match-play competition, a total of five points will be available with one point being awarded for each individual match. Winning teams will advance to the semifinals and subsequently, the finals. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance, or in the case of the final match, be declared the national champion.

⛳️  Where Masters winners played golf in college 

2024 DI men's golf championships selections

West lafayette regional.

Hosted by Purdue | Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Vanderbilt 2.    Arizona 3.    Florida 4.    New Mexico 5.    Purdue 6.    San Diego State [Mountain West Conference] 7.    Mississippi State 8.    Indiana 9.    College of Charleston [Coastal Athletic Association] 10.    Stetson  11.    Colorado State 12.    Southern Illinois [Missouri Valley Conference] 13.    Tennessee Tech [Ohio Valley Conference]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso 2.    Hunter Thomson, Michigan  3.    Cameron Huss, Wisconsin  4.    Barend Botha, Toledo  5.    Valentin Peugnet, Illinois State  6.    Owen Stamper, Middle Tennessee 7.    Alex McCulla, Illinois State 8.    Ty Gingerich, Cincinnati  9.    Luke Fuller, Western Kentucky  10.  Ben Ortwein, Rider 

Baton Rouge Regional

Hosted by LSU | University Club

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Auburn [Southeastern Conference] 2.    Virginia 3.    Texas Tech 4.    Oregon 5.    Duke 6.    Ohio State 7.    LSU 8.    Louisville 9.    Houston  10.    South Carolina 11.    Lipscomb [ASUN Conference]  12.    Yale [The Ivy League] 13.    Loyola Maryland [Patriot League] 14.    Arkansas-Pine Bluff [Southwestern Athletic Conference]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Alex Goff, Kentucky 2.    Max Sturdza, Florida Atlantic 3.    Niilo Maki-Petaja, Louisiana Tech 4.    Hugo Thyr, South Alabama  5.    Archie Smith, Little Rock 

Chapel Hill Regional

Hosted by North Carolina | Finley Golf Club

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.    North Carolina [Atlantic Coast Conference] 2.    Alabama 3.    Georgia Tech 4.    East Tennessee State [Southern Conference] 5.    Northwestern [Big Ten Conference] 6.    Baylor 7.    VCU [Atlantic 10 Conference] 8.    LMU 9.    Long Beach State [Big West Conference] 10.    Clemson 11.    Michigan State 12.    Ball State [Mid-American Conference] 13.    Howard [Northeast Conference]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Tobias Jonsson, Mercer  2.    Walker Isley, UNCW 3.    Nick Mathews, NC State 4.    Conor Gough, Charlotte 5.    Will Davis, Davidson 6.    Spencer Oxendine, NC State 7.    Erik Johansson, Campbell 8.    Claes Borregaard, Kennesaw State 9.    Justin LaRue, Longwood  10.   Fred Roberts IV, High Point 

Austin Regional

Hosted by Texas | The University of Texas Golf CLub

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.       Tennessee 2.    Arkansas 3.    Texas [Big 12 Conference] 4.    Georgia 5.    Wake Forest 6.    Notre Dame 7.    UNC Greensboro 8.    Brigham Young  9.    Utah 10.    San Jose State 11.    Grand Canyon [Western Athletic Conference] 12.    Arkansas State [Sun Belt Conference] 13.    Kansas City [The Summit League]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Gustav Frimodt, TCU  2.    Luke Gutschewski, Iowa State  3.    Hunter Bott, UTSA  4.    Cooper Schultz, Kansas State  5.    Kobe Valociek, Virginia Tech  6.    Joseph Sullivan, Florida Gulf Coast 7.    Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State  8.    Justin Biwer, Colorado  9.    Alexandre Vandermoten, Jacksonville  10.  Peicheng Chen, St. John’s 

Stanford Regional

Hosted by Stanford | Stanford Golf Course

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Florida State 2.    Ole Miss 3.    Illinois 4.    Texas A&M 5.    Stanford 6.    UCLA 7.    SMU 8.    Missouri 9.    Fresno State 10.    UNLV 11.    Augusta University [Southland Conference] 12.    Liberty [Conference USA] 13.    Sacramento State [Big Sky Conference] 14.    Siena [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Enrique Dimayuga, Nevada 2.    Ben Warian, Minnesota 3.    Jakob Melin, San Francisco 4.    Cole Rueck, Boise State  5.    Joe Sykes, Idaho 

Rancho Santa Fe Regional

Hosted by San Diego | The Farms Golf Club

Teams  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Arizona State [Pac-12 Conference] 2.    Washington 3.    Oklahoma 4.    California 5.    Oklahoma State 6.    North Florida  7.    Chattanooga 8.    South Florida [American Athletic Conference] 9.    San Diego [West Coast Conference] 10.    West Virginia 11.    Kansas  12.    Wright State [Horizon League] 13.    Seton Hall [Big East Conference] 14.    Winthrop [Big South Conference]

Individuals  (seeded in the following order): 1.    Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine 2.    Tegan Andrews, Cal State Fullerton  3.    William Walsh, Pepperdine 4.    Brady Siravo, Pepperdine 5.    Kevin Li, Seattle University 

Championship history

Florida won last year's title as the program's fifth overall. Check out the full championship history below:

Methodist wins 2024 DIII men's golf championship

2024 DI men's golf championships participants announced

This week in DII sports: DII baseball championship predictions for Cary

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19-year-old man serving LDS mission in Utah County facing rape charge

By curtis booker - | may 14, 2024.

