Prepare to be shocked as we dive into the most extreme cases of hoarding ever captured on television. From homes overrun by rats to dangerous fires, these episodes showcase the devastating impact of compulsive collecting. Join us as we explore the heart-wrenching stories behind these cluttered lives and the challenging road to recovery.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Where do you eat?
00:02Um, mostly I go out for fast food.
00:05Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the wildest, weirdest,
00:09and most shocking episodes of TLC's Hoarding Buried Alive.
00:14Is this supposed to be the living room?
00:16Yeah, this is how we live.
00:18Or don't live.
00:20Number 20, Losing Half Myself
00:22Phyllis and Patty are identical twins who have lived together all their lives.
00:2640 years ago, their older brother was tragically killed in Vietnam,
00:30and since then, they've used compulsive shopping to cope with the trauma.
00:33When I was younger, things were fine.
00:35But after my brother was killed,
00:41everything just fell apart.
00:42Their hoarding has caused them to lose their jobs and the house that they grew up in.
00:46They moved into their current house just five years ago,
00:49and in that short time, they've nearly destroyed it.
00:52The city has given them 30 days to clean up,
00:54but parting with their possessions proves to be difficult for the two women.
00:57By the end of the episode, they're able to buy a new house,
01:00but viewers can't help but wonder if it will end up exactly the same as the last one.
01:20Number 19, Overwhelming Pile of Junk
01:22Like Phyllis and Patty, Chip is a compulsive shopper and collector,
01:26and it's had a serious impact on his wife and four children.
01:29Chip's wife, Dale, has health problems that make it difficult for her to navigate their overstuffed house.
01:34It was never as bad as it is now, but it's always been bad as far as I can remember.
01:40I've always liked going, even as a child, going to garage sales.
01:45It was my release from the stressors in my life.
01:48Chip built a 3,600-square-foot addition to the house, specifically to accommodate Dale's needs.
01:54But before it was even finished, he began filling it with his stuff.
01:58Meanwhile, Debbie's house began filling with garbage after she got divorced and her adult children moved out.
02:04It's so disgusting that her youngest daughter chose to leave and live with her dad.
02:08When the divorce happened, when she got divorced, that's when it really started to get worse.
02:15She's very self-blaming about it, and she's told me before that she feels like she's failed at everything,
02:20and that she feels like even she's failed as a mom because she feels like she's lost all of her kids.
02:24Fortunately, both Chip and Debbie are able to make major progress with the help of professional organizers.
02:33Most of the people featured on Hoarding Buried Alive at least recognize that they have a problem,
02:38but that's not the case for Jamie.
02:40Her collecting has made her house almost unlivable, and it's tearing her family apart.
02:45When her daughter's fiancé arrives for a visit, he's shocked by what he sees.
03:03Kathleen, on the other hand, knows she has an issue, but she doesn't understand how bad it's gotten.
03:08Her house has been overrun by hundreds of mice.
03:11Even the exterminator is amazed by the amount of droppings he finds.
03:27Both houses are a health hazard, and yet their owners still struggle to let a single item go out the door.
03:3317. Stop Touching My Stuff
03:36If you're a fan of this series, you may know that many hoarders have some kind of trauma in their past that triggers their compulsion.
03:4216-year-old Hayley's story is especially tragic.
03:45Her brother died unexpectedly when she was just four years old.
03:48Now, she compulsively collects anything that she can get her hands on and piles it up in her room.
03:53In the years following Mikey's death, Hayley began to struggle, both at home and at school, and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
04:01Her family has resorted to locking rooms and cabinets to prevent her from stealing from them.
04:06Even after visiting with an older hoarder, Hayley still has trouble admitting that she has a problem.
04:11She eventually agrees to let her family help her clean, but only time will tell whether she can stick to it.
04:16The 16-year-old has made incredible progress.
04:20She recently started a new job as a certified nurse's assistant, and has been working hard to get her room clean and organized.
