I used to watch Rehab Addict, Nicole Curtis’s show on what was then the DIY Network. DIY is now the Magnolia Network, and it’s been taken over by Chip and Joanna Gaines and their people, which means that Rehab Addict moved over to HGTV. Curtis was one of the rare house-renovaters and flippers to actually rehab older homes without gutting them. In Rehab Addict, she often dedicated an entire season to meticulously renovating one or two homes, usually in Detroit, Michigan or in some other city or state with a lot of dilapidated or would-be tear-down homes. Well, bad news for the few of us who enjoyed Rehab Addict. It turns out that Nicole Curtis is racist and thinks nothing of dropping the n-word on camera. Jesus.
HGTV has canceled Rehab Addict after its star, Nicole Curtis, used a racial slur that was caught on camera while she filmed the series. In addition to canceling the show, the network has also scrubbed the entire series from streaming platforms HBO Max and Discovery+.
“HGTV was recently 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 – it does not align with the values of HGTV,” the network said in a statement shared with Deadline.
“Accordingly, we have removed the series from all HGTV platforms. We remain dedicated to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion across our content and our workplace.”
Rehab Addict originally premiered in 2010 on the DIY Network before moving to HGTV with Season 4 in 2014. The series centered on Curtis advocating for the preservation and restoration of existing architecture rather than demolition. New episodes of the series were scheduled to begin airing on February 11, but the schedule has now been canceled.
HGTV has scrubbed the page dedicated to Rehab Addict on their website, and searching for the show on streaming platforms like HBO Max and Discovery+ leads to an error message that reads, “Oops! Looks like this link isn’t working.”
A video from the set of Rehab Addict leaked to Radar, which shared the clip online. While working on a project, Curtis used the n-word before quickly realizing what she just said and swiftly asked to “kill” the moment, which evidently didn’t happen.
My God. Not only saying it but immediately trying to cover it up and keep it from the network. I’m pleasantly surprised that HGTV acted so quickly and that the network has “canceled” Curtis so thoroughly. It reminds me a bit of the Paula Deen situation with the Food Network, only I doubt Curtis will get the same level of (racist) support Deen received after she admitted to using the n-word (not to mention forcing her Black employees to dress like Antebellum servants). This is something else I’ve been thinking about in the Trump occupation too – even though Trump and MAGA have tried to make it “okay” to be openly racist, it turns out that corporations by and large still *want* to have DEI policies in place and they want to have a hardline on firing people for racism.
Photos courtesy of Nicole Curtis’s Instagram.
Between Jill Zarin and this Rehab Addict person being fired for their racism I’m pleased with the immediate responses to willful and casual racism. It’s still the least they could do because it’s the RIGHT thing to do.
I like how thoroughly HGTV is scrubbing the show–no finding earlier seasons on their streaming platforms. This is how you do it, immediately & thoroughly.
The fact that she dropped it “accidentally” in a professional setting seems to indicate this is a word she uses frequently…
^^This!
This. There is no accidentally. It’s either a word you are comfortable with or you absolutely never use it, there is no in-between.
Exactly. True colors come out in the language people use casually.
I grew up in Kentucky in the 1980’s and 90’s so while I never heard that word said in my home, I certainly heard it just about everywhere else and yet its never accidentally (or purposely) just fallen out of my mouth. What a disappointment because I liked how she restored houses but good on HGTV for having zero tolerance for that racist nonsense.
Disappointed, but never surprised.
Weird how these words we never use just suddenly slip out. 🫢
Well, i’m glad at the response from HGTV.
That word doesn’t slip out. I am 44 years old and that word has never once just “slipped” out of my mouth because it is not part of my vocabulary in that way. not when I’m busy or distracted, not when I’m drunk, never.
It doesnt slip out in settings like this unless you use it regularly otherwise.
I am actually very impressed with HGTV actions and yes you are very right that word doesn’t just slip out if it’s not part of your regular vocabulary. At 59 I can honestly say I have never used that word and it certainly would never just slipped out.
Well done HGTV. I am now 70 and this word has never once left my lips.
Yep, 68 here. never part of my swear vocabulary.
The only acceptable use of this word is if you are a parent and need to explain it a child. That’s a critical conversation. Any other iteration, and it’s time to face that you are racist.
So disappointed with her. My mother and I were always front row to watch her show, and being from Michigan, we were always excited when she appeared, or worked on homes, in the area. SMH.
