Heavy/Getty HGTV star and comedic actress Retta
Days after the fifth season of HGTV‘s hit show “Ugliest House in America” wrapped up, the network announced it has big plans for the show’s star, actress and comedian Retta. And she’s downright terrified about it.
On May 21, 2024, HGTV not only announced that “Ugliest House” has been renewed for a sixth season, but that Retta will star in a spin-off series this fall called “Scariest House in America.”
“Not sure how I got roped into this,” Retta said in a statement. “I don’t do scary. I don’t like to be scared. I don’t like scary movies. Halloween is my least favorite holiday — but here we are.”
The news of her expanding role at HGTV comes amid other big career news for Retta, including a new movie and a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for “Female Star of the Year.”
HGTV Greenlit New Season of “Ugliest House in America’ Right After the 5th Season Finale
While other popular HGTV shows are still waiting for word on whether they’ll be renewed for new seasons, from “Help! I Wrecked My House” to “No Demo Reno,” Retta’s cross-country travels to see the worst-designed homes in America have proven to be such a hit with viewers — attracting nine million viewers since the latest season’s April 22 debut — that HGTV quickly greenlit a sixth season, to air in 2025.
During the May 19 season finale, Retta revealed that a home in St. Cloud, Minnesota, that she visited earlier in the season and nicknamed “Jack & Joe’s Amazing Technicolor Prison” won the dubious title of “Ugliest House in America” and a $150,000 renovation overseen by “Windy City Rehab” star Alison Victoria.
A new six-episode season will follow the same format, with Retta sharing her “hilarious hot takes of the stunningly bad designs, cringe-worthy layouts and sorely outdated styles” she sees, per HGTV. Each house she tours will be rated by HGTV on its “ugly appearance, poor functionality and hideous design choices,” with the most cringe-worthy home winning a makeover.
Retta’s humor and quick has been a hit with HGTV viewers since her show first debuted in January 2022. So much so that the Critics’ Choice Awards just nominated her for the 2024 “Female Star of the Year” in reality TV, alongside fellow nominees Reba McEntire (for “The Voice,”) Selena Gomez (for “Selena + Restaurant”), Sandra Lee for “Dr. Pimple Popper,” Ariana Madix for”Vanderpump Rules” and Phaedra Parks for “The Traitors.”
The winner will be chosen by fans’ votes, which can be cast online until June 4 at 9 p.m. Pacific time.
Retta Says She’ll Give a ‘Hard Pass’ to Scary Critters Found in Homes
Meanwhile, Retta will also host a four-episode spin-off in October 2024 that follows a similar format, but with her touring the “scariest” houses in America.
During each half-hour episode, HGTV said, Retta will tour properties in “the Spooky South, Nightmare Northeast and Mysterious Midwest.” Homeowners will share scary stories about their houses and “hair-raising sights.” Victoria will swoop in to renovate the scariest home during a one-hour finale.
Hilarity will likely ensue, given that Retta is already frequently grossed out or frightened by the “ugliest” homes she visits, including a home in season 5 that was full of Halloween decor and a literal “house of mirrors.” In April, she told Realtor.com that she also can’t handle creepy critters.
“I believe it was the first season where I was in a house where they talked about how a snake fell from the ceiling, and I was like, ‘Hard pass, hard pass,'” she told the outlet. “Other people have had bats in their attic; that’s another thing I’m not interested in participating in.”
In addition to her HGTV gigs, Retta co-stars in the new movie “Hit Man” with Glen Powell, per the Associated Press. The action-comedy-romance is playing in theaters before its June 7 release on Netflix.