Nicole Curtis Reveals Why Her Ex-Boyfriend Appears on New Season of ‘Rehab Addict’ (Exclusive)

Nicole Curtis has thief from a astonishing collaborator connected nan caller play of Rehab Addict — her ex-boyfriend Ryan Sawtelle.

In nan play premiere (airing June 24), Sawtelle useful arsenic a carpenter connected a Wyoming spot from nan 1890s that nan HGTV prima sets retired to reconstruct aft a poorly executed flip.

“We were together a agelong clip and I was very adjacent to his family,” Curtis tells PEOPLE, explaining why she welcomed Sawtelle connected nan show. “So we ne'er really stayed retired of contact. Your lives are truthful enmeshed.”

Curtis bought nan Wyoming location connected a whim online during a chaotic travel to Paris successful July 2022, which she says came aft a “setback” successful her life. Buoyed by an averted near-crisis aft she accidentally boarded nan formation without her wallet, she recalls thinking, "‘I'm going to sound disconnected each my wish lists tonight," earlier making nan spur-of-the-moment purchase. When she sewage to Wyoming, she enlisted Sawtelle for nan renewal project.

Curtis bought nan Wyoming location connected a whim online during a chaotic travel to Paris successful July 2022, which she says came aft a “setback” successful her life. Buoyed by an averted near-crisis aft she accidentally boarded nan formation without her wallet, she recalls thinking, "‘I'm going to sound disconnected each my wish lists tonight," earlier making nan spur-of-the-moment purchase. When she sewage to Wyoming, she enlisted Sawtelle for nan renewal project.

“I didn't cognize anyone successful Wyoming, but I knew personification adjacent Wyoming, and truthful I gave him a call,” she adds of Sawtelle. “We conscionable went retired location together and checked retired nan house. It wasn't thing else. There was decidedly nary reconciliation aliases ‘Maybe this was a correction not being together.’ No, no, no, .... Us going abstracted paths was a 100 percent nan champion thought that we ever had.”

The erstwhile mates began making love successful 2018. The pursuing year, nan location restoration master opened up astir her narration pinch Sawtelle, whom she met aft she began pursuing his niece’s conflict pinch Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an fierce encephalon tumor recovered successful children, via his Instagram.

“My bosom is happy and having him adjacent maine brings a calm I’ve ne'er known,” Curtis told PEOPLE astatine nan time. “Not that it’s been easy. Everyone has a awesome first fewer months rocking everything they person successful common. But aft six months, you commencement digging into nan different worldly and you either turn isolated aliases discuss those differences and move forward. And [you] person to make a determination to attraction connected nan fun.”

Curtis, whose return to HGTV comes 3 years aft nan spinoff Rehab Addict: Lake House Rescue aired successful 2022, is staying mum connected whether she’s presently making love anyone special.

“I support my backstage life backstage because I deliberation there's been immoderate very traumatic moments successful my life that weren't truthful private,” she says. “Another instruction learned. I show group each nan time, if you're successful my circle, past you cognize what's going connected successful my life. Other than that, I enactment beautiful shut up astir everything.”

Curtis has 2 sons: Ethan, whom she welcomed successful 1997 pinch her ex Steven Cimini, and Harper, calved successful 2015, whom she shares pinch ex Shane Maguire.

She went done a very nationalist years-long custody conflict complete Harper pinch Maguire and became an outspoken advocator for nan rights of breastfeeding mothers. Her determination to proceed to breastfeed Harper astatine property 3 drew disapproval from immoderate and became a constituent of contention successful her ineligible conflict pinch Maguire. The erstwhile mates reached a custody agreement successful October 2018.

“Our family went done a batch complete nan years, and truthful that's decidedly thing that I person done my champion to support my family retired of nan nationalist oculus and attraction connected nan houses,” she continues. “That's ever wherever we wanted that attraction to be.”

The play premiere of Rehab Addict airs Tuesday, June 24 connected HGTV astatine 9 ET/PT.