Heavy/Getty Galey Alix, host of HGTV's "Home In a Heartbeat," opened up about her struggle with mental health.
Galey Alix, host of HGTV’s “Home In a Heartbeat,” opened up about her struggle with mental health. Alix revealed to People that she struggled with anorexia and bulimia, and that her former fiancé broke up with her when she disclosed her mental health battle to him three years ago, days before saying “I do.”
“I told him that I’d been hiding a very severe eating disorder and I was really struggling, and I needed to find a therapist,” Alix, 29, told People. “And he did not want to marry me anymore because I had been dishonest by hiding my struggle.”
The HGTV star was at the “lowest point” after her engagement ended, but she used that as an opportunity to get help for her disordered eating.
“Even though I’m an extreme do-it-yourself-er, the one thing you don’t want to DIY is your mental health, and it’s important to ask for help,” Alix told the publication. “The only reason I got better is I basically asked for help for the first time.”
The designer told People she wasn’t discouraged by her fiance’s response to her ask for help, and she continued to seek it until she got it. In fact, Alix said that she thinks her fiance’s reaction helped her in the long run.
“If it hadn’t been so devastating and dramatic in the worst way, I don’t think I would’ve hit the low I needed to hit so that I could stand up differently in a new life,” she told People. “So I’m really grateful for it.”
Being a host on HGTV isn’t Alix’s only gig. The 30-year-old is “an executive at Goldman Sachs based out of Florida,” according to Forbes. She does her renovations on the weekend and does her day job Monday to Friday, the outlet said.
While she was engaged to her fiance, she was renovating a 10,000-square-foot home in Connecticut, Forbes wrote, but she stayed in Florida when the relationship ended.
‘Saving Homes’ Saved Alix
Alix told Forbes that she credits home renovations with saving her life.
“Saving their homes is actually what saved me. It made me feel like I had something to live for again,” she told Forbes in 2021. “Even though I wasn’t able to get married and start a family of my own, I am instantly adopted into the families whose home I am working on.”
Alix said designing homes is her creative outlet.
“I am getting to transform their houses into that “family home” I was trying so hard to create in Connecticut for myself and my ex-fiancé, but wasn’t healthy enough to,” the HGTV star told Forbes. “It’s like my pain found its purpose and its purpose is to help others. And now I’ve got a healthy outlet for the creativity I’ve always had burning inside me but never unlocked.”
Alix Is Dating a Reality TV Star
Alix didn’t give up on love after her engagement ended. In fact, she told people that she slid into the DMs (direct messages) of her current boyfriend, Dale Moss, who appeared on season 16 of “The Bachelorette” and is a former football player.
She said she didn’t know him from his stint on reality TV, but was intrigued after she heard him speak on a podcast.
“I was very attracted to him physically,” she admits, revealing that she then decided to be bold and slide into his DMs. “I DIY’ed it,” she told People. “I was like, ‘If I want this to happen, I have to do it myself.’ So I sent him a message and I just said, ‘Hey, I listened to your podcast. I love the way you think. I love the way you speak. If you’re ever in South Florida, let’s get lunch.’”
The couple has been dating since June 2022, according to Us Weekly.
In November, Moss, 34, wrote Alix a birthday message on Instagram.
“So happy we get to exist in this world together. I’m beyond proud of the courage you’ve shown unapologetically going after your dreams & have found a sense of home I’ve never experienced before through your love,” he penned. “In awe of you each day.”