04:2616. One Is Good, Two Is Better
04:29Louise was a fashion model in the 1970s, and she used to hobnob with some of Hollywood's hottest stars.
04:35But if we gave you 100 chances, we bet you still couldn't guess which celebrity makes a cameo in this episode.
04:50So when I walked in, it's like, what? This is a Louise I've known for a few years? I never knew she was like that.
04:57Ron is the first person Louise has allowed into her apartment in years.
05:01Although he tries to be understanding, even he is taken aback by what he sees inside.
05:05And Ron, Jeremy, has seen a lot in his day.
05:08Louise received a substantial inheritance from her wealthy parents, but due to her collecting, she's running out of money and about to be evicted.
05:16Yet, like so many hoarders, she has a very hard time letting anything go.
05:3315. Leading A Double Life
05:35Usually, a hoarder's problems are confined to their own house.
05:39But Denise's hoard is so bad, her downstairs tenants are also suffering.
05:43The mice, bugs, and mold that fill her apartment have made their way into Laylee's apartment too.
05:48And Laylee is fed up.
05:50This is my dining room. Not supposed to be, but as you can see, it's my dining room, my living room, my kitchen and everything.
05:56We have mice coming all around, running back and forth while we're sitting here trying to watch TV.
06:02I didn't realize that the mouse problem downstairs was so bad that they were catching like one mouse a day.
06:09The apartment is also hazardous to Denise herself, who's battled cancer and other health issues for years.
06:14Because her bathroom plumbing doesn't work, Denise has been using disposable wipes to bathe, and not bothering to throw them away.
06:21The amount of filth is shocking.
06:23The piles are about as tall as I am. I'm worried that we're not going to make as much progress as we hoped and maybe Denise was expecting us to.
06:31Denise actually handles the cleanup process pretty well, and the crew is able to get her a new lease on life.
06:3714. I'm Dumbfounded
06:40Jeff is ready to walk away from his marriage because of his wife's hoarding problem, and he doesn't even know how bad it's gotten.
06:46His wife, Vicky, is keeping a shocking secret.
06:49Vicky has one storage unit that Jeff is aware of, but she also has a second storage unit and a massive empty storefront full of stuff.
06:57What he doesn't know is that two years ago, Vicky started renting a second storage unit.
07:03And when that filled up, she signed a lease for a 9,000 square foot storefront commercial space.
07:11Jeff has struggled with high blood pressure, and Vicky is legitimately worried that the reveal will give him a heart attack.
07:17When he learns the truth, including the fact that his kids knew all along and hadn't told him, he's understandably angry.
07:24You've got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous.
07:28The kids weren't thrilled about it at all.
07:33But I could lock myself in here and go through stuff.
07:37I don't like you being down in this part of town.
07:40To save her marriage, Vicky has to buckle down and get rid of her many possessions.
07:4413. Overtaken by Puppets
07:47This might be the creepiest hoarding episode yet. Donna is a retired ventriloquist and obsessed with collecting puppets.
07:54She estimates that she has more than 200 of them in her house, and they only make up a small portion of her hoard.
08:00And she's not just buried in garbage. She also has a mountain of debt.
08:04Probably in around $300,000 of debt right now that I own.
08:10And I took out a huge, huge equity loan on my house, and if I don't pay this loan back, I could lose this house.
08:19Luckily, some of her collection is actually worth money, and agreeing to sell a few puppets is the first step towards recovery.
08:26The second story of the episode concerns Harold, a divorced dad, who wants to spend more time with his daughter.
08:31But that's difficult, since his house is so dangerous that she's not even allowed inside.
08:35Things started to get worse after my second divorce. Boy, stuff just started piling up. I just couldn't keep track of it all.
08:46Yet it's still incredibly difficult for him to part with his things.
08:4912. I Want to Cuss
08:52Some hoarders are compulsive shoppers, and that's true for Sharon.
08:55But she's also obtained a lot of her collection by stealing it.
