There have been extreme hoards on A&E’s Hoarders that haven’t only taken over people’s entire homes but their lives. Their compulsion to keep everything has become a debilitating obsession that has posed a risk to their health, happiness, and finances. They not only hoard items of value, but they also keep trash and are unable to part with absolutely anything.
Hoarders have been on A&E for 13 seasons and counting, and in that time, has given viewers a new perspective on hoarding. The reality show dives deep into the addiction as family members, a psychologist, and a cleaning crew band together to help people clean up their homes and learn to let go of the chaos that’s destroying their lives. So far, there are ten homes featured on Hoarders that were the worst.
10 Merlene, Hoarders, Season 6, Episode 11
Hoarders featured a woman named Merlene whose expansive hoard not only ruined her home but her relationship with her daughter. There was nothing that Merlene didn’t collect, and her house was packed from floor to ceiling with all of her dumpster dive finds. In her younger years, she was a successful international model, and she fell in love, got married, and gave birth to her daughter, Celeste.
Shortly after, Merlene found out that her husband was cheating on her, which sent her into a deep depression after the divorce. She turned to shopping and collecting as a way to cope with her pain. Her hoard continued to grow, pushing her daughter away and causing a rift between them. Merlene’s home was so bad that it attracted the attention of the city because of the danger that it posed.
9 Dick, Hoarders, Season 8, Episode 7
Dick’s story was featured on Hoarders because of his compulsion for collecting anything and everything. It didn’t only destroy his life but his girlfriend Sandy’s too. When Dick moved in with Sandy, she didn’t realize he was a hoarder, but it wasn’t long before all of his treasure and trash overtook her home making it completely uninhabitable. The house was so packed that they couldn’t watch TV, sit down and eat a meal, or take a shower. Dick didn’t see a problem with the state of their living conditions, but Sandy reached her breaking point and wanted her home back.
8 Kate, Hoarders, Season 13, Episode 6
Kate’s home was featured on Hoarders because her gigantic hoard not only overcrowded her home, but she had so much stuff that it was overtaking her driveway. She admitted that her desire to collect things with meaning left her unable to comfortably live in her home. All of her items spanned wall to wall and floor to ceiling, ultimately leaving her home the likeness of a giant storage unit rather than a house. She was forced to start living in her basement just to have a place to sleep, but even that area of her home left her with very little space to move around.
7 Joni, Hoarders, Season 6, Episode 5
Joni’s story on Hoarders took the A&E reality show to the dark side of compulsive hoarding. Ever since the loss of her mother and her divorce, she started shopping and collecting as a way to escape the pain. The biggest problem was that she raised her sons in a filthy and chaotic environment. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get through to her and make her realize that her addiction was ruining their lives, and as a result, they turned to drugs to cope with the stress of it all. When the cleaning crew went to clean up Joni’s home, it only wasn’t overtaken with trash; there were heroin needles and drug pipes scattered throughout the home.
6 Glenn, Hoarders, Season 3, Episode 20
Glenn’s rat infestation was a problem on Hoarders when his three pet rats got out of control and grew into an army of over 1,000 rats. The unbelievable rat collection forced Glenn out of his home, but he still fed them and took care of them. He loved his pet rats and found them a source of comfort after his wife passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.
5 Hanna, Hoarders, Season 3, Episode 19
Hanna’s compulsive hoarding also stemmed from a love for animals, as she had 200 chickens living with her on Hoarders. Hanna lived on four and a half acres of land raising geese, ducks, chickens, goats, and sheep, but was living in small living quarters with her chickens. Her home had become overrun by her obsessive hoarding of objects, and she was forced to move into a single-wide trailer on her property with all of her chickens.
4 Michelle AKA Mike, Hoarders, Season 4, Episode 17
Michelle, AKA Mike’s, extreme hoarding became so bad on Hoarders that her home became a toxic environment. She had seven cats living in her home, and when the clutter got so bad that she couldn’t even move around her house, her cats started using the entire house as their litter box. Mike also had a bladder issue, and she needed to wear adult diapers to help with the problem.
Instead of throwing the diapers away, she let them pile up in her bathroom, creating a mountain of dirty diapers and contributing to the terrible and toxic smell permeating throughout her home. The conditions were so bad that Mike was forced to go to the hospital. Her health issues stemmed from her home, which caused her kidneys to fail, and she almost died.
3 Terry, Hoarders, Season 6, Episode 8
The documentary-style A&E show featured one of its worst hoarding cases consisting of animals when Terry shared her story. After her father died in front of her due to a heart attack at 13 years old, she was never the same. She used her connection with cats to cope with the loss and the grief she was dealing with.
What started as good intentions of taking in stray cats and getting them spayed quickly turned into horrific conditions. Once she ran out of money to get them spayed, the cats overpopulated Terry’s home with illness and death running rampant. She had over 50 living cats in her home and a total of 75-100 dead cats in her refrigerator/freezer with the hopes of someday getting them cremated.
2 Peggy, Hoarders, Season 8, Episode 8
Peggy’s compulsive hoarding was one of the most disturbing episodes on Hoarders. Unlike some of the other homes on this list, Peggy’s house wasn’t overrun by live animals, it was overtaken by dead ones. The condition of her home was so bad due to human waste throughout her home and all the dead animals. From dead birds to dead dogs and turtles, Peggy never removed them and left them there to rot in cages making her home uninhabitable.
1 Shanna, Hoarders, Season 6, Episode 4
Shanna’s home was deemed one of the worst homes in Hoarders’ history. Her living conditions were so unsanitary, unsafe, and toxic due to her hoarding. Her collection didn’t consist of trinkets or valuable items though her house was full of bottles of human waste from floor to ceiling, trash, and garbage. She blamed the smell of her home on mold and dust and failed to recognize how dangerous the state of her home truly was.
