Nicole Curtis, the longtime host of HGTV’s home improvement show “Rehab Addict,” has apologized for using a racial slur during filming that was included in footage that resurfaced in 2022. HGTV canceled “Rehab Addict” this week after footage of Curtis spread online, with the host claiming the footage was “stolen, doctored, edited and sold to tabloids in preparation for[her]return to television.”
In the video, Curtis appears to have accidentally said the N-word while renovating a house, and immediately expresses shock, saying, “What did you just say?” She then asks someone on her team to “kill it.”
“HGTV recently became aware of offensive racist comments made during the filming of ‘Rehab Addict,'” the network told Variety in a statement Wednesday. “Language like this is not only hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees, but is also inconsistent with HGTV’s values. Therefore, we have removed this series from all HGTV platforms. We remain committed to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion across our content and workplace.”
Curtis wrote a lengthy apology on his Instagram account Thursday night.
“I am so sorry. I am as full of remorse and regret as I was one second after those words were said four years ago in 2022,” she wrote. “I show you this and I say this, but I know you are only getting a limited view because what is being circulated is some footage of me that was stolen, manipulated, edited and sold to tabloids to coincide with my return to television, only to create chaos of hate, anger and disappointment.”
The first two episodes of “Rehab Addict” Season 9 aired in July 2025, but the broadcast was cut short when Curtis decided to shelve the remaining episodes and recut them for later release. The remainder of the season was scheduled to resume on February 12, but those plans have been scrapped.
“I make no excuses for this,” she continued. “I am not a victim. Nothing I say or do will erase that moment four years ago. I know it was wrong. Nothing like this will ever happen again. I want to be clear about this…I am not working on this because I was ‘caught.'” I came here because I can’t forgive myself for saying that. I have been immersed in the African American community for my entire adult life. I am a mother of two who has chosen to live and work in the inner cities of many major cities, most notably Minneapolis and Detroit. Yes, I hear that word every day, people say it around me, I hear it in music, and I’m not secluded in the suburbs. I’m a small white blonde who lives in my neighborhood, and I know that when people like me use it, it’s a word that represents evil, pain, torture, and trauma. And yet, it came from me…”
She further explained, “You ask. How did it come out so easily? I don’t have an answer to that. It came out, and it shocked me as shown. Now, you ask – what the hell are we saying? I’ll throw out a word, this is recorded in 15 years of TV, interviews and posts of these random words. The most famous “son of the beehive digger” who took the place of SOB when I became a mom and couldn’t swear on TV. I added that in recent years, fart diggers, fart knockers, and it’s been documented. ”