I’m also disappointed. I loved that show when I watched it several years ago. I lived in a house that was built in 1909 and my H and I were painstakingly restoring it. With both of us working full time and having 3 kids it was a several year process.
I’m glad HGTV was swift with action. HGTV is one of my guilty pleasures and this makes watching the network feel good about it.
I’m disappointed, but not shocked. I loved her show early on, because she was doing work herself, and she was trying to be thrifty. I had purchased and worked on 2 forclosures myself. I went to see her at a home and garden show and she was pretty off putting. Dismissive, angry, talking about how we should all know from her show that she was all about children and helping others, not redoing houses.
I don’t know who she is but, to be honest, I’m surprised she was fired. HGTV cancelled every single series that had designers that weren’t led straight white individuals– Married to Real Estate, Luxe for Less, Bargain Blocks, Izzy Does It, Rico to the Rescue, etc. so I’m not sure why this is now something egregious to them. They fell right in line with Dear Leader’s wishes, so it seems to me she was following the script.
HGTV is the Target of networks. I’ve not watched one program since those changes were made nor will I watch if they try and bring in a token for appeasement.
Do you think they realized that MAGA bigots won’t carry the day for their viewer numbers?
I did not realize that all those shows were canceled, I rarely watch television anymore and don’t have cable.
Yes, I think a lot of companies are realizing that MAGA won’t save them financially. Its like what we discussed the other day about the SuperBowl – the NFL made a financial decision to have Bad Bunny as the halftime act, not a political one at all. I think HGTV is likewise making a financial decision, not a moral one.
Turns out the woke left mob is who likes to watch HGTV and spend money at Target.
That word isn’t even a curse word you use when you stub your toe or get angry. It’s a horrible insult. If she’s dropping it at work AND on camera, that says a horrible lot about her.
Good point! I occasionally find myself randomly letting fly some curse word my racist father used to use – like something bubbling up from a memory I barely have – when I stub my toe, catch a finger in a door, etc
But never, ever have any of the slurs he and his FOO used to throw around popped out. Because even as a child I knew that was awful language, I never used it myself, thought it, or had the impulse to say it. It’s got to be in her repertoire somewhere.
Just watched the leaked film of this 😱 on #YouTube…she hit that “ER” HARD!🫨
What was the context?! I can’t even fathom how the word would come up. I’m very disappointed bc I love old houses and her embrace of all their quirks.
She was on a ladder, having difficulties with something near the ceiling, said ‘oh, fart n****r, then ‘what the f*ck was that that I just said’.
Very casually said, obviously a standard part of her vocabulary. Way too comfortable with that word. HGTV did the right thing. Now they can bring back Married to Real Estate & Bargain Block & the others.
I didn’t even know this show was still on. I reminder I followed her on insta around the time she had her baby (she had a teenage son and then a baby). She and the dad were on and off all the time, and extremely messy. I unfollowed because I can’t take a grown adult serious when you’re publicly switching between “gonna marry this man tomorrow” and “I’ve raised one child completely alone and I’ll do it again” literally day to day. Yikes.
Good for HGTV for moving so fast and treating it seriously. She’s probably a nightmare behind the scenes.
I stopped watching during the custody battles. She tried to avoid joint custody by first moving from Minneapolis to Detroit and then claiming she had to breast feed for three years which made overnight visits “impossible.” She’s a terrible person.
If she can read from a teleprompter, maybe she’ll wind up on Fox News. She has the look, and clearly the right mindset.
Terrible. I stopped watching HGTV after it appeared to become a real estate channel. I just wanted more design tips, but I can get those online & see pretty stuff on instagram, but even Instagram I’m following much less, since the influencers have taken over & it’s basically turned into a shopping app. Now I’ve moved over to Substack where I can follow real people and see lovely homes, gardens & art. Thoughtful essays too.
Care to share anyone to follow? I love design.
Detroiter here to share that Nicole has long been MAGA, deeply Republican, and wildly inappropriate in her professional dealings, from her use of hateful language to her mistreatment of tenants. She’s a white woman who could only position herself on HGTV against the backdrop of Detroit. It’s time she’s been exposed and I’m grateful to HGTV for taking swift action.
I believe it. I just checked, she had her younger child in 2015, so I quit following her right before maga was a thing. I was in contracting in Texas, and it was super toxic and awful pre MAGA. I got out in ‘09 and I can’t imagine what it’s probably turned into.
