Is Chase Looney also Coming Back on Fixer to Fabulous after his Father Joe’s Return?

For Fixer to Fabulous fans, there are certain faces that feel like home. Not just because they’re on screen—because they’re part of the rhythm of the show. The steady work. The familiar jobsite jokes. The “okay, we can breathe now” energy when the crew shows up and everything starts moving again.

So when HGTV dropped a clip on January 27, 2026 with the words “Look who’s back!”, it didn’t land like a normal promo. It landed like a signal—the kind that makes longtime viewers pause and think: Wait… does this mean the Looneys are back?

Because here’s the thing: the name “Looney” doesn’t bring just one fan-favorite to mind. It brings two.

And that’s exactly why Joe’s surprise return has fans asking the bigger question…

Joe walks in—and the internet basically cheers

HGTV’s official Instagram post teased an “all new” episode and pointed viewers to the January 27 broadcast. The clip shows Joe Looney stepping back into the Marrs world, and Jenny’s reaction is the kind of moment that doesn’t need explanation—pure surprise, pure joy, straight to a hug.

HGTV’s caption alone was enough to spark a flood of nostalgia: over 11K likes and hundreds of comments on that one post. And it wasn’t just casual “oh cool” energy. It was the kind of comment section that reads like a reunion.

Even months earlier, fans were already watching Jenny’s behind-the-scenes posts like hawks—because she teased a season 7 build with Habitat for Humanity and hinted that a “surprise guest” showed up during demo day. That tease lit up the comments with fans calling out Joe by name and celebrating the possibility of seeing him again.

Why Joe’s return hits different

This isn’t just “a familiar guy from the crew.” Joe became a comfort-character in a renovation show—someone viewers associated with reliability, humor, and heart.

Country Living summed up why his appearance created such a wave: Joe was a fan-favorite who worked alongside Dave and Jenny through seasons 1 through 5, and his retirement was emotional enough that at least one fan admitted, “I cried the day Joe said he was retiring.”

That’s not normal TV-comment behavior. That’s connection.

And that connection showed up again instantly in the reaction quotes fans left—comments like “So good to see Joe!!!!” and “We miss you” vibes all over the thread.

But here’s where fans’ excitement turns into a bigger theory…

The moment Joe appears, a second question pops up almost automatically:

If Joe is back… is Chase back too?

Because for a lot of viewers, “Fixer to Fabulous Looney era” means Joe and Chase. They were part of the show’s early identity—especially Chase, who was a staple from the beginning.

So let’s answer the headline question the way fans are actually asking it:

• Is Joe back? Yes—Joe returned for a special appearance that HGTV promoted for the January 27, 2026episode.

• Is Chase back too? As of right now, there is no confirmation that Chase has returned—and his own public comments point the other direction.

What we know about Chase—and why a return isn’t being teased the same way

Chase Looney hasn’t been part of the show in a long time. According to Country Living, his last appearance was the season 4 premiere in November 2022, and by 2023 he was already hinting online that the show was in his past.

Then came the message that fans still quote whenever “Chase comeback” rumors start bubbling:

When a fan asked in June 2023 whether he’d be in season 5, Chase replied:
“Sorry no chance. But thank you so much for the kind words.”

TV Insider also notes that while Chase never laid out a big official explanation, the timing of his exit lined up with changes in his personal life, and Dave Marrs even commented that he was glad the fire department was going well—suggesting Chase returned to that line of work

Fans’ Reaction on Joe’s comeback.

The second Joe popped up again, the comment sections turned into one big roll call of people who clearly never stopped rooting for him. Not in a messy way—more like that instant “wait… is that really him?” energy where fans hit replay, tag their friends, and start asking the same question in a hundred different ways: does this mean he’s back back, or is this just a surprise cameo?

One of the loudest themes is straight-up nostalgia. Viewers didn’t just say they were happy to see Joe—they framed him as part of what made Fixer to Fabulous feel like comfort TV in the first place. The reactions lean into that “the team feels complete” vibe, with fans calling him a favorite, a familiar face, and the kind of presence that makes the jobsite scenes feel more real and less “made for TV.”

Right behind that is curiosity—and fans get specific. People don’t only celebrate the comeback. They want details: What brought him back? Was it a one-time thing? Is he returning regularly? You can feel the audience trying to read between the lines of the promo, because a quick appearance is fun… but a longer return would be something fans could actually build anticipation around week to week.

Another big reaction bucket is supportive and protective. Instead of pushing gossip, many fans come across like they genuinely care about Joe as a person: hoping he’s doing well, praising him for choosing what’s best for his life, and treating this appearance like a “good to see you” moment rather than a demand that he owes the show anything.

And then there’s the classic fan humor—the inside jokes, the playful “don’t tease us like this” comments, the dramatic “I screamed” style reactions, and the tags from friends who clearly had ongoing debates about whether Joe would ever show up again.