Heavy
HGTV on TV screen
Though the debut of a new TV show typically elicits celebration among its stars, actress and comedian Retta is simply glad the filming of her new HGTV series is behind her.
On August 30, 2024, HGTV announced that the Halloween-themed spin-off of Retta’s hit show, “Ugliest House in America,” will premiere on October 4. In “Scariest House in America,” Retta will tour nine “eerie and terrifying” homes and, much like in her main series, she’ll eventually award a $150,000 makeover from HGTV’s Alison Victoria to the worst of the bunch.
“Glad I got through it,” Retta said in the press statement about the new show, “but I won’t lie and say I ‘enjoyed’ it.”
Retta Toured Homes That Included ‘Built-in Death Traps’ & ‘Questionable Taxidermy’
During filming, Retta had to tour and provide commentary on nine homes in the Midwest, Northeast and South, per HGTV, which included “a bat-infested former jail, a mobster hideout and a crumbling witchy dwelling.”
Though she’s toured many odd and unique properties during five seasons of “Ugliest House in America,” she never expected she’d wind up going into real-life haunted houses. Among the scary scenes she encountered, the network said, were “built-in death traps,” “questionable taxidermy,” and ghost sightings.
“I did not see this iteration of this show coming,” Retta said via HGTV. “I was cool with the summer road trip and ugly in paradise, but, for a gal that is spooked by every creak, critter and errant hair that brushes my shoulder, this wasn’t it.”
This is not the first time the “Parks and Recreation” alum has been brutally honest in the media about her fear of touring creepy homes across the U.S. When she appeared on NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Myers” in June, she told Myers she typically avoids haunted houses like the plague.
“Hell no, I’m not about that,” she told him.
When he asked why, then, she was hosting “Scariest House in America,” she dryly quipped, “It’s a contract.”
Myers inquired, “Did you have trepidation before walking in the door of one of the scariest house options in America?”
“Every one,” Retta replied in a sing-song voice, drawing laughs from the audience. “I hate it. I hate it. Seth, I hate it.”
Retta Says She ‘100%’ Believes in Ghosts, Which Added to Her Anxiety Filming HGTV Show
Retta has been open in the past about her belief in spirits, including her appearance on “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry,” when the psychic medium said her grandmother was coming through with messages for her. She said at the time that her one fear was that a “bad spirit” would appear while he was giving her a reading.
While chatting with Myers on his late night show, Retta said that she tried to guard against that happening while filming “Scariest House in America” by developing a routine she used before entering each creepy property.
“Okay, so I 100% believe in ghosts and spirits and and all of that [expletive],” she told him. “But I go into every house with a feeling of like, ‘Don’t let any of it in. None of this stuff is going to affect you.’ So I get my mind in a place where I kind of block it. Like I don’t — I try not to think about it. I know I’m gonna talk about it, but I try to block it.”
Retta got laughs when she said she also shouted out to any spirits present in each house, explaining, “When I go in, I go, ‘I’m only here for two hours! I’m not here to mess with your [expletive]!’ And then I’m out. ‘Cause I don’t like it.”
Among the homes she visited, Retta said that some seemed authentically creepy, but others felt staged or more strange than scary.
“Here’s the thing, I do believe in it,” she told Myers. “I don’t know if I believe all these people. You know what I mean? There’s some places where I was like, ‘We gotta get the hell out of here.’ And then some places I’m like, ‘Whatever. You put that there.’”
“Scariest House in America” premieres on October 4 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. A sixth season of “Ugliest House in America,” meanwhile, is slated to premiere in 2025.
Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who covers the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. Based in Minneapolis, she has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist, interviewing and working with a wide range of celebrities over the years, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X. More about Liv Lane
