“Ugliest House in America” host Retta has seen her fair share of ugly homes and has some advice for anyone looking to tackle a huge renovation. Find out why she said it’s not as easy as the HGTV series makes it look.
Retta Gives Advice for Owners of Ugly Homes
In a June 2025 interview with Realtor.com, Retta talked about her adventures on the HGTV show and offered some advice for anyone looking to makeover their ugly home.
“My only tip for homebuyers is, just because it’s got great bones doesn’t mean you have the wherewithal to be able to fix it,” she said.
The HGTV host added, “It takes a lot of planning and budgeting. A lot of people don’t realize that, and so they’re stuck with these ugly homes.”
Retta also said she wishes they could renovate all of the homes they show in each episode, but only one wins a makeover.
“There’s so many [houses I wish had won a renovation],” she said. “You know, I’ve seen some midcentury homes that were high-end designs for their time. I’m like, if we could just update this but keep this, it would be so dope.”
She added, “I mean, I want to do all of them.”
Retta Shares the Scariest Thing She’s Seen in Ugly Homes
The “Ugliest House in America” host also revealed that she’s seen some “scary” things on the show.
“The snakes, especially when the snakes are missing, that’s always problematic,” the host said.
Retta 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.”
The HGTV star 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?'”
Snakes and critters are definitely terrifying, but Retta also said the remote location of some of the homes can be scary, too.
“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?'” she 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.”
Retta noted, “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.”
The actor added, “It’s only a day; but still, to have zero connection for the day is scary.”
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‘Ugliest House in America’ Host Shares Advice for Owners of Ugly Homes