STEVEN LINDSEY | Contributing Writer
StevenCraigLindsey@gmail.com

Eight weeks without technology? It would be difficult, but ultimately manageable.

But those same two months without running water, DoorDash or toilet paper? That would be enough to deter a vast majority of Americans from signing up for Back to the Frontier, a new reality show executive-produced by Chip and Joanna Gaines for HBO Max and the couple’s Magnolia Network.

Yet, despite their dependence on modern conveniences from smart-house features to robot vacuum cleaners, Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs packed up their two young boys for an extended, far-from-glamping getaway in rural Canada near Calgary, Alberta.

Together with two other families, they were thrust head-first into the realities of 1880s-era homesteading, responsible for repairing their run-down cabins with limited tools and resources, farming the land, harvesting, animals and other challenges unique to the late 19th-century North American wilderness.

The Dallas husbands chronicle much of their family life and travels for their social media presence, 2_Dallas_Dads, so they’re used to being in front of the camera and to a certain amount of public scrutiny. But when some evangelical fans of the Gaineses and their HGTV empire got upset over them daring to feature a loving, same-sex couple, the Hanna-Riggs family found themselves in a different kind of spotlight.

But with the support of the Gaineses and their determination to represent the LGBTQ community through a national platform, Hanna and Riggs refused to let it affect them or tarnish the experience that led them back in time and then home again to the 21st century, stronger, wiser and better for the journey.

Dallas Voice chatted with the couple this week to check in on their lives now that the show has premiered. To catch up on the series, which premieres new episodes each Thursday, visit HBOMax.com. 

Dallas Voice: Now that the first two episodes have aired, have you all had any kind of feedback from friends and family or the general public? What’s the vibe been? Jason Hanna: So, for the premiere, we hosted some friends and family here in Frisco and had a really fun turnout. We had probably 90-plus people, 25-plus of those kiddos, and it was super fun to sit and watch the show with our friends and family. But I think it was even more fun to watch it with Ethan and Lucas and our whole community of friends. It was such an incredible experience.

Obviously, we haven’t told them much about each of the episodes, so they’re living it with us, but it’s all been very positive and very supportive.

Joe Riggs: It’s been amazing to hear the support. We have a lot of two-dad families and two-mom families or single-dad families or single-mom families that message us, saying, “Thank you for representing families like ours.” That’s been really heartwarming, and that was one of the main goals for participating, too. I know that growing up, I’d never seen a two-dad family in a television show. So, that representation is a big deal.

Hanna: I’ve received a lot of messages from other same-sex families, and these parents are watching the shows with their kids. One message was, “My 8-year-old saw you guys and your family up on TV, and the impact that that had on that 8-year-old to know that there are other families out there that look just like his. It was very moving and very touching. 

Riggs: I was also really proud of how the show represented us. We are no different than any other family. I mean, it just showed our day-to-day, before the frontier and during the frontier, just like the other families, because that’s ultimately what we’re doing. We’re living our lives, raising our kids, and trying to do right by our kids and our community.

Hanna: I think the funny thing, too, is that our boys, Ethan and Lucas, being the youngest kids that were on the frontier, they’re very authentic. Like most 10 year-olds, they kind of do what they want to do.

We tried to motivate and incentivize them to do what we needed them to do on the frontier. But without our typical consequences and rewards of [using] devices, we definitely had our challenges. So it’s been fun to watch it on this side of the camera, this time, versus the other side.

Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs headed ‘Back to the Frontier’ with their sons, Ethan and Lucas
(Photo courtesy of Magnolia Network)

A big challenge during the first episode is you guys realizing, “Oh, crap! We haven’t really ever given the kids chores or anything like that.” Did any of those newfound skills bleed back over to the 21st century when y’all came back for you and the kids, or was it right back to your Alexa and Roomba? Riggs: Well, we have [Alexa and the Roomba] for sure, but the boys do have a dedicated chore chart now. They’ve got specific things that they have to do each week.

We print that out every week, and they have to check it off after each thing is done.

That has absolutely been carried forward. These boys are very capable of us putting them to work a bit more, delegating and holding them accountable.

Hanna: I will say we’ve kind of fallen back into a rut, because in our 21st-century lives, the devices continue to be a huge motivator.

You all already had some degree of internet fame from your social media presence, but now that the show has aired for two weeks, have you had any kind of public encounters where people are recognizing you more, or is it too early for that sort of thing? Riggs: We were approached yesterday at the airport by somebody who had watched the show, but I think it also depends on the community. If we’re in our community, like in a gay neighborhood, then we get approached a lot more.

I think the show resonated well with our community, and it’s a very wholesome show, too. So I love that they’re watching it as a history lesson in a lot of ways.