08:59Now her 4,000-square-foot house is packed with items.
09:02When her neighbor and best friend comes by unannounced, she's shocked to find so much of her own stuff in Sharon's house.
09:09I took them, but I forgot all about it when she came into my house. And she walked in, and I was busted.
09:15I knew you wouldn't let me. I love them. I want to recover them.
09:19This is my... Oh my...
09:20Yeah, but you gave me that one.
09:21No, I didn't.
09:22Yes, you did.
09:23Why don't we never give it to you?
09:24You did.
09:25Half the stuff in this house is mine.
09:26Both Sharon and the episode's other subject, Len, started spiraling out of control after their divorces.
09:31Len's small house is so crowded he can't cook indoors, and he hasn't slept in his bed in over a decade.
09:37His daughter is disgusted by how he's living, and she hasn't visited in years.
09:41I'm sick of hearing about the past. I feel like he's living in the past.
09:46Holding on to things so tightly, not wanting things to change, and liking old things.
09:53Both of these people have a lot of work ahead repairing their relationships.
10:00Janet and Herf's house is covered in filth from top to bottom.
10:03The problem has gone on so long, their 22-year-old son can barely remember even seeing the house clean.
10:09They've been forced to move in with a friend, Wendy, because their own home is unlivable.
10:13Be sure to watch out for this hole.
10:18It does go all the way down.
10:20All the way down.
10:26There's a hole in the floor.
10:28Even worse, their son has to live in a tent in the backyard.
10:31But that's just where the drama begins.
10:33Janet reveals that Herf started an affair with Wendy three years earlier.
10:38He even asked Janet to join the two of them in the bedroom, but she was super uncomfortable with the idea.
10:43You know an episode is crazy when the house isn't even the wildest thing in it.
10:48Janet's finding it more and more difficult to cope with Wendy and Herf working so closely together.
10:53That's great.
10:54Herf was spending more and more time with Wendy, and Janet was feeling really alone in the process.
10:59Working through all kinds of things on her own, without Herf, while he's with another woman.
11:06The show is no stranger to emotional situations, but one of the most upsetting was in this season 4 episode.
11:12When the 65-year-old mother of three children passes away, it's down to the adult kids, Amy, Cheryl and Jimmy,
11:18to clear out the clutter and prove that mum owned her house in the aftermath of her death.
11:32While Jimmy lived with their mother and knew the true extent of her hoarding problem, the two sisters had no idea.
11:38It's difficult to watch them come to terms with the way their mother lived and died,
11:42and even more so when the biohazard team begin to throw out the deceased Cynthia's many possessions.
11:48I just miss her so much.
11:50Yeah, and you loved her.
11:52You were my mum.
12:07In a first for hoarding, this episode featured three hoarders all living in separate apartments in the same apartment building.
12:14Even more bizarre, the three of them were all completely unaware that they were living so close to people who suffered from the same problem.
12:21There are more light-hearted moments this time around, as one struggles to part with her collection of lesbian erotica,
12:26and many of the workers resort to throwing items out of the windows to get them out of the building.
12:35Throughout the episode, tension remains high between the hoarding trio and the owner of the community complex,
12:40who desperately wants things cleaned up.
12:45Audiences frequently find themselves wondering how the residents of these hellish homes managed to live in them without getting sick,
12:51and this became especially evident in Season 4, when two people working on TLC's cleanup crew contracted Hantavirus while filming this episode.
13:00While not contagious from human to human, it's spread through breathing in air contaminated by the virus,
13:06which comes from the fecal matter and urine of some rodents.
13:10Kay's home was absolutely riddled with pests, including snakes and possums,
13:15and, the worst part of all, she would still barely admit that she had a problem,
13:20even when her own home had to be completely quarantined.
13:29Number 7. Full of Lies
13:32Number 7. Full of Rats
13:35Kay may have been playing host to an array of fairy friends, but hoarder Michelle took that to a whole new level in her aptly titled episode.
