If you’ve watched even one episode of Windy City Rehab, you know Alison Victoria doesn't do "quiet." She’s a force of nature in a hard hat, usually tearing down a wall or fighting a contractor in the middle of a Chicago winter. But while her professional battles with people like Donovan Eckhardt played out in front of millions of viewers, her personal life stayed weirdly under the radar for a long time.
That’s where things get confusing for fans. Who is the man behind the scenes? Specifically, what’s the deal with Luke Harding and Alison Victoria?
People still search for his name alongside hers, even though they haven't been a "thing" in years. Honestly, the timeline of their relationship is a bit of a puzzle because Alison is a master at keeping the cameras focused on the crown molding rather than her living room. But if you dig into the history of this HGTV star, the story of her marriage to Luke Harding is actually pretty foundational to who she is today.
The Match.com Start and a Paris Proposal
Let’s go back to 2011. Before the HGTV fame really exploded, Alison was splitting her time between the glitz of Las Vegas and her home turf in Chicago. She wanted to settle down. She did what everyone else was doing: she jumped on Match.com.
That’s where she met Luke Harding.
He wasn't some TV personality or a high-profile developer. Luke was an insurance agency owner—a guy with a stable, normal job that had nothing to do with the chaotic world of reality television. They talked for about a month before finally meeting up in person at a Chicago Cubs game. Sorta romantic, in a very Midwestern kind of way.
📖 Related: Lindsay Lohan Leak: What Really Happened with the List and the Scams
The relationship moved fast. By 2013, they were engaged. Luke didn't just throw a ring in a glass of champagne, either. During a trip to Paris, he arranged a midnight picnic in the French Room at The Drake Hotel. He leaned into the romance, and Alison loved it. At the time, she told Chicago Splash that she married him because he was her biggest fan.
Why the Marriage to Luke Harding Stayed Private
You might be wondering why you never saw Luke on Windy City Rehab. It’s a fair question. Most HGTV stars turn their spouses into co-stars—think Chip and Joanna or Ben and Erin.
But Alison and Luke were different.
- Brand Separation: Alison has always been the face of her own brand. Even in her early Kitchen Crashers days, she was the solo expert.
- Luke’s Privacy: By all accounts, Luke Harding had zero interest in being a TV star. He stayed 100% out of the spotlight to run his insurance business.
- The Move to Chicago: They bought a house together in Chicago, but by the time the cameras for Windy City Rehab really started rolling for Season 2, the marriage was already on the rocks.
Basically, while we were all watching Alison deal with stop-work orders and lawsuits from her business partner, she was quietly navigating a divorce in the background. It’s wild to think about the pressure she was under. She was losing her business, her reputation was being dragged in court, and her marriage was ending—all at the same time.
The Timeline of the Split
It wasn't a sudden "we're done" moment that hit the headlines. Instead, it was a slow fade. They wed in 2013 and reportedly split around 2019.
👉 See also: Kaley Cuoco Tit Size: What Most People Get Wrong About Her Transformation
The divorce wasn't officially finalized until 2022, which is a long time to have a legal tether to an ex. During those intervening years, fans were constantly speculating. Was she single? Was she dating her contractor? (She wasn’t). Because Luke never appeared on the show, many viewers didn't even realize she had been married in the first place.
When she finally started talking about "starting over" in later seasons of her show, she wasn't just talking about the houses. She was talking about a total life reset.
Moving On: Brandt Andersen and "Sin City Rehab"
If you’re looking for Luke Harding today, you won’t find him on Alison’s Instagram. She has moved on in a big way. In June 2024, she went "Instagram official" with her new boyfriend, Brandt Andersen.
They made their debut on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys, and she hasn't been shy about posting him since. It’s a total 180 from how she handled her marriage to Luke. With Brandt, she’s sharing the "My 🤍" captions and Rumi quotes. She even mentioned on an episode of her new show, Sin City Rehab, that they met at a mental health retreat.
It feels like a different chapter. A lighter one.
✨ Don't miss: Dale Mercer Net Worth: Why the RHONY Star is Richer Than You Think
What Most People Get Wrong
One of the biggest points of confusion on the internet is the name "Luke Harding."
If you Google the name, you’ll often find a very famous British journalist who works for The Guardian and writes about Russian espionage. To be clear: that is not the same Luke Harding. The Luke Harding married to Alison Victoria is the Chicago-based insurance professional. Don't go looking for her ex-husband in the middle of a geopolitical thriller; he's likely just living his life in Illinois, far away from the HGTV cameras.
The Reality of Celebrity Relationships
The story of Luke Harding and Alison Victoria is a reminder that what we see on "reality" TV is only a tiny slice of the pie. Alison was dealing with the collapse of her personal life while trying to save her career from a massive financial scandal involving Donovan Eckhardt.
She survived it.
She’s now filming in Las Vegas, she has a new partner, and she seems to have found a balance between being a public figure and having a private life.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you’re following Alison Victoria’s journey, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding her past and future:
- Check the Dates: Most articles claiming she is "currently married" are outdated. She is divorced and has been since the paperwork cleared in 2022.
- Watch the Evolution: You can see her shift in personality between Season 1 of Windy City Rehab and the newer Sin City Rehab. The later seasons show a woman who has processed a lot of personal and professional trauma.
- Respect the Privacy: While she’s more open with Brandt Andersen, it’s clear she learned a hard lesson about what happens when you let the world into your private business during a crisis.
The saga of Alison's life in Chicago might have been defined by the men she worked with and the man she married, but the current era is all about her own terms. Whether she's flipping a warehouse or walking a red carpet, she's doing it as a solo powerhouse who isn't afraid to leave the past where it belongs.