Detroit sure has some beautiful old homes. I enjoy following Kris and Dave, a couple restoring/renovating their big old house in Detroit.
@Detroiter Born and raised in Detroit, moved a few years ago, but it will always be home sweet home. I still keep up with things happening around town and something about her just didn’t sit right with me long before all of this. After reading your comment, good to know my gut feeling was not wrong.
Ugh. Haven’t had cable for over a decade, so it’s been that long since I’ve seen her show, but as someone who was living in and maintaining an older house, hers was the only one worth watching.
Knowing the contracting world as I do, not surprised she’s MAGA. The speed and completeness of her firing leads me to believe this was a known problem and that there were warnings she’d signed off on.
How long do we think it will take before she starts firing off on instagram or whatever about how this never happened, it was edited, it was taken out of context, she was set up, the network is woke and out to get her, etc? And how long before the magats come out of the woodwork to defend her right to say racist sh*t on tv? Or right wing politicians to start screeching about a witch hunt at HGTV and demand an investigation or for the network to be pulled off the air/streaming platforms?
@JILL
I bet a Faux News producer is already trying to contact her. She’ll be interviewed as the latest “persecuted patriot” (aka racist jerk), and will have her 15 minutes of fame inside the right-wing outrage machine. (Someone in the magasphere is probably starting a GoFundme account for her, too).
I am an 82 year old woman, and that word has NEVER slipped out of my mouth, nor did it ever slip out of my now-deceased parents mouths!!! And I am certain it will never slip out of the mouths of my grown children and almost-grown grandchildren.
Her “just slipped out” arguments are ridiculous.
@JudyB –
Exactly!!! My parents would have been your age this year and I *never* heard them say that word, either “accidentally” or intentionally. They were born and raised in the Deep South (MS and LA), and strongly disavowed the racism they’d grown up with. Had my brother or I even *contemplated* that word aloud, the punishment would have been swift and memorable.
As others have correctly noted, the only way that word slips out “accidentally” is if someone is used to saying it openly (and frequently) in their personal lives and suppressing it when in public. Until “oops!” it just slips out.
I also wholeheartedly agree with everyone who stopped watching HGTV after their recent changes (I did, too). Their decision to cancel most of their shows with “DEI,” was at best, stupid, and at worst, appeasement of their orange god-king.
The Target boycott was more of a warning shot to corporations than a lot of people realize. Their fall from consumer grace is already being documented. It really set a tone that there’s money to be made in being inclusive (it’s more important that that, but we know that’s the bottom line to these businesses and shareholders).
Good for HGTV. And good to know that in 2026, in this Trumpian hellscape, some things are still considered inappropriate. I wasn’t sure if that was the case.
Agree.
While I applaud HGTV for taking action swiftly, I also side-eye them a bit. This show has been paused for a while. She posted something a while ago saying she had finished a season, but scrapped it because she wasn’t happy with the final product. I HOPE they are not using this as an easy way to cut ties with her and are doing it for the correct reasons.
I was watching the Magnolia network and they aired a Heritage Foundation commercial. It was about family and faith and came across very Project 2025 – that’s what caught my attention. I rewound the commercial to make sure I had heard correctly. Do the Gaines align with that Foundation???
If they are airing those commercials I would say they definitely are.. I haven’t watched or supported them ever really, just something about them was irritating. It they are HF/Maga supporters it wouldn’t surprise me.
That was my thought as well.
Probably. They’re known to be very churchy and I seem to remember people pointing out that they refused to feature anyone from the LGBTQIA community on their show.
Last year they featured a gay couple and their children and faced a lot of backlash from the churchy crowd. They didn’t back down, which surprised me considering how churchy they are themselves.
Chip and Joanna are super religious and conservative and we’re in hot water years ago for alignment with an anti gay church, so 🤷🏾♀️
The fact that she used the hard r and you hear someone laughing in the background made my mouth drop. What makes that word jump into your head and out your mouth when you’re trying to screw or unscrew something in the ceiling? She immediately knew that it was over for her. I’m curious what she says about black people behind their backs.
It’s just interesting bc someone leaked that video. I wonder who? Bc if people were laughing that would tell you some of the people on that set were fine with it. I’m trying to imagine one lone crew member plotting on how to leak the tape.