Two days into the Magnolia Network’s cable launch, Chip and Joanna Gaines’ TV venture has one less show in its lineup. Home Work, starring Andy and Candis Meredith, was pulled from the network and all mentions removed from its website Friday after several of their former clients alleged that the Utah-based couple scammed them.
Andy and Candis are a husband-and-wife renovation team with a blended family of seven children. Candis has been restoring old homes since she was 21, when she purchased her grandmother’s historic farmhouse and renovated it. Andy worked in tech sales before quitting his job in 2013 to work with Candis full time.
According to People magazine, at least three homeowners, as well as a local real estate agent they worked with, have come forward in the past few days with stories of nightmare renovation projects.
People detailed the allegations, including unfinished work, ballooning budgets, and extended timelines — symptoms they say of a renovation company that was in over their head and handling too many projects at once. One former client says the Merediths were juggling four homeowner projects happening at once in addition to renovating their own home, filming across a three-hour drive to film 13 total episodes.
As reported by People, former client Aubry Bennion, a project manager and artist who’d sell her felt poms at Magnolia craft fairs, contracted Andy and Candis Meredith to do her kitchen remodel.
“I figured a full gut [kitchen renovation] would cost $40,000 to $50,000,” Aubry wrote in an 18-part Instagram post. “Candis replied, ‘$40 or 50? We can do it for $20!’ Maybe naively, I assumed there would be some kind of promotional consideration involved in a television kitchen if they could do it for half the price. Free labor? Trade discounts on materials?”
Aubry alleges on Instagram the Merediths used unlicensed and/or uninsured skilled laborers to complete work. As for the timing, Aubry says she’s coming forward after two years because the Merediths are “being celebrated while the people they” allegedly “hurt” are being overlooked.
Several other homeowners have come forward, saying their projects with the Merediths were fraught with problems as well. 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.”
With regard to hiring, Andy told TODAY: “Our agreement stated that we were consulting on the renovation, we were not performing the work,” he 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.”
The Merediths say six other homeowners whose homes were filmed for other episodes of Home Work were “pleased” with their remodels, Andy told TODAY. A former client named Jeana, who runs the Instagram account HotCocoaReads, says she loves the work the Merediths did, turning an old shed into a cozy reading cottage.
“This shed sat in my yard unused for years. I’m finally able to use this space for something—and frankly, I love it!” Jeana wrote on Instagram. “I’m not saying that the construction was a perfect experience. Most of you were along for the ride the last two years as I was waiting for it to be completed. I explain this now because while the process wasn’t perfect, I feel like the quality of the work is very good. Some of the other clients have said they got shoddy work, but I don’t feel like that was the case with me.”
The Merediths initially took to Instagram to respond to the allegations. “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,” the Utah couple wrote in a length set of posts.
Magnolia released a statement about removing the show.
“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 NetworkA Google search reveals the Merediths’ association with a defunct real estate education scheme. In 2016, the Associated Press reported consumer complaints against Utah-based real estate education company called Zurixx, LLC, who used celebrity endorsements and promises of big profits to lure consumers into real estate seminars costing thousands of dollars. Zurixx used images of Candis and Andy Meredith as well as other HGTV stars Christina and Tarek El Moussa of Flip or Flop, to promote classes that teach how to make money flipping homes. The FTC shut down Zurixx in 2019.
The Merediths’ show debuted on the Discovery+ streaming service in July 2021, but no episodes are currently visible on the app. Season One was also released on Amazon Prime, showing 13 episodes. Each episode is split between the Merediths renovating an old 20,000-square-foot schoolhouse as their home and room renovation projects of their clients.
In 2015, they debuted a show called Old Home Love on the DIY Network, which ran for five seasons. They wrote a book by the same name, Old Home Love, published by Gibbs Smith released in 2017. That same year, Candis and a former Disney VP co-founded Home Love Network, a digital-first content creation network distributing more than a dozen home improvement shows online and on Facebook’s Watch platform. Candis also branched out to merchandise with a home decor line for QVC called House No. 9 by Home Love, which includes vintage-inspired rugs and decorative glass, as well as blankets, baskets, and floral picks.
