The Untold Truth Of Windy City Rehab's Alison Victoria
Windy City Rehab is one of the newer additions to HGTV's bulging slate — though it's already become a massive talking point due to several scandals plaguing the show, chief of which was the very public fallout between its two stars, Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt. The duo became embroiled in a lawsuit over allegedly shoddy work done on a former client's property, which led to the release of private text messages in which Victoria appears to accuse her ex co-star of messing up her life. She subsequently took to social media to reassure fans the show would be moving forward with new contractors.
Windy City Rehab was HGTV's highest-rated freshman series in more than a year, pulling in massive ratings among its key demographics, per Deadline. So, naturally, a second season was all but guaranteed. Unfortunately, production was halted due to coronavirus fears, according to the Chicago Sun Times. But Victoria promised that the new season, which is due to drop in July, will be worth the wait. If nothing else, fans will be tuning in to see more of this strong, confident woman who, by all evidence, won't let anything stop her.
Alison Victoria was inspired by her father
Chicago native Victoria was inspired to get into home renovation by her father, who would spark her imagination during long rides around the city, she told Roku. "I would see all these houses, and I just would dream of living in one of them one day," she admitted, noting the process of renovating them nowadays is an even bigger dream come true for her. Likewise, restoring the property where her family once lived lit a fire under Victoria to give similarly neglected buildings across the city another chance to be beautiful.
As per House Beautiful, Victoria moved to Las Vegas in 1999 to attend the University of Nevada, subsequently nabbing a job at Christopher Homes, making her the youngest designer at the company. She took on jobs designing interiors for stunning local properties before launching her own company, Alison Victoria Interiors, just a couple years later with bi-coastal locations in Chicago and Las Vegas.
Windy City Rehab wasn't Victoria's first show
In keeping with her ability to make a place for herself where there was none previously, Victoria became the first female host of DIY Network's Crashers franchise, heading up their Kitchen Crashers series. She originally appeared as a ghost designer on House Crashers, explaining in an interview with AOL Build that she was pitched a whole bunch of shows by the network before her own came to fruition.
Working behind the scenes didn't bother her, as she understood it to be an important step for her career and bided her time, eventually landing Kitchen Crashers. The lively show saw her convincing unsuspecting shoppers to let her make over their kitchens for free. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before HGTV came calling and the rest is home renovation history.