Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt relationship as business partners has ended. Eckhardt has left hosting the Windy City Rehab show after the split.
Alison Victoria Gramenos is a TV personality known for Windy City Rehab HGTV. Alison is a seasoned interior designer and American TV host. She is gifted in scouring pieces of old houses and making them the treasure of the new home.
Alison became the host for Kitchen Crashers, a show where they remake the kitchen for free. She became the franchise’s first female host. In 2019, she hosted a new show called Windy City Rehab with contractor Donovan Eckhardt.
Similarly, Donovon Eckhardt is a Chicago-based American businessman, reality star, property designer, and contractor as well as a constructor by profession. He is also the owner/founder of Greymark Development Group, LLC. Donovan has completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.
He rose to fame by appearing in HGTV’S reality television show, Windy City Rehab co-hosted by Alison Victoria.
The two of them had met at Alison’s show at Kitchen Crashers. Donovan was the contractor for the show and both of them had many mutual friends. Having similar interests, both of them later pitched an idea for Windy City Rehab and took it to HGTV. And from there the show began.
This year Alison is appearing on Ugliest House in America with Retta on HGTV which is happening across the country. Comedian Retta nominates the ugliest home and Alison surprises homeowner with $150,000 renovation.
Alison Victoria And Donovan Eckhardt Relationship
Alison and Donovan relationship in season 1 of Windy City Rehab was too close. Many believed Alison had been married to Donovan.
The constant interaction on the show and ongoing chemistry while sharing their moments on social media, mainly on Instagram, made fans think they are more than friends. But they were not married to each other. They were just partners working on the same project. Though they had a close knit relationship, both were simply co-workers.
On the contrary, Alison was married to Luke Harding who ran an insurance agency. The couple met each other through a dating site in 2011 and both got married in 2013 in Paris. After years of marriage, they later decided to end their marriage by April 2022.
She is also said to have been in a relationship with Michael Marks according to her talk in People. Later she was also seen with Kenneth Wayne Johnson on her Instagram. The real truth will only be revealed by her.
Meanwhile, Donovan Eckhardt is happily married to Erica Eckhardt since 2012. Both of them are blessed with four children until now. He posts his and his family’s photos on social media from time to time giving fans updates on their relationship.
What Happened Between Alison Victoria And Donovan Eckhardt?
Tension started to arise between Alison and Donovan from the start of season 2 of the show.
During the beginning of the season, Alison found out from Donovan’s social media that his license had been canceled by the city due to infringements during the inspection. Even then, she still stuck with Donovan to continue with the show even when his company could not participate in the project.
But more into the season, Alison later finds out that the company finances had many issues and encounters corrupt dealing of Donovan. He also seems to be taking company money without accounting for it. So without delay, she severed her ties with Donovan. After that, he also left the show.
Due to all the stress she had been having, she suffered from mental health problems.
Alison Victoria And Donovan Eckhardt Slapped With 3 Lawsuits
Alison and Donovan had started to have problems when multiple Chicago residents complained about the quality of their work. The situation began to worsen when James and Anna Morrissey, the couple whose house they remade in season 1 filed a lawsuit against both of them. The lawsuit involved the issue of low-quality work done in their home, a case of fraud and breaking the contract.
Though Alison tried to fix the problems of the Morrissey family, they were filed a second lawsuit by Shane Jones and Samantha Mostaccio for similar claims about sloppy construction. The designer-contractor couple already walking on thin ice were inadvertently knocked by their third lawsuit.
The third lawsuit came from Michael Ward Jr., a friend of Donovan and his family. They accused Alison and Donovan of fraudulent schemes to embezzle funds of $3 million in the project. With this, she completely abandoned her friendship with Donovan. She felt comfortable after letting go of Donovan.
Why Did Alison Victoria Sue Donovan?
Alison held Donovan accountable for all the problems and damages to the house of his shady work. For this reason, she sued Donovan.
Alison said that she had spent almost $700,000 of her own funds on the project due to mishandling of Donovan. People called her for the shoddy construction of houses compensation when she was just designing the house. Later she found that Donovan had been allocating the funds from the project to his personal business.
Though she knew suing Donovan wouldn’t get her anything, she was trying to clear her name and stain from her reputation.
Donovan Also Filed Defamation Lawsuit
Donovan filed a lawsuit against Big Table Media and Discovery for $2.2 million in January 2021.
Big Table Media was the show’s production company and Discovery was the parent company of HGTV.
Eckhardt sued both companies for the alleged emotional distress and defamation he suffered after the show made it look like in Season 2. He also claims that the series was scripted and edited to make him look like the villain of the show.
Though Cook County Judge Patricia O’Brien Sheahan dismissed his lawsuit stating that any legal disputes must be settled in a California court
Alison was not named in the original suing of January but at the end of March, Donovan’s attorney attached a new lawsuit claiming she was also involved in making Donovan look like the bad guy.
Is Donovan Eckhardt Still In Business?
Donovan Eckhardt is still in the business of construction although his net worth has been drastically reduced.
The contractor is doing good for himself with various projects in hand. Eckhardt has founded companies such as VizCorp, Eckhardt properties, BE Custom millwork and Greymark Development group. Till early December 2019, he had generated revenue of more than $1.4 million raising his net worth to $3.5 million.
Due to all the lawsuits, Eckhardt has been financially impacted. The alleged defamation has dropped his generated revenue from $3.5 million to $251565.60 in 2020. Though he is still trying to recover from his financial loss.
