The Ups and Downs of Magnolia Network's Candis & Andy Meredith: From New Stars to Pulled from TV

The couple's home renovation show, Home Work, was removed from Chip and Joanna Gaines's Magnolia Network on Friday after clients came forward with a variety of accusations

Photo: Courtesy Magnolia Network

Last Friday, Candis and Andy Meredith's renovation series Home Work pulled from Magnolia Network after several of the homeowners who appeared on the show came forward with accusations of shoddy workmanship, doubled budgets and myriad broken promises from the couple.

But who are the Merediths? Read on to find where they came from, how they landed on Chip and Joanna Gaines's radar and why the network decided to pull the plug on their show the week it premiered.

Flipping in Salt Lake City

Candis and Andy started in the real estate world by flipping houses in their home state of Utah. Candis has been restoring old homes since she was 16 years old, and Andy got involved in the business shortly after they got married in 2013. Together they flipped homes both to keep for themselves and to later sell. They did not do renovations for clients.

A Short-Lived HGTV Show

Prior to Home Work, the Merediths had another show: a limited series called Old Home Love, which aired on HGTV and DIY Network in 2015, and followed the couple as they did renovations on older homes. When it ended and no other offers materialized, the couple pivoted to producing a similar show on their own for Facebook Watch. That show, called Old Sweet Home, is currently unavailable on Facebook.

Other Early Projects

In 2017, the couple released their first book, also called Old Home Love, and continued to expand their personal brand on social media, where they frequently showed off their various projects.

In 2018, they launched a Youtube series called Traveling Home, which followed them as they helped the Bucket List Family's Garrett and Jessica Gee renovate an 80-year-old beach bungalow in Hawaii into their permanent home.

Their Show Takes Shape

In 2018, the pair met up with Magnolia Network, before it was officially announced, and began talking about a potential show.

At the time, the Merediths were just about to embark on their biggest project ever: renovating a 20,000-square-foot schoolhouse to turn it into a home for their blended family of nine (they each had three boys from previous relationships before they married and had a girl together).

Courtesy Magnolia Network

They decided that part of the series would follow the couple as they renovated the school, while also showing them completing room makeover projects for other historic homeowners — something that, with the exception of the Gees, they'd never done before.

Discovery+ Magnolia Network Launch

The Merediths also acted as the producers of the show, and after putting out a casting call, they found several willing homeowners in 2019 and began multiple renovation projects.

Due to Covid-19-related production delays, Magnolia Network's launch was pushed back from its original October 2020 date to "early 2021," then again to a streaming-only launch in July 2021.

Thirteen episodes of Home Work debuted alongside numerous other original shows on Magnolia Network via the Discovery+ streaming service. The plan was for them to also air on the network's cable channel when it finally launched on January, 5, 2022.

Clients Come Forward

In early January, several clients who were cast for the show came forward claiming they believed they were scammed by the Merediths. At least three homeowners, as well as a local real estate agent the couple worked with, took to social media to share their stories of shoddy or incomplete work, unsafe conditions, ballooning budgets and timelines, and a lack of communication from the couple.

The first report, from a homeowner named Aubry Bennion, came on the eve of the Magnolia Network cable launch. That was followed by lengthy stories from Jeff and Teisha Hawley, who ended up pulling out of the show, mother-of-five Vienna Goates, who also ended her involvement with the couple, and realtor Aaron Oldham. More on their specific claims can be found in PEOPLE's previous coverage.

The Merediths have since admitted in a social media post of their own that timelines were greatly extended, numerous construction issues occurred during the renovations, and in at least one case, money was misallocated.

Pulled from the Network

On Friday, January 7, Magnolia Network confirmed to PEOPLE that it would be pulling Home Work from its platforms.

"Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith," Magnolia Network president Allison Page shared in a statement. "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."

Episodes of the show have since been removed from the Magnolia Network app, and are no longer slated to run on the channel.

The Merediths Respond

On Friday, the couple took to Instagram to share their side of the story, posting a lengthy note in response to the homeowners who have come forward.

"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," they began.

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."