HGTV Star Galey Alix 'Shut Down' Filming Home in a Heartbeat: 'Don't Think I'd Survive a Season 2' (Exclusive)

• Home in the blink of an eye star Galey Alix talks to PEOPLE about her experience filming the series, which premieres on HGTV in 2023.
• He won’t be back for the second season. Alix explained that participating in the show caused her debilitating stress.
• However, she did not leave design behind, and next month she is launching a new wallpaper line under her own brand Galey Alix Design and a new carpet collection in collaboration with Livabliss.

Galey Alix rose to fame in the home renovation space, amassing a huge following on social media thanks to her serene designs and unique business plan, which saw her and her collection of contractors help homeowners transform their space in just 72 hours.

It was a hook that became a cornerstone Home in the blink of an eyeThe HGTV series led by Alix debuted in April 2023 and is currently streaming on Max.

Over the course of seven episodes, viewers watched as the self-taught designer transformed spaces for her clients in a weekend. Relying on her pre-planning skills, a talented team of taskmasters, and her superhuman ability to seemingly overcome any obstacle thrown her way,

Alix made the shortened timeline look easy, and she made stunning room after stunning room with a smile on her face.

But behind those dramatic revelations was a woman who barely slept, so overcome with pressure and anxiety that she would have to wear long-sleeved shirts or copious amounts of make-up on the day of the unveiling because the stress gave her hives.

“My nervous system completely shut down,” she tells PEOPLE. “At the end of the show, I realized that I don’t have a nervous system; I a.m nervous system.”

Alix doesn’t blame HGTV for her experience. “Oh, it’s not the network’s fault,” she says. In fact, she recently appeared on HGTV 100-day hotel challengewhere she helped network star Mika Kleinschmidt renovate a motel in Salter Path, NC for a much longer period of time.

Instead, Alix puts the responsibility squarely on her shoulders.

“I feel like I set myself up for failure, because I wanted to renovate entire homes in 72 hours with my team. But I’m also a perfectionist with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which means I won’t let We won’t drop things, do it fast, because I don’t have enough time.”

In ‘Home in a Heartbreath’ on HGTV, Galex Alix carves a custom door for the master suite. courtesy of HGTV How Galey Alix turned heartbreak and health crisis into HGTV star: ‘Starting over saved me’ (Exclusive)

This desire for quality meant non-stop work.

“We would sometimes be awake for 86 hours continuously, climbing and descending ladders and installing drywall, lighting, built-in elements, wallpaper – as long as the cameras were recording,” recalls Alix. “And then add on top of that, I’m also a host, I’m also producing, I’m a contractor slash designer slash day laborer. I was wearing so many hats. And my whole body was literally falling apart in front of me.”

“It’s like trying to build an airplane while flying it,” says Alix. “It was really, really hard. And I just couldn’t take it. It got to the point where it was just like, I don’t think I would have survived another season.”

“I can’t Home in the blink of an eyebecause my heart will stop beating,” he jokes.

Galey Alix.

Galey Alix/Instagram

WATCH: HGTV’s Newest Home Renovation Star Is Wall Street Executive Dating ‘Girlfriend’ Alum (Exclusive)

This does not mean that Alix is ​​moving away from the spotlight.

She pitches various concepts to other networks, including one show where she renovates dorm rooms or fraternity and sorority houses.

“I have many working ideas, but whatever I end up with will be simpler,” says Alix. “It really can’t be anything like us. It really affected the mental health of me and my whole team.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Mental health is something Alix has learned to prioritize the hard way.

Before starting her career, she was in tatters, planning a wedding while, as an assistant at her job as a Goldman Sachs executive, decorating the 10,000-square-foot mansion in Connecticut where she and her fiance planned to live together.

But her desire for perfectionism—”it’s own disease,” she points out—had a dangerous effect on her. She had a serious eating disorder (anorexia and bulimia), which she hid from friends and family. And when she finally confided in her fiance about her struggle, admitting she wanted to find a therapist and get help, he broke up with her, calling off their wedding right before they were about to say their “I dos.”

At the lowest point in her life, Alix deleted social media and started working with a therapist and nutritionist. A few months later, and finally feeling strong enough to face the humiliation of her breakup, she logged back into her Instagram account and saw that her 800 followers had blossomed into tens of thousands of new ones, many of whom begged her to design their homes.

Galey Alix.

Galey Alix/Instagram

Since then, Alix has grown her business into a new empire, amassing millions of social media followers along the way.

“It’s really a reminder that you have no idea what’s going to happen in the next month, or the next year, or the next decade,” she tells PEOPLE. “Here I thought I had lost everything, and I found myself doing things I never imagined I could do.”

Big things are coming.

On Nov. 8, Galey will launch Alix x Livabliss, a 34-piece rug collection she designed that will be sold online at Amazon, Wayfair, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. Further collaborations on lighting, furniture and decor are coming with the brand in January. She also has a wallpaper line, through Galey Alix Design, coming out the week of November 11th.

“It’s all at very affordable, very friendly prices,” says Alix. “They’re like parts of me and my designs. I can’t physically go into every home and renovate it, so I wanted to create items that could help people bring that aesthetic into their space without breaking the bank.”

Galey Alix.

Nate Bednarz

And when it comes to her mental health, Alix says things got tough during it Home in the blink of an eyethey never progressed to the depth of depression she had previously struggled with.

“It’s a lot easier to be self-aware and protect your mental health when you’ve gone through literally almost losing your life because you didn’t prioritize it,” she says. “It’s like when you see those signs that say, ‘Don’t text and drive.’ and you’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ and then all of a sudden you almost crash into a person on the sidewalk, I guarantee you’ll never text and drive again.”

“I would have been a fool if I hadn’t followed my own advice and done something that wasn’t healthy for me,” Alix continues. “I’ve come this far; there’s no going back.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education