EXCLUSIVE: Alison Victoria Gives the Scoop on Her New Show, ‘Sin City Rehab’: ‘Every Week Is Crazier, Bigger, Glitzier … Riskier’

Alison Victoria is ready to win big in Las Vegas.

The HGTV star, best known for five seasons of her hit show "Windy City Rehab," as well as "Rock the Block" and "Ugliest House in America," has had good—and bad—luck in her native Chicago. Elegant designs put her on the map, while legal troubles with a former partner set her back. More recently, she built an expansive dream home, but came up short when she tried to sell it.

But now it appears she's ready for a fresh start, new adventures, and a new show.

"Sin City Rehab" premiered on Sept. 17. The first episode followed her first project in her new city, turning a room with no clear purpose into a dream hangout space, themed to look like a treehouse.

Of course, Vegas isn't completely new to the designer; she went to college and started her career in the city. She's also traveled to the city often, even buying and renovating a second home in Vegas (now her primary residence). Victoria spoke to Realtor.com® about returning to her old stomping grounds, bringing her experience to the West Coast, and feeling like she's finally home.

What’s it like being back in Las Vegas? And living in your Vegas house full time?

I just walked out of my house and got in my car, and every morning I wake up, I'm like: "I cannot believe I live here." The sun is shining every day. The house is a total dream. It's so funny because Chicago was really a dream home—in a different way. It was like the dreamiest house, right? But like, Vegas is the dreamiest life. I wake up every day in a place that I love so much, in a home that just feels like I'm on vacation 24 hours a day.

I don't know, the house is just such a great portfolio of everything I've done in design, but out West. It's got all the history. Like, the front doors are from a church in Spain from almost 200 years ago. And the mantel's from Paris. And I've got antiques everywhere. I've got an old bar from Chicago, from an old Chicago speakeasy. I really was inspired by one of my favorite hotels in Cabo San Lucas, and then also a lot of vibes from Italy.

Is there a space in the house where you feel like you can really relax and recharge?

Every space in the house! That's the thing about this house. Like, I literally use every room. But I would say the kitchen's where I literally just hang out all the time. Whether I'm cooking or not cooking, it's just where I find myself. It's like, hugged in windows, and the landscape is always green and beautiful. And you know, the indoor-outdoor living is amazing, because you can do it every day of the year, right? It’s not just like a couple of months of summer like I had in Chicago. It's like, I get to enjoy my outdoor space all year. 

In Vegas, it really does feel like summer all the time. Have you splurged on any cool outdoor features for the home?

I spent a huge chunk of my budget on the landscape in the front and the back, because it's such a part of being out West. And so this, I would say the storage was, in general, my landscaping and my backyard. I mean, it's unbelievable. I have a backyard kitchen, and I've got my hot tub area, and everything's just built in, and it's just layers and levels. And I've got my own garden, my citrus garden, and my herb garden, that I use constantly. I love it. It's so dreamy. Sometimes I just go out there and I like, just sit in my garden. It's awesome.

You've been doing all of these exciting new renovations in Vegas. Is there anything you've been wanting to change about your house, now that you're working on all these local homes?

Yep, I can't spoil it, but I did a very big renovation in my house, and you'll get to see it on the show.

That's exciting! OK, what about the design styles in Vegas versus Chicago? Is there a big difference?

Yeah, there’s a huge difference. You know, Chicago is known for its architecture. Chicago has a big history to it, right? These homes in Chicago are 100-plus years old, and the oldest home in Vegas is, like, 50, right? It's like, history—that's the difference.

Obviously, the history out West and the history in the Midwest are very different, and the way that these homes were built are very different. So what you are going to get, and the [amount of] space, is much bigger. I have so much more room out here to design and to be creative, versus Chicago, which, you know, every house in Chicago was on a 25 by 125 lot, for the most part, and it was a brownstone or a graystone. And there wasn't like, there were some that I would get ahold of that were so different, but really the difference was how I designed them. 

And so out in Vegas, from the outside, for the most part, everything looks the same. It's very cookie-cutter, and my goal was to come out here and change Las Vegas one house at a time, and infuse it in history that it deserves, that it absolutely can have, and taking bigger risks with design and show people what Vegas can really be when it comes to interior design.

How do you put history into a newer house? Adding antiques? Or removing the stereotypical ‘90s features?

That's right, that's right. You're saying everything. Here's the coolest part about this story is, I went to UNLV. I went to school out here with the college here, and then I got my first job here, working for a homebuilder. And I built from the ground up over 50 houses, in the early 2000s. So being able to now take those apart, get rid of the '90s and and redesign it, it's pretty funny, because it's like, I get to be a part of that.

It feels sort of full circle, I bet—helping to build homes in Vegas and then returning to renovate in the area decades later.

It is! Because, you know, when I did it in the early 2000s, I was working for a homebuilder, so they had a certain standard of what the houses would look like, and then I could change it a little bit with some of the selections, but not drastically. And so now I get to do everything and anything I've ever wanted out here. There's no red tape out here. There was no stopping my imagination out here. And really, I owe so much of this to my clients for taking those risks with me, for allowing me to do the things that I did, and for trusting me in the process.

And then you'll get to see what the outcome is every week. And then every week is crazier, bigger, glitzier, more glamorous, riskier. It's a wild ride.

Did anything about filming this season surprise you?

It surprised me when it came to, you know, I'm trying to get back in the flipping game. I'm trying to get my foot in the door, and I come across a lot of shysters. And I guess I don't realize, like, it's a lot.

Vegas has always kind of been booming. You know, back in '99, this is the hottest place to be. This is the fastest-growing city in the country, and we're getting back to that now. So, you got a lot of people coming in here trying to buy up these houses to flip them, but some are local and some are not, and some know the area and some don't. But they're just looking to make some money, which is great because that's the business, but it wasn't.

[Flipping is] not so easy to try to get back into it. And that's the journey you get to watch me go on. You get to watch my real life. I think that's the coolest part of the show. It's like—it's so hard to say that eight episodes that are 42 minutes are going to get to show you what I've actually gone through in the last year of my life, but I tried to tell that story the best way I knew, how I did everything, authentically.

And so people get to come on that journey with me, and I've never shied away from that. People got to see what I went through years ago on "Windy City." People got to watch me go through the hardest fight of my life, and they're going to get to watch me fight again. That's the cool part.

Do you think you're going to stay in Vegas?

I'll tell you this much: I'm home. I am finally, for the first time in my life, I am home. I mean, I design houses all over the country. So my business will constantly be growing and doing jobs all over the country. So that will never change, and I will be spending a lot of time in California. My boyfriend lives in Malibu, so we'll be going between Malibu and Las Vegas. But I finally feel like I'm living my best life, and it feels really, really safe, and it feels really good.