HGTV Gets Ugly on New Year’s Day with the return of Retta and “Ugliest House in America”

New Year’s Day on HGTV is going to get ugly with the premiere of a new season of Ugliest House in America. Episodes will air at 8/7c on Sunday, January 1 through Thursday, January 5 — and at 9/8c on Friday, January 6. Hosted by Retta — a comedian and actress known for her roles in Parks and Recreation and Good Girls — the fresh episodes will showcase tours of 15 properties nominated by homeowners who believe their design-challenged homes are among the worst in the country.

During the season, Retta will share her hot takes and hilarious reviews of each horrendous property, commenting on wacky layouts, clashing designs and severely outdated styles. “We’ve all seen those magazine-worthy homes that make you feel bad about your own house,” says Retta. “This ain’t that show!”

Throughout the season, Retta will travel to five regions of the U.S. to see the best of the worst and gleefully react to houses featuring bad designs, ranging from mural monstrosities and shellacked wood paneling to velvet wallpaper and garishly patterned wall-to-wall shag carpeting.

HGTV producers share exactly how shocking some of these houses are. “We have everything from a cylindrical house that resembles rolls of paper towels to an old creamery in Iowa renovated to resemble a New Orleans home straight off of Bourbon Street,” says Bridget Cleary, director of programming for HGTV. The latter contained a room full of the family’s pet snakes — all 26 of them.

Based on its ugly appearance, poor functionality and surprising design choices, one house will be deemed the “Ugliest House in America” by HGTV. The network will then award its homeowners a showstopping $150,000 renovation completed by Windy City Rehab‘s Alison Victoria. The reno will be revealed during a special one-hour finale episode on Friday, January 6. This season of Ugliest House in America will be available on discovery+ beginning Sunday, January 1.

For more about Ugliest House in America, fans can visit HGTV.com and follow @HGTV and #UgliestHouse on FacebookTwitterInstagram and TikTok, and follow Retta @unforettable on Instagram.


Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com