Nicole Curtis’ Public Custody Battle Modified Her Life.

In 2021, Curtis returned to our screens after a two-year absence with spinoff present “Rehab Addict Rescue.” So, what impressed the house renovator to take such a prolonged break, having been a fixture of HGTV for the most effective a part of a decade? “I used to be utterly burned out,” Curtis defined to PEOPLE about her option to press pause on her profession. “There was a lot time in these ten years the place I didn’t get to take pleasure in it in any respect. I used to be wired.”

The star went on so as to add that, as a single mom of two children, she didn’t even have time to select each day outfits or apply make-up whereas taking pictures “Rehab Addict,” and that she was additionally answerable for micro-managing each facet of the hit sequence. Curtis, who admitted to the publication that she felt pangs of nerves about heading again into the highlight once more, additionally thanked followers for his or her endurance: “I’m hyper-focused proper now on remembering the place I need to be, what issues in my life, what my priorities are. My largest factor, at all times, is that life is brief and I need to reside it to the fullest.”

In the identical 12 months that her prolonged custody battle was lastly settled, Curtis began seeing a brand new man, the army nonprofit White Coronary heart Basis’s government director, Ryan Sawtelle. The HGTV star gushed to PEOPLE on their first anniversary that the connection had given her a completely new lease of life. “My coronary heart is completely happy and having him close to me brings a peaceful I’ve by no means identified,” Curtis stated. “Not that it’s been straightforward. Everybody has an awesome first few months rocking all the things they’ve in widespread, however after six months you begin digging into the opposite stuff and also you both develop aside or negotiate these variations and transfer ahead. And [you] need to decide to deal with the enjoyable.”

The couple had first bonded on social media over Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a kind of mind tumor which had taken the lives of Sawtelle’s niece and the daughter of Curtis’ pal. After assembly in individual, the place they agreed to keep away from any topics that would depart them “crying like infants,” the pair additionally labored collectively on a motorcycle-inspired promotional clip for “Rehab Addict,” the place they actually rode off into the sundown collectively. The house renovator added, “He’s good-looking, he makes me proud, he makes me snort, and we sing each tune that comes on collectively: him in good pitch realizing each phrase, me, not even shut!”

Sadly, issues didn’t work out romantically between Curtis and the person she dated after breaking apart with Maguire. However the pair remained amicable, and the previous invited Sawtelle to assist out on the ninth season of “Rehab Addict.” Nevertheless, as she confessed to TV Insider, she quickly regretted the transfer.

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“That’s the worst concept I ever got here up with,” Curtis stated in no unsure phrases. “I’m simply going to throw it on the market.” The house renovator defined that she was initially optimistic about reuniting with Sawtelle, a army nonprofit director and part-time carpenter, for what could be the primary “Rehab Addict” episodes made by her manufacturing firm. But issues didn’t work out as deliberate.

“Whenever you see us on digicam, I imply in case you’ve ever labored on a undertaking with someone you had a relationship with, you get it,” Curtis famous. “There’s simply these moments the place it’s like, ‘Dude, I can’t take this yet one more second.’ All of it labored out. We’re at all times pleasant, however I at all times say there’s a cause we’re not collectively. I believe that’s obvious to anybody.”

“Rehab Addict” followers had been left stumped in July 2025 when its ninth season abruptly stopped simply two episodes in. Had the house renovation present develop into a casualty of its residence community’s ruthless executives? Was there a scheduling error? Or had its host develop into a type of design stars who had brutally turned on HGTV? Properly, as Curtis helpfully defined on social media, the true cause was merely a matter of timing.

“I made the manager resolution to shelf the remainder of our new reveals till fall,” she revealed on Instagram earlier than expressing gratitude to her followers for his or her endurance. “I respect your assist and understanding for the late discover. It’s simply quite a lot of hours (my hours) to get a present on air and we (my household + me) thought – why are we giving up summer time when we’ve got the power to do that within the fall?”

