‘Ugliest House in America’: Retta Admits Choosing the ‘Ugliest’ House Winner Was a Tough Decision (Exclusive)
Comedian Retta, host of HGTV‘s Ugliest House in America said narrowing the choices down to one winner was an impossible task within itself.
Thankfully, Retta said she didn’t have to personally be the one to decide which house would win. “It was a tough decision!” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “But also, you know, I didn’t have a whole lot of say. I got to be the one to say like, ‘This place is insane!'” Retta described a factor that played into who won the $150,000 renovation and what design lesson she learned.
Retta said HGTV looked for the ‘Ugliest House in America’ that could get the biggest bang for their buck
One deciding factor was the ability to make the biggest transformation with the $150,000. Retta said designers wanted to make sure the renovation encompassed more than just a room in the house.
“It has more to do with the most bang for your buck, which you know because often, some of it is like the outside too,” she said about the home’s exterior. “So you got to do the outside, some of the yard. They’re not going to do up the house and the yard looks like trash? Yeah, so they’ll figure out where they can get the most bang for their buck.”
Who won HGTV’s ‘Ugliest House in America’?
Show designers and experts narrowed the properties down to four homes to compete for the $150,000 prize. “Twelve houses became four finalists,” Retta explained during the season finale. “One from each region of the country.” The finalists were “Poseidon’s Fortress” in the Midwest. “‘The House Of No Secrets’ took the title in the Southeast.” The wild “Pyramid House” was nominated for the title in the Northeast. “And the ‘Jungle House’ earned top honors for the West,” she said.
“Of those four hours one shone the brightest of ugly,” Retta said. But only one of the “eyesores” took the title and earned a $150,000 makeover by Alison Victoria. And the winner is … “The House Of No Secrets!”
The episode titled, “From Ugly to Unbelieveable” showed the incredible transformation. Retta, Victoria and the homeowner showed the transformation step by step. This included the exterior of the home – simply painting the brick black made a huge impact. The final result showed how far $150,000 can go. The big reveal made the house completely aspirationally unrecognizable.
Retta joked that the show taught her to avoid a theme in the future
After touring these ugly houses, did Retta pick up any design tips? “I will say I don’t know that a theme works for a home for one thing,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Like a movie theme … I’m gonna have to say that doesn’t really work for a house.”
She noted that producers asked her to host the show because she’s a big home renovation fan.”[Producers] noted my facisination with the renovation process,” she said. “I’ve done my house. I did the pool. And I just finished the yard and getting ready to start the pool house and then hopefully done because enough already [laughs].”
Ugliest House in America is currently streaming on discovery+