Not to dwell on it, but the controversy that came up with the religious groups and Franklin Graham about Chip and Joanna featuring two gay men on the show, has that kind of died down already in the news cycle today? Was it over pretty quickly, and people forgot about it, or is it still an ongoing battle? Hanna: I do receive notifications, and I still see the messages and the stories that continue to pop up. But for us, that hasn’t really been a focus. Our focus is more on the positive impact of what the show is doing, not just for our community.

I think it’s such a family-friendly show that parents and kids can sit down and watch together. Over the months and months of working with the network and the production team, their main focus is creating a show that you can sit down with your 5-, 8- or 10-year-old, and you can watch together as a family. And I think that’s been more of the positive impact that we have felt. Love through the community.

It’s cool that the production cast you all in the first place, and everybody had to know going into this, that there was going to be some somebody having a problem with it. The fact that they were willing to deal with any fallout, I think speaks a lot to the production team. Hanna: I will say it’s been great all the support that we’ve received from everybody — the community, the network, Chip and Joanna Gaines and their response on social media. It was extremely powerful for us as a family, knowing that we have everyone’s support, especially Chip and Joanna. So that’s been very meaningful and very powerful for us.

In the first episode, having two men in one family kind of challenged the rigid gender roles of the 1880s, like at the land office. Riggs: With the land office, we had to decide who’s in charge. Because ultimately, we’re both heads of household, and we’re equal in our relationship. So it’s caused some fun conversations on gender roles and, I guess, traditional roles, because we don’t have traditional roles.

I think that that dynamic will continue throughout the show, and it’s a fun reason to watch, too. We’ve both got some thoughts on how women were treated, and what their role was in that 1880s society, so I think having us adds a lot to the show and to commentary on what’s traditional and what maybe should be in place today. 

Seeing a Black family and gay family among the three featured definitely challenges some norms from back then and it brings up some interesting conversations. Did you face any challenges that were era-specific, such as something you couldn’t do because you’re a gay couple? Riggs: This show is very focused on being 1880s historically accurate,  how families lived and the barriers that different kinds of families had. I think it does a great job of touching on those.

Hanna: We haven’t seen any of the remaining episodes, so we’re watching them in real time with everyone. But I think they will do a great job of showing those challenges each family faces with those gender roles, not just for the men, but for the women and moms. Stacey and Lina that were on the show, they’re very strong-willed, independent people. They are also equals in their family, so to push those folks into ‘this is what you have to do’ — there were definitely challenges for the women.

But I will say, as a guy being forced into a woman’s role, it was extremely demanding. Joe would go off to the field, and he would work, but I was left home to manage the homestead and the barnyard animals. I definitely learned a whole new level of appreciation for what women did in the 1880s because they really kept home going.

Joe would come home from the field, and, after working all day just trying to keep the homestead alive, I was still expected to have dinner on the table for him. Women were definitely under-appreciated and under-valued relative to the amount of work and labor that they put in. 

Did y’all do any kind of prep? Did you watch the 2002 PBS Frontier House show, or did you just kind of go in wanting to be surprised and just kind of roll with the punches and zero preparation? Hanna: We had some initial conversations during the interview process, wondering if we should be doing research. We were chatting with the folks at the network, and they’re like, “No, like, just go into it.” I mean, that’s the whole challenge. Not to know anything about living in the 1880s, and as a modern family, have to figure it out, just learning and living. We have a saying: FITFO — Figure It The F*** Out.  It’s like living on the frontier, like we just had to FITFO. Because we really didn’t know exactly what we’re doing.

Yeah. In that situation you’ve got to figure it out or you don’t eat. So, as we look at upcoming episodes, do you know if we’ll see any other challenges to historical expectations as a gay couple? Hanna: I think my only comment would be — and this is just general conversations in terms of some of the messages that I’ve received — in the 1880s there really were same-sex couples living in homesteads. There absolutely were gay couples and lesbian couples. They escaped society because they were being ostracized back in the 19th century. For them to move to the frontier and be a homesteader, it was an opportunity for them to live authentically.

I know we can’t give any spoiler alerts, but the LGBTQ history with the homesteads is absolutely something that I didn’t know, and it was very eye-opening.

Well, congratulations. It’s a great representation so far. To wrap up, are you all glad you did the show? And what was your biggest takeaway? Riggs: It was a routine. Every night after dinner, you clean up, and then what do you do? There’s nothing to do. We played games together, and we talked, and we tried to carry that forward with us into our modern lives around soccer practice and all the rest.

Hanna: My biggest takeaway is really going back to family. On the frontier, sure, we had a ton of challenges. We had a ton of responsibilities and chores. But then at the end of the day, when we’re sitting around our dinner table, there’s really no outside distractions. There’s no TVs, no music, no devices, and just sitting down and having very basic, simple, true and really meaningful conversations with Ethan and Lucas. Those are some forever-lasting memories that I have.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

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