Why HGTVs Alison Victoria Once Thought She Was on a Date With Jonathan Knight

Alison Victoria and Jonathan Knight are friends and HGTV colleagues, but there was once a time when she thought they could be more.

“Proof that growing up doesn’t mean growing out of love with your boy band crush,” Victoria wrote via Instagram alongside a sneak peek clip from the new episode of her Pap Smear podcast, which drops on Thursday, May 13. In celebration of Knight being her guest, Victoria wore a T-shirt featuring a throwback photo of Knight from New Kids on the Block‘s early days.

In the episode preview, Victoria recalled one of her first meetings with Knight. “I was a huge New Kids fan, and you said, ‘Hey, do you want to get a drink?’” she shared. “And I was like, ‘Oh, here we go! Yes!’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’”

Victoria jokingly told Knight’s husband, Harley Rodriguez, to tune out for the next part of her story. “I go upstairs —Harley, close your ears, earmuffs — I brush my teeth. I may have taken a shower ‘cause I thought, maybe, you were interested in me.”

Both Victoria and Knight burst into laughter over her romantic confession. “You had your hair done. You smelled beautiful,” Knight said of Victoria’s appearance for their hangout. “You were, like, dressed to the nines.”

Victoria went on to joke that she was “the only one on this date,” adding, “Because then you said ‘husband,’ and I was like, ‘God d**n it. D**n it!”

Fans flooded the post’s comments with their reactions to the funny story, including Rodriguez. “He used that line on me too,” Knight’s spouse jokingly wrote.

One fan commented, “Ahahaha! I love this story and love me some Jon! Can’t wait to listen to the full interview.” Another added, “Omg I was the only one on this date lol so funny.” Someone else shared, “I’m dead. But FR he’s such a catch!!!”

A different person posted, “I’m right there with you, Alison! Jon was always my favourite!!” A separate commenter stated, “Always had crush on him on my teen years. Memories.”

Victoria didn’t reveal when the pair’s “date” occurred, but she and Knight both competed on Season 6 of HGTV’s Rock the Block, which aired last year.

Knight and Rodriguez met through a mutual friend in 2008 and started dating shortly after. News broke in 2022 that the couple had secretly tied the knot. “We found each other later on in life, which makes it even better,” Knight told Entertainment Tonight in March 2023. “We both understand each other.”

Victoria, for her part, was married to Luke Harding from 2013 to 2022. She went public with her boyfriend, Brandt Andersen, on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys in June 2024. During an October 2025 episode of Sin City Rehab, Victoria revealed that the pair had been together for nearly three years.

“We actually met at a mental health retreat and we became fast friends,” she shared on the show. “I do believe that that is the foundation to a real, long-lasting partnership, is a friendship first, because that’s really where it grew from.”