Retta Reveals Scariest Thing She’s Seen on ‘Ugliest House in America’

Retta has seen some scary things over six seasons as host of HGTV‘s “Ugliest House in America.” She revealed some of the more frightening things she has seen in her travels across the country to tour the wildest houses.

Retta Points Out Some of the ‘Ugliest House in America’ Homes Are Very Remote

In a June 2025 interview with Realtor.com, Retta dished on some of the “scary” aspects of the show.

One scary element is just how remote some of the homes are — in some cases, there’s no cell service!

“Let me tell you something, some of these places, I’m like: ‘Do they even get cable out here? And Wi-Fi? How do they even know about this show?'” Retta joked. “Because it can be so remote, sometimes we have to do a caravan drive, where everybody’s together, because we don’t want anybody to get lost.”

The actor continued, “That’s because of 1) terrain, and 2) there’s no way to connect. There’s no cell service. They don’t have Wi-Fi, so we’re essentially off the grid and roughing it.”

She added, “It’s only a day; but still, to have zero connection for the day is scary.”

Retta Reveals There Was a ‘Hole Into Darkness’ In 1 Home

While being off the grid for a day can certainly be a scary idea, Retta said there are terrifying elements in these homes that cause concern.

“The snakes, especially when the snakes are missing, that’s always problematic,” she shared.

The HGTV star continued, “I can’t remember if there are any critters in [this season], but there’s a home in which, in the daughter’s room, which is in the basement, there’s a curtain in her room — and behind the curtain, basically a hole into darkness. I don’t know why it’s there.”

Retta noted, “But like, you know, there’s always critters in a house, whether you see them or not; and to know that that hole is there, and they can come visit at any time, is very distressing. I was like, ‘Girl, what are you doing?'”

The “Ugliest House in America” host also pointed out that sometimes “it can be an adventure” visiting smaller unknown towns.

“We do enjoy a little town,” she said. “Nothing makes me smile harder than a downtown that is really just two blocks long; it makes me laugh so hard.”

Retta shared, “So we’ll pop into all the shops. Don’t let them have a pawn shop, because we’re going in! If there’s an antique store, we’re going in! You know what I mean? So it can be an adventure, if there’s a small town with shopping.”