Alison Victoria: Sexy is Back in Sin City
The star of HGTV’s “Sin City Rehab” returns to Las Vegas and doubles down on her love for this town.
By Melinda Sheckells
Las Vegas has always been a city that celebrates reinvention. Few people embody that spirit more than interior designer, producer and television star Alison Victoria, who has brought her creative compass home to the desert with HGTV’s “Sin City Rehab” — her boldest and most personal project yet.
“I established myself in Chicago in a big way, and now I am coming back to the place that I love. I call Vegas my second city,” she laughs, sprawled out in her backyard on a perfect fall afternoon. “I love this valley. It’s fall and I’m lying in a bikini in my backyard right now getting a tan. All my doors are open inside out. It’s just the life that I’ve always wanted.”
For the HGTV mainstay — best known for “Windy City Rehab,” the Emmy- and Critics' Choice–nominated hit she developed and fronted for five seasons — the move marks not just a change of scenery, but a complete professional and personal rebirth.
“‘Sin City Rehab’ was always something that I wanted. For years, I had soft-pitched it to the network to gauge their interest, but timing is everything. I knew in my last season of ‘Windy City’ that I was done with Chicago. I had this beautiful home that I had built in Chicago, this dream home. Unfortunately, the rest of my life there was not a dream; it was a bit of a nightmare,” she says. “I thought, ‘How do I get back to where I’m happy? How do I get back to the home that I created that’s everything I’ve ever wanted inside and out, surrounded by the people I love and the friendships I’ve not only formed but kept and watered for 25 years?”
If Chicago was about building her brand, Las Vegas is about reclaiming her peace. “Sin City Rehab,” which premiered on HGTV and Max in September, follows Alison as she relocates her life and business to the West. The eight-episode docuseries isn’t just a home makeover show — it’s a life makeover, filmed in real time over the course of a year.
“I knew I wanted the show to be a true docuseries, where we weren’t doing the before-and-after every episode, and you could watch any episode whenever you wanted. It’s a story following my life over a year, in eight one-hour episodes,” she says.
The gamble paid off — literally. In a city synonymous with risk and reward, Alison bet big on authenticity. “It’s funny, everyone’s talking about ‘authenticity’ like it’s a trend now,” she says with a grin. “I’ve been living that my whole life. I don’t fake it. People can watch ‘Sin City Rehab’ and feel that — it’s messy and beautiful, just like real life.”
Even for a seasoned HGTV powerhouse — she’s starred in more than a dozen network shows, including “Kitchen Crashers,” “Rock the Block,” “Battle on the Beach” and “Ugliest House in America” — “Sin City Rehab” is different. It’s the culmination of everything Alison has built: her design firm, her production company and her ability to turn creative vision into compelling television. “I developed ‘Windy City Rehab,’ and I developed ‘Sin City Rehab.’ It is important to me to show people the reality of the risk,” she says. “I had a lot riding on this.”
For most of America, Las Vegas conjures images of neon lights and nonstop nightlife. But Alison wants to rewrite that narrative.
“I want to show Vegas in a different light. I want to show people the Vegas they don’t know. I want to show them our neighborhoods. I want to show them the local life and how life really happens here. We have the mountains. We have the Strip if we want it, and we have the best restaurants and entertainment in the country. I love this place so much, and I’ve got a big job ahead of me.”
Through her lens, the city becomes a study in reinvention. Viewers follow Alison through neighborhoods across town as she tackles ambitious residential projects and builds a team of collaborators who mirror her own drive.
While “Sin City Rehab” documents her creative process, her off-camera hustle is just as relentless. Her design firm, Alison Victoria Interiors, is busier than ever with projects in Florida, Chicago and now Vegas. She’s also juggling brand and product collaborations that mirror her aesthetic: “authentic luxury” with a wink.
Her tile collection with The Tile Shop has surpassed $1.6 million in sales this year alone, while her new line of custom hoods, Hoodsly, launched with rave reviews.
Her next venture, launching this fall, is a digital design company called Kitchen Quickie. “It’s one room, one Zoom, one designer who doesn’t fake it,” she says with her signature smirk. The concept is simple but genius: Clients can book virtual design sessions directly with Alison and, depending on the package, receive advice or the Full Shebang, complete with a curated lookbook, samples and elevations. “You can get your kitchen designed by me, remotely.”
Then there’s Briefly Gorgeous Productions, her Las Vegas-based production company.
With Briefly Gorgeous, she wants to develop a slate of documentaries, docuseries and lifestyle projects that lean into real, raw talent — many without her in front of the camera.
“I’m constantly looking for new concepts, new shows, new characters, but always with this common thread of authenticity. I’m looking to make shows around real people and their real lives.”
After wrapping “Sin City Rehab,” she’s giving herself a rare gift: time.
“I’m constantly working. When the cameras go down, I’m still working, because while I’m filming all day, I can’t do my other stuff. I can’t check my emails, I can’t do my phone calls, I can’t sit down in front of a computer,” she says. “The first week was like a shock factor, and then the second week I spent putting my new website together, cleaning my house out, hanging my clothes up — things I haven’t been able to do for a year.”
At the heart of this new chapter is Brandt Andersen, her partner in life and in storytelling. A director and screenwriter, he’s become Alison’s sounding board, creative confidant and biggest cheerleader. “We do the same thing, but in totally different ways,” she says. “Film and TV are different worlds, but the fundamentals are the same — cameras, edits, storytelling. Having someone who gets it, who supports me completely, that’s the greatest gift.”
Their schedules often collide — he’s promoting his new film, “I Was a Stranger,” while she’s cutting a finale — but they find ways to stay connected. “He’ll watch ‘Sin City Rehab’ and say he’s on a one-way date with me. It’s the sweetest thing.”
Together, they’ve become a creative power couple built on mutual respect and shared ambition. “There’s no ego, no competition, just partnership,” she says. “After everything I’ve been through, it’s exactly what I needed.”
As “Sin City Rehab” wraps its first season and fans await word of renewal, Alison is both reflective and resolute. “It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever been,” she says. “You put your whole life, your whole heart into something, and then you have to let it go. You can’t control whether people watch or like it. All you can do is be proud of what you made.”
Regardless of the ratings, Alison has already won — she’s redefined what design television can be. “This isn’t just about pretty houses,” she says. “It’s about taking risks, starting over, betting on yourself and showing up real. That’s the Vegas spirit. That’s my spirit.”
And, true to form, she’s already plotting her next move. “I’m scared when I stop,” she admits. “That’s when I know it’s time to start something new.”
From her backyard in Las Vegas — doors open, sunshine pouring in — Alison Victoria has finally found her balance between the chaos and the calm, the work and the wonder.
“Life’s too short to play it safe,” she says, smiling. “So I don’t.”