HGTV star Alison Victoria is pulling back the curtain on the realities of home renovations, and she isn’t afraid to show viewers when things get messy.
The designer, 44, is back for Season 2 of “Sin City Rehab”, where she continues to take on projects in Las Vegas while expanding her business and working with new investors, flippers and clients. But as Victoria explains, her approach to renovation television has always been about showing more than beautiful finished spaces.
“It’s fully intentional and the only reason that I do television,” Victoria told People in an interview published October 14. “When I created [my first show] ‘Windy City Rehab’, that was way ahead of its time. I was showing the truth of the business.”
She said viewers responded to seeing the challenges that come with renovation projects, adding that she takes pride in being honest about what happens behind the scenes.
“I’m proud of showing people the truth and not hiding things from people,” she said. “I’m really, really proud of it.”
‘Shady’ Side of Renovations
Even when she carefully vets the people she works with, Victoria says she sometimes discovers that collaborators aren’t what they initially seemed.
“Some of them pull the wool over your eyes, and I want to believe the good in them, but the business can be shady, and the people in it can be even shadier,” she said.
The “Battle on the Beach” star recalled a recent confrontation with an electrician whose work on one of her homes allegedly failed to meet her expectations. The incident happened off-camera just two weeks before her interview with People.
“I was like, ‘You’re going to get the [expletive] out of my house right now. You have absolutely lied to me. You’ve taken advantage of me,'” Victoria recalled, adding that she believed the work was incorrect and could have put the home at risk of a fire. “You think I don’t know what I’m doing. I know everything you’ve done, all of it’s incorrect. You could have burned my home down.”
She joked, “I wish there were cameras there.”
Victoria acknowledged that not every viewer is interested in the drama that sometimes accompanies her renovation projects. However, she believes showing those difficult moments is part of being authentic.
“If people don’t want to see that, that’s okay,” she said, noting that viewers can find plenty of other home renovation shows that focus on feel-good transformations.
‘Sin City Rehab’ Season 2
Although “Sin City Rehab” — which premiered its second season earlier this month — shares similarities with “Windy City Rehab”, Victoria said she wanted her Las Vegas series to have its own identity.
“I was trying to make a whole different feel for the show,” she told People. “I wanted it to feel even more like my life, like you were following this story.”
Season 2 follows Victoria a year after returning to Las Vegas from Chicago as she builds new professional relationships and takes on different projects. She’s also experimenting with designs outside her usual aesthetic.
Looking back on the season, Victoria compared the experience to a physical fight.
“I’m walking away from this season feeling almost like I was in a boxing match and we went nine rounds, nine episodes,” she said. “I couldn’t be more excited for people to see the designs because that’s what keeps me going.”
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HGTV Star Spills on the ‘Shady’ Side of Home Renovation Business