Heavy HGTV just announced the newest season of "Ugliest House in America"
Eight months after wrapping its fourth season, HGTV‘s hit show “Ugliest House in America” will return on April 22, 2024.
According to the network’s announcement on March 20, the fifth season — hosted again by comedian and design lover Retta — will feature six episodes that follow Retta as she travels cross-country to visit 15 “horrendous homes,” searching for the crown jewel of terrible design and function.
Here’s what you need to know:
Back-to-Back Episodes of ‘Ugliest House in America’ Will Air Each Week
HGTVRetta poses in the red bathroom at the Bowling Ally House in Colorado, as seen on season 3 of HGTV’s “Ugliest House In America.”
As in previous seasons, the home deemed to be the latest “Ugliest House in America” will undergo a massive makeover overseen by HGTV star Alison Victoria. With that plum prize up for grabs, it’s no surprise that homeowners nominate their cringe-worthy houses to be scrutinized and made fun of on the show.
HGTV will air back-to-back, half-hour episodes over three consecutive weeks, leading up to a one-hour finale. Three homes will be featured in each episode featuring “hair-raising designs” like old wall-to-wall pink carpeting, multiple non-functioning kitchens, and a house with tanks to house baby alligators.
Retta will give her hilarious hot takes on each surreal space, and each one will receive a rating based on “ugly appearance, poor functionality and hideous design choices.” The one with the worst rating will, as in past seasons, receive a $150,000 renovation managed by Victoria, best known for starring on HGTV’s “Windy City Rehab” and “Battle on the Beach.”
“Ugliest House in America” has aired twice a year since premiering in January 2022. In its fourth season, which aired in August and September 2023, the show drew in 8.3 million viewers, HGTV said in a press release.
First 4 ‘Ugliest House in America’ Winners Have Featured Odd Designs
The winners of the “Ugliest House in America” series have been the worst of the worst. For the season 4 finale in September, Retta and Victoria gave that honor to the Southwest regional winner — a house in Boulder City, Nevada, that Retta dubbed the “Penny for Your Thoughts/Disco Dome Home.”
While the white dome-shaped structure looked like an igloo on the outside, the interior featured cobblestone, disco balls, and a carpeted spiral staircase among other clashing design elements. There was also a bathroom without walls and another space with the walls trimmed with real pennies.
The season 3 winner, featured on the show in January 2023, was known as the “House of the Gilded Angel” in Manassas, Virginia. The nearly 5,000 square foot show featured ornate tiled ceilings, wallpaper and surplus of angel decor. HGTV counted 42 angels in the home, even after the family who lived there said they’d already removed more than 100.
“You have so many ridiculous angels, fixtures, patterns and ceiling textures that the sheer number of ugly items took you to the top of the list,” Retta told the homeowners.
In August 2022, the “House With No Privacy” in Palm City, Florida, was named the season 2 “Ugliest House in America.” Its owners, Jeff and Tammy, lived in the octagonal home with their two teenage daughters amid odd features like walls that didn’t reach the ceiling, mismatched flooring, and Pecky Cypress wood paneling.
The very first home to be bestowed the honor of being named “Ugliest House in America,” during the premiere season of the show in January 2022, was known as “The House of No Secrets” in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee.
The house, which was a gift to the homeowner from her dad, featured glitter-painted ceilings, a bed on a platform, a party-sized tub and cameras in every room.
The first two episodes of season 5 of premieres on April 22 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time.