Curtis additionally thanked the community for allowing the readjustment. “Unquestionably, I, really, am past pleased with this resolution as I simply spent the day with a cellphone that was useless and had no worries about it.” The star then quashed any rumors that her secretly shady pal David Bromstad was being lined up as her substitute, insisting that his present “My Lottery Dream Residence” was solely briefly filling the programming hole. Right here’s a have a look at different scandalous rumors about HGTV stars which might be tougher to disregard.

Curtis’ behind-the-scenes issues had been compounded in 2025 when her former enterprise companion sued her for allegedly failing to compensate him for his efforts on “Rehab Addict.” Jordan Garland claimed that he was formally provided at the very least $25,000 for his work however solely obtained a fraction of this determine. The plaintiff, whose duties included drone piloting, filming scenes, and rough-cut modifying, additionally took Curtis’ manufacturing firm, Porte Cochere Manufacturing, LLC, to court docket after a number of requests for the cash owed had been ignored.

In line with official paperwork obtained by The Solar, “Defendants refused to debate compensation and threatened [Jordan] with legal prosecution. Defendants did not pay [Jordan] and prepare for him to obtain correct credit score. [Jordan] has been broken in an quantity larger than $25,000.” The defendants argued that Garland had, in actual fact, been pretty rewarded for his work and that most of the duties listed had been carried out with out prior approval. The case went on for practically a 12 months earlier than being dismissed, with a settlement convention deliberate for the start of 2026 formally dropped.

A number of years earlier than being sued by a enterprise companion, Curtis determined to file a lawsuit of her personal in response to a long-running dispute with the Detroit Land Financial institution Authority. The HGTV star claimed that she’d been taken benefit of by the agency when it got here to the deeds of the 1908 foursquare Islandview property. The drama began in 2017, a 12 months after Curtis purchased the dilapidated home for $17,000, when she found that its title was truly owned by the financial institution.

Nevertheless, the property’s change in possession wasn’t formally recorded, and Curtis had already spent a major amount of money and time on its renovations. She subsequently needed to cease all work on the undertaking till the matter was resolved. Fortunately for Curtis, Timothy Kenny, the Wayne Circuit Court docket Chief, dominated in her favor. The financial institution’s spokeswoman, Alyssa Strickland, later informed The Detroit Information, “Our aim for this property has at all times been to see it renovated and returned to productive use. We might be happy to see the home rehabilitated to the good thing about its Islandview neighbors.”

Curtis could have been more than pleased to indicate off her firstborn, Ethan, whereas taking pictures the early sequence of HGTV favourite “Rehab Addict.” However within the age of social media, the place the public meticulously scrutinizes each facet of the present and her life, the house renovator has now determined to maintain her private life utterly separate. “I realized my lesson,” Curtis informed PEOPLE about how Ethan, whose father is Steven Cimini, and second baby Harper, the topic of a messy custody battle with ex Maguire, might be stored out of the limelight. “I believe there’s one present we may give our kids, and I give them privateness. They’re out in public with me lots, and I defend them.”

Curtis revealed that Ethan had loved all the eye he obtained whereas showing alongside his mother on TV as a teenager. “He thought it was cool, and his buddies thought it was cool to be on TV. And so they nonetheless make enjoyable of him as a result of they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we are able to see you as a younger boy, you had braces’ and all this.” Nevertheless, the star insisted that she’d by no means put both of her two children within the glare of the cameras ever once more.

It’s not simply her two youngsters, nonetheless, that Curtis needs to defend from the glare of the highlight. The HGTV favourite is now additionally decided to maintain her personal private life strictly behind closed doorways. “I maintain my non-public life non-public and since I believe there’s been some very traumatic moments in my life that weren’t so non-public,” Curtis informed PEOPLE throughout an interview to advertise the ninth season of her hit present “Rehab Addict.” “One other lesson realized. I inform individuals on a regular basis, in case you’re in my circle, then you realize what’s happening in my life. Aside from that, I keep fairly mute about all the things.”

The one topic Curtis needs to talk publicly about today is her space of experience. “Our household went by lots through the years, and in order that’s positively one thing that I’ve performed my greatest to maintain my household out of the general public eye and deal with the homes,” she continued. “That’s at all times the place we wished that focus to be.”

