Everything We Know About Joe Looney's Emotional Exit From HGTV's Fixer To Fabulous
It's always sad for fans when a beloved cast member from their favorite show decides to leave, especially when they've been a central part of the show for many years. For HGTV show "Fixer to Fabulous," emotional moments are par for the course, but the Season 5 finale brought on a rollercoaster of bittersweet emotions for everyone involved.
The March 2024 episode centered around the hosts Jenny and Dave Marrs as they renovated their farmhouse that they raised their family in. While the project itself made the couple sentimental, recurring carpenter Joe Looney joined the other stars who have left HGTV and departed the series. This brought out a lot of emotions for the cast. Looney had been with the show since it premiered in 2019, and decided to retire at the end of Season 5. While the former firefighter hasn't publicly commented on his decision to leave, his presence will be sorely missed by fans and cast alike.
Looney is embracing retirement
As filming wrapped on the fifth season of HGTV's "Fixer to Fabulous" in December 2023, news finally came out that beloved carpenter Joe Looney would not be returning to work on Season 6 of the show. Co-host Jenny Marrs revealed the news in a sweet Instagram post congratulating the cast and crew on finishing another successful season.
"It was also a night to celebrate our beloved Joe Looney," she wrote of the end-of-season cast party. "I can't imagine doing this without him by our side but I'm grateful for the many years (so many pre-TV) with this amazing human. He deserves a little rest and we all sent him off to retirement with a whole lot of love (and requests to just pop by anytime he'd like)."
There was an outpouring of love in the comments for Looney as fans came to terms with the fact that he was leaving the show. One echoed Marrs' sentiment, commenting on the Instagram post, "Really going to miss Joe's dry sense of humor. He is awesome! Happy retirement, Joe!" Another reaffirmed the fans' love for the carpenter, writing on Instagram, "Joe, for me, has always been the highlight of the show. Happy retirement, my friend."
The show had yet to be renewed as Looney exited
Joe Looney's emotional departure from HGTV was bittersweet for "Fixer to Fabulous" co-hosts Jenny and Dave Marrs, but with his exit brought another question about the future of their show. As Looney left at the end of Season 5, the show had yet to be renewed for another season. Jenny Marrs shared her mixed emotions on ending the season in December without knowing exactly what would come next.
"It sort of feels like the end of a school year where we say, 'have a great summer!' and all go home to our families for a few months," she wrote on Instagram. "But, we leave not knowing if we will be back together. We hope and pray that people like what we created enough for us to be able to do it again next year."
While the cast of "Fixer to Fabulous" awaited news of a renewal, the Marrs' family traveled to Italy to film their four episode spin-off "Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano." The series premiered in March 2024, and showcased the HGTV couple as they branched out and renovated an old villa in Italy.