Yahoo Lifestyle Alison Victoria Says New Season of “Windy City Rehab” Starts 'Optimistic' but 'Gets Dark': Watch Trailer (Exclusive)
The interior designer and HGTV host is gearing up for a dramatic season of Chicago-area home renovations
Alison Victoria is getting ready for a brand-new season of her hit HGTV show — and a new trailer hints that there's drama ahead.
In the sneak peek of Windy City Rehab, Victoria is preparing for another season of hard work renovating and building additions for Chicago homes.
"Nothing I do is easy, but every single one of them feels like it's a piece of me," she says in one clip, referring to the interior design work she does.
The trailer, shared exclusively with PEOPLE ahead of next week's premiere, shows her struggling through construction setbacks and difficulties with clients as she works to rehabilitate tons of historic homes, including everything from brownstones to bungalows.
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Victoria poses for a portrait in the front room of the Warner Home."It starts off optimistic — and then it just gets dark," Victoria continues in the trailer, teasing the construction and design difficulties to come this season — which seem to include a flooded home, an anxious client and disagreements over who gets design control.
Despite the drama, she looks forward to tons of successfully redesigned homes in her hometown, and the the trailer shows some of the lighthearted moments too — including singing, taking Christmas photos and more.
"Growing up in Chicago, driving around with my dad, looking at all the beautiful greystones and brownstones and carriage houses and bungalows — there's no other city like it," she finishes.
The new episodes of Windy City Rehab come just one year after Victoria told PEOPLE that she was trying to have a "fresh start," following her former business partner and co-star Donovan Eckhardt's exit from the show in 2020 after his alleged mishandling of company finances as well as the loss of her father in January 2021.
"For me, it's such a fresh start after going through so much and feeling … this breath of fresh air," she said in May 2023, adding that she and her former business partner no longer speak.
"They're going to see the version of me that I've always been, that unfortunately was completely clouded by the stress and anxiety of multiple lawsuits and a pandemic and not knowing what was going to happen next," she continued.
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Victoria poses for a portrait while painting a shelf at the Kildare home.Over the course of his final season on the show, Eckhardt had his general contractor and developer licenses suspended by the city of Chicago over violations.
He and Victoria also faced down stop-work orders and serious legal troubles — including a lawsuit from the owners of a house featured on Windy City Rehab who attempted to freeze her financial assets amid a complaint claiming faulty work on a house they renovated together. Eckhardt also filed a lawsuit claiming defamation and emotional distress as a result of his portrayal as a fraudulent "villain" on the second season of the show.
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Despite the controversies, Victoria told PEOPLE in 2023 that she was ready to get back to work and do the renovation work that she loves.
"When I walk in the homes, most of the history has been stripped out. For me, it feels like it's my job to put it back in," she said at the time. "And so it's like taking these really historic pieces from wherever I find them, breathing new life into them and then in turn breathing new life into the spaces and creating a new history for the pieces."
"I love being able to show people how to push through and persevere and to just be patient, which is something I've learned," she added. "I wasn't the most patient person in the world. I realized through everything I went through that I can only focus on the things I can control."
The new season of Windy City Rehab premieres Tuesday, Sept. 24, on HGTV at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
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