‘Rehab Addict' Star Nicole Curtis Returns to HGTV After ‘Devastating' Personal Setback Forced Her To Take 3-Year Hiatus
HGTV star Nicole Curtis has returned to TV screens after taking a lengthy three-year break that was sparked by a major personal 'setback that rocked me to the core.'
The 48-year-old 'Rehab Addict' star, whose popular show premiered in 2010, has now opened up about the 'devastating' decision to step back from her filming obligations to focus on her personal well-being, explaining to People how she slowly found her way back to her love of home projects.
Curtis, who hails from Detroit, did not reveal details about the 'setback' that led to her disappearance from screens. However, she did lay bare the ways in which she went about getting her life back on track—a journey that she credited to her faith and her newfound fondness for travel.
'I had a setback in my life that just rocked me to the core, and it was one of those moments where I thought, 'How do I get through this one?'' she said.
'I prayed on it, and it was just devastating for me. I had to make a decision right there and then, like, 'OK, we're going to let this affect us for a very long time, or we're going to pick it up and go,'' she added.
She reflected on a July 2022 evening when she spontaneously decided to travel to the Greek island of Corfu, only to face disaster before she'd even arrived.
Curtis hopped on a plane to Paris, with plans of spending her one-day layover shopping in the French city.
However, just moments after the plane took off, she realized she had forgotten her wallet.
'I didn't realize until I was up in the air paying for my Wi-Fi that I left my wallet behind. I didn't have a credit card on me. I had $72 of change in dollar bills stashed in my bag. So I landed in Paris without a wallet. I thought, well, you know what? This is it. This is my test. I'm going to figure it out,' she told the outlet.
Thankfully, a friend was able to transfer some money to the HGTV star.
'It was so crazy that I was like, 'This was a sign,' and I made it through,' she revealed. She still made sure to have fun in Europe by running around the Eiffel Tower.
And with some more time than she imagined on her hands, the TV personality decided to buy a property in Wyoming to flip—without ever seeing the home in real life.
She snapped up the home before even returning to the U.S., she explained.
'I was like, 'OK, what am I doing?' I went out that night, I bought a house online 'cause I was like, 'I'm going to knock off all my wish lists tonight. We're doing it,'' she said.
Although things were initially looking up, they soon spiraled when Curtis accidentally overslept and missed her connecting flight from Paris to Corfu.
She noted that she was 'either going to get stuck in Paris for the next week' or go home.
'All the flights were sold out, and this kind woman on the Delta help line was like, 'I can get you from JFK to Salt Lake City, then you can drive to Wyoming.' I said, 'That's what I'm going to do.' And that's what I did,' she revealed.
When she arrived in Utah, the same friend who had loaned her money while in Paris also shipped Curtis her wallet.
The HGTV star then went straight to her Wyoming fixer-upper, where she quickly set about pouring all of her energy into the project.
'This house needed me, and I needed this house,' she said.
The upcoming ninth season of 'Rehab Addict,' which hits screens on June 24, will see Curtis restoring that same Wyoming abode, as well as a damaged Detroit dwelling that was invaded by squatters.
She branded the new episodes an 'evolved version' of herself.
'I'm no longer this little poor mommy in Minneapolis driving around with this pickup truck with two dogs and a kid, but I'm still me. I'm still Nicole Curtis from Detroit, and I want you to save that building, and we're going to do it,' she explained.
When speaking about the upcoming season, she gushed, 'Everyone will be so excited, because you see a lot of familiar faces. All the guys on my crew that [viewers have] loved over the years, they're back. We've all stayed friends, and they're here.'
She noted that 'old school' fans will appreciate the nostalgic touches.
'This season has the feel of Season 1, Season 2. The houses are smaller. We've done a lot of big projects over the years, and my lake house … that was like a bougie series,' she added.
'I'm building my million-dollar lake house. I was still saving an old house, but it wasn't 'Nicole Curtis on the brink of bankruptcy' if this one doesn't sell, like the old-school ones.'
Curtis—who shares children Ethan, whom she welcomed in 1997, with ex Steven Cimini, and Harper, born in 2015, whom she shares with ex Shane Maguire—noted that this season would not see her children partaking, revealing that she was going to keep much of her life private going forward.
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Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
Tasting the best Trompe-l'œil fruit desserts in L.A.
Trompe-l'œil desserts, the fruit desserts often molded and decorated to mimic mango, pistachio and an array of other produce and nuts, look like works of art. French pastry chef Cédric Grolet is credited with starting the trend, and the desserts are gaining in popularity in Los Angeles, with a handful of shops offering their take on the beautiful confections. We taste tested more than a dozen. Here are our favorites.


Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
I taste tested the viral cakes that look like fruit and nuts. Which L.A. bakeries make the best ones?
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Kara tasked Ramlawi with transforming an existing mango dessert into a mango-shaped creation called Mango Madness ($15). It's a sunset-colored orb with a crunchy white chocolate shell, mousse and a fresh mango center. 'When we saw the trend of the fruit-shaped desserts was catching, we thought maybe we should follow the theme and we changed the shape,' Kara says. 'I needed to have something that was Instagrammable, and eventually people caught up with what we were doing and it became viral,' he says. 'It's been going viral for over a year now.' Ramlawi introduces a new fruit dessert every couple of months. Recently, there was a Meyer lemon-filled Lemon County ($12) and a banana-shaped Musa ($15) built with layers of double chocolate and Speculoos, banana coulis, caramel and chocolate fondant spongecake. The Orangiumum ($25) and Rose Razzleberry ($25) are massive approximations of the fruits they are meant to resemble. 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And in the very center, a whole raspberry. 'We're a little behind Europe, but right now, this is a trend in L.A. because they look realistic,' Aykazyan says. 'I also think it's because they are fun and really yummy.' To see our favorites, watch a full taste test of all the desserts mentioned above in our video here, or on YouTube.


Elle
an hour ago
- Elle
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The couple didn't pose together though, opting to keep the focus on Mescal's work. They did match in black though: ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.