13:43Property investors want to buy her home, but soon discover that Michelle's problem has damaged the house to its core,
13:49as it is absolutely teeming with rats.
14:03She's also technically homeless, but seems unable to accept it as the team tries to help her.
14:09But perhaps the episode's worst moment comes at the beginning, as Michelle gives a tour of her kitchen,
14:14showing the filthy pots and pans that she uses to cook with to the cameras.
14:24Number 6. You're Not Taking My Kids
14:27Karen isn't the only victim of her hoarding.
14:29Her two young sons are quoted as saying they feel trapped in her nightmarish home.
14:39The episode begins with the kids being taken away by Child Protective Services because of concerns for their well-being,
14:45with Karen offered the ultimatum that if she doesn't clean up her act within 48 hours, she will not regain custody of her boys.
14:52But the situation is also notable for reducing psychologist Dr. Becky Beaton to tears when she sees the sick and neglected family dog.
15:00Soon rehomed by the SPCA.
15:03Number 5. Worst I've Ever Seen
15:06Karen's world was thrown into crisis when local officials told her they would tear down her property for not being up to code.
15:16While investigating, they found it severely damaged without running water and full of cat feces.
15:21One code enforcer couldn't even stand to be in the building without throwing up.
15:25Karen's realization that the home her parents built could be condemned is heartbreaking.
15:29Meanwhile, in the same episode, Teresa struggles to balance her shopping compulsion with her chronic fatigue syndrome,
15:35meaning her house is completely overrun with junk and her illness renders her unable to clean.
15:46Number 4. I Can't Breathe
15:48Another mother at risk of losing custody of her child was Lorena,
15:51whose own sister was attempting to have 10-year-old Alexia put into her care out of concern for the child's well-being.
16:01Lorena's hoarding has tragic beginnings, all stemming from when her ex-boyfriend brutally assaulted her five years earlier in her own front garden.
16:09However, this is one unfortunate story that actually has a happy ending.
16:13Lorena managed to completely turn her life around, separating from her hoard and keeping it under control,
16:19prioritizing her young daughter's safety and quality of life above all else.
16:29Number 3. Is That A Goat?
16:31A show with no shortage of horrors reaches extremes with Joyce and her collection of antique dolls.
16:37When her marriage fell apart, she turned to the dolls for comfort,
16:40and despite running out of money and losing her job, she continues to buy as many of these dolls as she can get her hands on.
16:55The episode's other hoarder is Donnie, a retired Marine who doesn't just have his own personal junkyard, but also a lively herd of goats.
17:11But Donnie feels under siege from the county, from which he has amassed thousands in fines and two jail sentences.
17:18Number 2. Just Tear It Down
17:32Karen's neglected dog may have ultimately been adopted by a vet after being removed from her home and given to animal control,
17:39but the outcome wasn't nearly so pleasant for Doug and Darlene's missing cat.
17:43Sickeningly, in this episode, the cat's mummified remains are found trapped underneath a heavy dresser where it had perished two years earlier.
18:00And that's not the worst of it.
18:02They also have a broken septic tank, which means the house is steadily overflowing with raw sewage and human waste,
18:09to the point where demolition seems like a better option than attempting to clean.
18:14Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
18:19You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
18:23If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
18:29Number 1. Sleeping in a Dumpster
18:32In arguably the craziest episode of all, stubborn hoarders and deadly clutter weren't the only dangers people had to worry about.
18:44Laura is attempting to clean her home with the help of her sons and the show's crew,
18:49but their lives are threatened when a fire breaks out in her garbage-filled kitchen.
19:02Somebody mistakenly turns on the stove, which is covered in newspapers and other flammable materials,
19:10leaving them struggling to extinguish the fire or else the entire house will go up in flames.
19:15They eventually manage to stop the blaze, but it makes for one of the most intense moments in the show's whole run.
19:21Which hoarder's house freaked you out the most? Let us know in the comments below.
19:51.