Nicole Curtis, whose home-rehab work in Detroit and Minneapolis has been the backbone of โRehab Addictโ on HGTV, is thanking people for their support and apologizing after a video surfaced in which she used a racial slur.
โI could say more, but I shall say less,โ she wrote Wednesday in a caption on an Instagram video showing her going back and forth on an airportโs moving sidewalk. โThank you for 15 years of amazing, amazing support! Your love took me from a struggling mommy working odd jobs in Craigslist to a real estate mogul whose voice (more than face) gets recognized all over the world.
โGod Bless … Set the DVR -stream it -just make sure these old houses are saved.โ
In the video, you can see her riding in one direction as the text over the video states, โPOV: you waiting all this time for more Rehab Addict. Then sheโs going the other way with text saying, โMe: I promiseโ followed by another direction switch and text that reads, โMe: forgive me.โ
In her Instagram Stories, she shared a text exchange with TMZ where she said, in part, โRegarding HGTV, Iโm grateful for the 15-year journey weโve shared. Itโs been a meaningful chapter, but my focus isnโt on my career. My focus at this moment is rightfully on my relationships, and my community โ the people who truly know my character and where my heart is. I want to be clear: the word in question is wrong and not part of my vocabulary and never has been, and I apologize to everyone.โ
She followed that up with a series of screen grabs showing messages from strangers calling her profane names, insulting her and labeling her a racist. One person said he wanted her deported and โdisposed ofโ and added, amid his all-caps profanity, โmay you never have a day of peace again.โ Curtis told TMZ she was focused on being a mom.
Video of the slip was captured two years ago, according to Radar Online, which posted it Wednesday.
โWhy? Itโs my last one,โ she says in the brief clip, whining a bit as she stands on a ladder and struggles to clip some wires. Then she uses the N-word.
She immediately stops what sheโs doing, turns around and says, โWhat the fโ is that that I just said? Nick, you gotta, you gotta โ can you kill that?โ A worker is seen helping her at ground level. Someone can be heard laughing off camera.
โNo, Iโve got 35 minutes [of footage shot], I canโt …,โ her cameraman says from farther away, off-camera.
โOh, fโ my life,โ Curtis says, distressed over what she just said.
HGTV said in a statement that the network had been โrecently made aware of an offensive racial comment made during the filming of Rehab Addict. Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees โ it does not align with the values of HGTV.โ
The network said it had removed the show โfrom all HGTV platforms.โ The show was produced for eight full seasons from 2010 to 2018 and was in the midst of an apparently short ninth season spread over two years when it was pulled. The franchise โ which also included โRehab Addict Rescueโ (2021) and โRehab Addict Lake House Rescueโ (2022) โ was no longer available to stream on the HBO Max or Discovery+ platforms on Thursday.
Curtis had posted a promo for the new episodes of โRehab Addict,โ which hasnโt showed new material since last summer.
โStraight from Detroit โthe new episodes drop Wednesday โฆwas told now or never -so you get them now,โ the Instagram post says. Two episodes were set to air, but did not,โ she wrote in the promo caption.โAnd can you do me a huge show of support by sharing this. Sending it to friends, tag a friend, a stranger.โ
Curtis talked with The Times about her 2016 book โBetter Than New: Lessons Iโve Learned From Saving Old Houses,โ where she wrote, โThe best way to get through hell is to keep on moving.โ
โYears ago, I was having a bad time and I was sitting there in my pajamas crying, and a friend was there and said, โCโmon, get up, weโre going for a walk,โโ she said at the time. โNow Iโve got mascara running down my face, and Iโm a mess, but she said, โYou have to keep moving, now, letโs go!โ And that was really helpful. If I wasnโt so physically active, I probably wouldnโt get out of bed some days. You have to get fired back up โ just get up and move.โ
It could be time for Curtis to get up and moving again.
