Nicole Curtis Mowed Lawns to Help Pay for New Season of ‘Rehab Addict’ [Interview]

Nicole Curtis is on a mission to save historic homes from terrible renovations. 

Three years after she was last seen on HGTV, the Rehab Addict star is back with four all-new episodes of her fan-favorite show. In the new season, which premieres June 24, Curtis tackles two simultaneous renovations. She begins by embarking on an effort to restore a Victorian-era home in Wyoming that’s the unfortunate victim of a very bad (and very gray) flip. Then, she’s suddenly forced to return to her familiar stomping grounds of Detroit when she learns squatters have taken over a derelict mansion she also plans to renovate. 

“I think I was needed. I felt like people were setting up the bat signal,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet of her return to TV. “It’s not so much that we take a hiatus, it just takes that long to do a house … It’s quality over quantity and it takes a long time to get through these.”

A Wyoming home needed the Nicole Curtis touch 

In episode 1, Curtis heads to Wyoming, where she’s bought a small-town vintage home, sight unseen. Her goal is to undo the work of a previous flipper, who stripped the house of virtually all its character, turning it into a series of generic gray boxes.  

“You can’t tell what room you’re in,” Curtis said of the home. “I own the house and I’m editing [the episode] and I’m like, ‘I don’t know what room I in. I’m like, what is it? It’s gray.’”

Once Curtis gets to work, she discovers the home’s hidden potential. There’s an attic that can be turned into additional bedroom space. And a few quick fixes breathe new life into the property. A green coat of paint on the fake brick exterior helps the house stand out. (She would never paint real brick, she stresses multiple times.) And some decorative columns snagged on the cheap transform the front porch. Those are the kind of budget-friendly solutions that are Curtis’ signature. It’s also what homeowners are looking for in the current economic climate. 

“I think it’s time. I think people are at a point again where the economy’s shaky. They want to be frugal in their houses, they still want to make changes,” she said. “And I’m definitely a person, if you don’t have money to do it, I’m going to show you how to do it because I don’t spend money.”

A ‘crack house’ in Detroit also gets the ‘Rehab Addict’ treatment 

Curtis’ Wyoming house might be dull when she starts the renovation, but at least it’s clean. The same can’t be said for the “crack house” in Detroit. The once-striking home has turned into a squatter’s den, and while the vagrants have been evicted, they’ve left behind plenty of trash (and worse). But even amid the squalor, Curtis can see what the home could be. There’s original subway tile in the bathroom, a laundry chute, and a cute telephone nook. 

Unsurprisingly, Curtis makes it all work. (She does the interview from the home’s now-gorgeous living room.) But pulling it off wouldn’t be possible without the help of her team, many of whom have been with her for years.

“I couldn’t have done it without these guys. I couldn’t have … I’ve known these guys forever,” she says. 

It’s the authenticity of those relationships – and the willingness to show what a real renovation looks like – that have made her show so popular. 

“I am this anomaly at HGTV,” she said. “I actually do the whole process. I’m actually this dirty. I’m in work shorts right now. I’m going to throw back on my work boots when we get done. And people want to see that because at home, most of these people that watch our show, they actually have to do these projects themselves. And so it’s kind of a risk. It’s my production company this time, so I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the way I’m doing it.’”

‘I am frugal because I’m a mom,’ Curtis says

As a producer, Curtis approached making the new season of Rehab Addict much like she would one of her renovations. She kept a close eye on the budget and looked for ways to manage costs. 

“I am frugal because I’m a mom and I don’t want to lose our house because I mortgaged everything to the hilt. I’m a cash buyer, I’m a cash investor. And things have gotten lean. I mean, three years in production, producing this myself. I canceled all the lawn services on our house in Detroit and I was mowing yards last summer because I was like, that’s an extra $1,500 a month. Everybody thought it was insane. I’m like, ‘Dude, that’s $1,500 that pays for my camera guy.’”

Will there be more episodes of Rehab Addict? The more people who tune in to the new season, the greater the chance that HGTV will renew the show, Curtis points out. But one thing is certain. She’s never going to turn down a challenge, no matter how big – or how dirty – the project.  

“There’s really never anything that’s going to scare me away from an old house,” she said.

Rehab Addict premieres Tuesday, June 24, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. 

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