Alison Victoria said she thought she was about to lose her job at HGTV after a years-long legal nightmare left her feeling like she’d “lost everything.”
During an appearance on Kelly Rizzo’s “Comfort Food” podcast, the “Windy City Rehab” star reflected on the fallout from her former business partnership, revealing she flew to New York to warn network executives before headlines about the scandal began making news.
‘Windy City Rehab’ Drama
“The people that watch the show really know me, and they really know me because I really showed them who I am,” Victoria told Kelly Rizzo on the Wednesday, July 8, episode of her “Comfort Food With Kelly Rizzo” podcast. “That was my goal with ‘Windy City Rehab’ — how do I create a show that follows what I do as a designer but shows the real [expletive] right?”
Victoria explained that she set out with the goal to “create something different,” wanting to show HGTV viewers a “behind-the-scenes” look.
“I’m doing something different,” she said. “Truly like no smoke and mirrors.”
The “Sin City Rehab” star went on to describe the whirlwind 16 months leading up to the January 2019 premiere, explaining that she and partner, Donovan Eckhardt, worked well together.
“[We were] very clear with, you know, roles and which lanes to stay in,” she shared.
It wasn’t until after the success of season 1 that she “started to notice cracks,” like subcontractors not being paid.
“Why are my profit shares being written on a napkin? Where’s the Excel spreadsheet to show all the expenses? Why is this guy calling me, saying he’s going to put a lien on the property? Why is so and so not paid?” the designer recalled. “It just started to snowball.”
Victoria ultimately hired a woman to work as a “director of operations” to look into the issues. It was that woman who discovered the problem. She ultimately decided to part ways with Eckhardt, though he continued doing business using her name.
“I’ll never forget I go to film this show called ‘Rock the Block’ in California and it’s this big show. It’s season one of this show and I fly from Chicago to LA. I wake up in the morning — and so there’s that 2-hour time difference — to 1 million messages in my phone like the Sun Times, the Tribune, every single reporter, all this stuff,” Victoria recalled. “And I’m like, ‘What? What is going on?'”
As it turned out, Eckhardt’s contractor’s license had been suspended, unbeknownst to Victoria. None of the projects they had completed during the first season of the show were permitted or inspected.
The Lawsuits
Victoria went on to explain that she was being sued by eight different people, including investors, accusing her of fraud.
“I lost everything. I lost my house. I lost my car. My bank account was drained. I had nothing,” she shared. “I remember going and I said, ‘What how do I do this? How am I going to fix this?’ But all the while season 2 has picked up. I’ll never forget I’m like I need to go talk to the head of the network. I booked a ticket to New York.”
Ultimately, execs at HGTV stood behind their star, working together to determine how to proceed with season 2.
“So 13 episodes turned into like five or six that were 90 minutes long, following what I went through,” she explained. “Let me show people what real life looks like because real life is messy and dirty and scary.”
During a 2020 episode, the “Battle on the Beach” alum broke down about “dealing with a nightmare.”
“If you only knew what comes into my phone. I have people coming out of the woodwork. I have homeowners that are being contacted by the press,” she said, per People. “All I ever did, and all I’ve ever done, is design. Honestly…Sorry, guys, I’m freaking out.”
After news of the legal troubles began to spread, Eckhardt tried to sue the production company for defamation. Ultimately his lawsuit was dismissed, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
The show ultimately ran for six seasons before Victoria relocated from Chicago to Las Vegas and launched “Sin City Rehab.”