In addition to protecting her youngsters away from the cameras, Curtis can also be decided to spend as a lot time with them as attainable. In a 2025 interview with TV Insider, the “Rehab Addict” host revealed that, now that she has alternatives to take breaks from her beforehand relentless work schedule, she needs to profit from it. “Individuals ask why I solely have 4 episodes popping out after I used to have 25,” she remarked, referring to the shorter seasons of her hit HGTV present. “Yeah, I wanted the cash, had a toddler at residence, and wasn’t financially safe. We labored on a regular basis.”

The Lake Orion native went on to elucidate that she was as soon as pressured to take her eldest son, Ethan, to work along with her, however that her life as a mom is now utterly separate from her skilled adventures. Curtis additionally expressed how grateful she is to be on this place: “I don’t need to be at a 9-to-5 job each day, and that’s necessary to me. I’m very fortunate. Not all mothers can try this. I’m blessed to have the ability to try this, and I couldn’t have performed it with out the followers.”

Curtis has by no means been one to tug her punches with regards to residence renovation. Even so, she seems to have develop into much more forthright in her opinions lately. Take her 2025 interview with Collider, for instance, by which she blasted all the things from the newest design fads to owners who fail to acknowledge the significance of historical past.

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“I believe each pattern I see out there may be blasphemy to the outdated home character, so it may be something,” Curtis started her listing of bugbears earlier than particularly calling out massive open flooring plans and the elimination of unique options. “You don’t love an outdated home, don’t purchase an outdated home,” she warned anybody probably responsible of such habits. “Sadly, I’m caught with homes which might be simply within the worst form.”

Curtis, who joked that in 100 years she’d hang-out any home she deemed ruined, additionally made it clear she doesn’t need to fraternize with anybody who disagrees. “These aren’t my form of individuals. They’ll be like, ‘I’ve an outdated home too.’ After which they present me footage, and be like, ‘We simply redid our kitchen, and we threw out the unique rest room.’ Like we’re not pals. My face doesn’t disguise it. I’m horrified. I’m like that’s not good. Sorry.”

In 2025, Curtis returned to the present that made her identify, HGTV’s “Rehab Addict,” for the primary time in a number of years. As she informed PEOPLE on the promotional path, she was impressed to launch a comeback following an undisclosed private setback, which left her world shattered. “It was a type of moments the place I believed, ‘How do I get by this one?’” Curtis defined whereas protecting the main points to the naked minimal. “I prayed on it and it was simply devastating for me. I needed to decide proper there after which like, ‘Okay, we’re going to let this have an effect on us for a really very long time, or we’re going to select it up and go.’”

Curtis informed long-time viewers that they may anticipate to see a brand new and improved model of the host they as soon as knew. “I’m not this little poor mommy in Minneapolis driving round with this pickup truck with two canines and a child. However I’m nonetheless me, I’m nonetheless Nicole Curtis from Detroit, and I need you to save lots of that constructing and we’re going to do it.”

In 2022, Curtis all of a sudden realized she wanted a trip and headed for Corfu that exact same day, stopping in Paris for a quick layover. Sadly, issues didn’t go fairly as deliberate. She forgot her pockets, forcing her to name upon a pal for an pressing money switch whereas within the French capital, and later missed her connecting flight to the Greek island.

However the HGTV star nonetheless had a whale of a time, visiting all the things from the Champs-Élysées to the Eiffel Tower. In actual fact, Curtis loved this random act a lot that she realized that she ought to lean into her spontaneous aspect extra typically. Throughout her quick getaway, she selected a whim to purchase an Nineties Wyoming property, which, as you’d anticipate, wanted fairly a bit of labor.

“I used to be like, ‘I’m going to knock off all my want lists tonight,’” Curtis defined to PEOPLE about this loopy 24-hour interval. Having did not make it to Corfu, the “Rehab Addict” host headed to her newest buy as a substitute — by way of flights to JFK and Salt Lake Metropolis first. “This home wanted me and I wanted this home,” she defined concerning the constructing, which she was later seen restoring on her hit present.