Actress Retta, best known for her roles in Parks and Recreation and Good Girls, is opening up about hosting the HGTV series, Ugliest House in America, which premiered in 2022.
Entertainment Now reported that Retta shared she was approached to host the series on a July 2025 episode of thePap Smear podcast, hosted by fellow HGTV personality, Alison Victoria. Retta then explained that she felt hesitant about hosting a show because it was out of her comfort level.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to host. One I don’t want to host. I’m just, I’m scared of it, which is why I did it. Because I’m very scared of the hosting thing,” said Retta during the interview.
She also said she didn’t want to make fun of homeowners for having “ugly” houses.
“I particularly didn’t feel comfortable because I was like, ‘I don’t want to be making fun of people. That’s not what I do. That’s not what I do in my standup,’ which I hadn’t done in forever anyway, but I was like, ‘I just don’t, that’s not my cup of gold,'” said Retta.
She said she eventually changed her mind when HGTV producers explained homeowner submit themselves for the show to fix up their homes.
“That kind of made me feel a little bit better. But I’m certainly not looking to make them feel bad,” said Retta.
Retta spoke about filming six seasons of Ugliest House in America during a June 2025 interview with The TODAY Show. She shared that she didn’t expect the series to be as popular as it has become over the last three years.
“I’m surprised that they keep bringing the show back. I am surprised that there’s people who enjoy it,” said the actress.
She also noted she hosts the spinoff series, Scariest Homes in America, where she visits spooky and unusual houses.
“Scariest Homes is not my favorite because I tend to always be scared of something,” said Retta in The TODAY Show interview.