Stock photo

A 19-year-old man serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah County was arrested Saturday for allegedly raping a woman. He now faces a slew of charges including first-degree felony rape, court documents show.

Saratoga Springs police officers said they were called out to a home, where a relative reported that their sister was being sexually assaulted by a man who lived across the street.

Officers located Abraham Isaac Cruz Hernandez standing in a driveway, who reportedly told police that he and the victim had been in a garage “making out” and had sex. He refused to answer any further questions after being read his rights, arrest records say.

The victim later told police she and Hernandez were in the garage when he allegedly grabbed her and began kissing her, which she originally consented to. She further reported that he then forcibly made her perform sexual acts without her consent before raping her, according to court documents.

During the course of events, others entered the garage, saw what was happening and reportedly told Hernandez to stop.

In a statement provided to the Daily Herald, the church says Hernandez was immediately removed from his volunteer missionary service. “The Church is cooperating fully with law enforcement in this investigation. Missionaries are expected to abide by the highest standards, and those who do not will be released and sent home, and in situations involving criminal allegations, also face loss of Church membership.”

Hernandez was booked into the Utah County Jail for forcible sodomy, rape and sexual battery. He’s currently being held without bail.

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When could you see the northern lights? Aurora forecast for over a dozen states this weekend

Read the latest on the northern lights this weekend: Saturday's forecast says parts of U.S. could see auroras .

A series of strong solar flares that the sun has been emitting since Wednesday morning could cause the northern lights to become visible this weekend to a wide swath of the United States.

The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hurtling toward Earth prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a rare  Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch on Thursday for the first time in 19 years. The geomagnetic storms that the CMEs would produce pose a limited threat to our communications, but they can also trigger the aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights.

And because the sun is at the height of its 11-year-cycle, the auroras have a very good chance of being seen by more Americans than usual .

Here's what to know about the northern lights, and when and where you may catch a glimpse of them this weekend.

Good news on northern lights: Experts predict years of awesome aurora viewing

What are the northern lights?

The auroras are a natural light display in Earth's sky that are famously best seen in high-latitude regions.

The northern lights materialize when energized particles from the sun reach Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph, according to Space.com . Earth's magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles through a process that produces a stunning display of rays, spirals and flickers that has fascinated humans for millennia.

Geomagnetic storm: Solar storm is powerful enough to disrupt communications: Why NOAA says not to worry

When might the northern lights be most visible?

This week's solar activity brings with it the increased possibility of seeing the aurora across the U.S.

Though the timing is uncertain and the northern lights can be a particularly fickle forecast , officials at NOAA said the coronal mass ejections could reach Earth as early as Friday evening into Saturday, Shawn Dahl, a space weather forecaster at SWPC, told reporters Friday morning during a news briefing.

Experts from NOAA said auroras could be visible into Sunday.

The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time). These hours expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases, according to NOAA.

Where might the northern lights be best seen in the US?

The northern half of the U.S. is forecasted to be in the view path where the auroras may be most visible.

The best chances appear to be in northern Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the majority of North Dakota, according to SWPC's  experimental Aurora viewline . The visibility for viewing will also depend on local weather conditions and city lights.

Experts at NOAA said the northern lights may even be visible as far south as Alabama and Northern California. If all else fails, experts even recommend taking a photo of the night sky with your cell phone – you never known what you may capture.

"Things that the human eye can't see, your phone can, so it'll be interesting to see just how far south we're getting aurora images this time," said Brent Gordon, Chief of Space Weather Services Branch for SWPC, on the Friday call with reporters.

The National Weather Service on Friday shared an aurora forecast for Friday night and early Saturday morning, showing more than a dozen states with at least a chance to see the lights.

How does the solar maximum influence the northern lights?

Explosive bursts of radiation known as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (eruptions of solar material) drive the geometric storms, releasing solar particles and electromagnetic radiation toward our planet.

As the frequency of coronal mass ejections increases at the height of its 11-year cycle,  which NASA said is expected to be in 2025 , electromagnetic activity on the sun peaks. What that so-called "solar maximum" means for us is that the risk increases for disruption to satellite signals, radio communications, internet and electrical power grids.

'God's Hand' revealed in cosmos: Telescope images reveal 'cloudy, ominous structure' known as 'God's Hand' in Milky Way

Last December , a powerful burst of energy created the largest solar flare that NASA had detected since 2017.

The last G4 level solar storm hit Earth in March , one of only three storms of that severity observed since 2019, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center .

Just like in March, the upcoming solar storm will have particles flowing from the sun that get caught up in Earth's magnetic field, causing colorful auroras to form as they interact with molecules of atmospheric gases. The resulting glowing green and reddish colors of the aurora may be quite a sight to see.

Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]