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Alison Victoria is putting all her cards on the table in Sin City Rehab. 

The designer returns for a “roller coaster” season 2 of her Las Vegas-set show, which sees her tackling make or break projects and continuing to build her business in her new home base.  

“This was just a very challenging year for me in so many ways,” the Rock the Block alum said in an interview ahead of the October 7 season premiere. “I’ve never worked harder on a show.”

‘Sin City Rehab’ isn’t a ‘run of the mill’ HGTV show

The longtime HGTV personality isn’t just the face of Sin City Rehab. She’s also guiding things behind the scenes as a executive producer, shaping the story she wants to tell about her life in Vegas, where she relocated seeking a fresh start after a turbulent few years in Chicago. 

Sin City Rehab “is a true docu-series,” she explained. “This isn’t your run of the mill HGTV show where it’s just, ‘Oh, here’s a couple and we’re redoing their house,’ and then the beautiful part at the end. This is, you come on the ride with me. Every episode leads to the next and the story of my life, of this last year. And I partner with people – some of the wrong people – and I make beautiful spaces for different clients that actually appreciate and love what I do.”

The process of creating those striking spaces isn’t always easy, and Victoria said there were times when she felt “stuck in the mud” while working on a project. Taking a risk, she admitted, doesn’t always pan out. 

“I said this season that it was the season of saying yes, trying anything and everything,” she said. “And I did that and I’m never going to do that again. I’m never doing that again.”

Alison Victoria says she has a ‘different energy’ since leaving Chicago for Las Vegas

Despite some bumps, Victoria said then when it came to design, this season was “ultra-gratifying.” Since moving Chicago to Vegas, she’s stretched her creative muscles in surprising ways. 

“[The move] changed the way I designed because of where I am mentally,” she said. “When you’re happy, there’s just this different energy. For me, when I’m happy, there’s a different energy to me. And when I feel happy, I’m designing differently. It’s like I’m more excited about it and I feel more relaxed about it and not so rigid with it. And when that happens, beautiful results come out of it.”

The change of scenery also presented fresh challenges, particularly when it comes to the city’s homes, which can often feel “cookie-cutter” when compared to the older properties she was used to working on in Chicago. 

“There’s not a lot of those diamonds in Vegas,” Victoria said. “For the most part, the homes here are like ‘90s, early 2000s, right? It’s like, well, how do I make each one feel so different? And the cookie cutter isn’t just what you see in most neighborhoods in Vegas when you drive [through] and you’re like, ‘Oh, all these houses are the same exact model.’ … It’s more the cookie cutter of the mentality of the people living in Las Vegas. They all are doing the same thing. It’s like glass, iron, super modern, pivot door. It’s all the same stuff and it’s so basic and it’s so boring and no one’s taking any risks or putting any personality into these homes.” 

Victoria wants to shake things up, “one house at a time,” especially by incorporating unexpected elements and antiques into her designs.  

“I love that I get to introduce old pieces into newer spaces to breathe new life into them … it’s like you’re giving the history of an old piece a different story and I love that,” she said.

All that effort culminates in the show’s finale episode. 

“It’s a really special project because it started as one thing and then turned into something different,” she teased. 

“I really am coming away from this season being so proud of all of the design and that is my true love – besides my partner Brandt [Andersen] – that is my true love in life,” Victoria added. “And so I walk away from each one, whether it was hell on earth going through it or not, and I walk away proud knowing that I designed the hell out of it. And so this last episode, I wish I could tell you more, but it’s just a beautiful way to end a very, very testing season.”

Sin City Rehab airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. Episodes stream on HBO Max. 

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