House of Villains

House of Villains is an American reality competition series that premiered on E! on October 12, 2023. The series, hosted by Joel McHale, features a cast of reality television's most memorable and notorious villains. Contestants live in a house while competing in challenges for power and safety, voting to banish each other until the last villain remaining wins a $200,000 cash prize and the title of America's Ultimate Supervillain.

The first season aired in late 2023. In January 2024, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2024. In May 2025, the series was renewed for a third season and would move to Peacock, which premiered on February 26, 2026.

The show loosely resembles the American version of Big Brother. Each week, contestants compete in a Battle Royale challenge to test the players physically, mentally, and emotionally. The winner of the Battle Royale challenge is named Supervillain of the Week and wins immunity for the week, a reward for themselves and two other villains, and the power to nominate three of their fellow players for "Banishment" (elimination) by putting them on the Hit List.

The three nominees then compete in the Redemption Challenge, with the winner saving themselves from the Hit List. At the Banishment Ceremony, the house votes to banish one of the two remaining Hit List nominees.

This process continues until three contestants remain for the finale, where the winner is determined by a "Jury" vote by the eliminated contestants. Each season may also introduce one-off twists.

Carole Baskin, Abby Lee Miller, Spencer Pratt, Ben Robinson, and Danielle Staub made guest appearances during the first season.

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Battle Royale Challenge (The Last Supper): Contestants are presented with five dishes worth different dollar amounts: boiled egg ($10), spicy chicken wing ($20), red snapper eyeball ($30), bull testicles ($40) and lamb brain pie ($50). They must order $200 worth of food, to be prepared and served by Below Deck chef Ben Robinson, and fully consume their order in addition to one chocolate donut. The first contestant to consume their order wins. Redemption Challenge (Who Said It?): Contestants are presented with seven quotes said by other contestants during the season and attempt to guess which contestants said them to earn points. The contestant with the most points wins and claims the final spot in the finale. | | | | |

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Monica Garcia narrated the season as the voice of EVA ("Evil Voice Audio 2.0"), giving announcements to the contestants regarding challenges and game events. Garcia, along with Janice Dickinson, Tori Spelling, along with former contestants Bobby Lytes and Jax Taylor, made guest appearances during the second season.

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Battle Royale Challenge (Zero ****s to Give): Contestants must use a slingshot to launch 25 bombs over a fence. Midway through the challenge, contestants are given the chance to distribute five additional bombs among other contestants to slow them down. The first contestant to successfully launch all their bombs wins. | | | | | | 10 | "Why Are All These Villains Crying?" | December 12, 2024 (2024-12-12) | 0.12 | | | During the Battle Royale Challenge, the eliminated contestants returned for the finale and it was revealed that the winner of the season would be determined by a jury vote. The winner of the Battle Royale Challenge would automatically make it to the finale, joined by the contestant they did not nominate on the Hit List. The three contestants on the Hit List then compete in the Redemption Challenge for the final spot in the finale, with the two losing contestants eliminated.

Battle Royale Challenge (Touch of Evil): Contestants attempt to maintain contact with a statue made of butter for as long as possible. Throughout the challenge, conditions such as balancing on one leg are added to make the challenge more difficult. The last contestant standing wins. | | | | | | 11 | "Sad Excuse for a Villain" | December 19, 2024 (2024-12-19) | 0.21 | | | Redemption Challenge (Arch Enemies): Contestants are presented with nine quotes said by other contestants about them during the season. They must arrange blocks with the faces of these contestants, in the order the quotes are presented, to build an arch between two pedestals. The first contestant to finish wins and claims the final spot in the finale. | | | | |

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Former contestants Johnny Bananas and Victoria Larson made guest appearances during the third season. Kandy Muse is set to appear.

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Battle Royale Challenge (7 Deadly Sins): Played in two teams of five, with the Supervillain of the Week not competing. One at a time, each team member must complete a challenge inspired by one of the seven deadly sins: (1) finding a $100 bill in a money booth; (2) eating a cake; (3) smashing office supplies to find a picture of Joel McHale; (4) crying until a tear comes out; and (5) solving a puzzle. The first team to complete all five challenges wins immunity from the Hit List. | | | | | 2 | "When You've Got Nothing Left, You've Got Nothing To Lose" | February 26, 2026 (2026-02-26) | | | Redemption Challenge (Bringing the Drama): In the morning, contestants watch a live soap opera scene. Afterwards, the challenge is announced, and contestants attempt to answer six multiple-choice questions about the scene. The contestant with the most correct answers wins. | | | | | 3 | "Let Them Spill Tea!" | February 26, 2026 (2026-02-26) | | | Battle Royale Challenge (Toxic Tea Party): Each round, contestants are blindfolded and one contestant is randomly selected to "poison" another contestant by placing a cup of tea in front of them. Afterwards, the contestant with the tea tries to guess who placed it there. If they guess correctly, the contestant who assigned them the tea is eliminated from the challenge. However, they are eliminated if they guess incorrectly. Once two contestants remain, they have one minute to decide the Supervillain of the Week among themselves. If they cannot agree, the most-recently eliminated contestant from the challenge becomes Supervillain of the Week instead. | | | | | 4 | "I Hate All of These People" | March 5, 2026 (2026-03-05) | | | Redemption Challenge (Know Thy Enemy): Contestants must feel the heads of the non-competing contestants through boxes, and attempt to identify the contestant in each box. The contestant with the most correct answers wins, with ties broken based on who completed the challenge the fastest. | | | | | 5 | "Loose Lips Sink Swan Boats" | March 12, 2026 (2026-03-12) | | | Battle Royale Challenge (See No Evil Hear No Evil Speak No Evil): Played in three teams of three, with one team member gagged, one blindfolded, and one wearing deafening headphones. The gagged team member must mime provided instructions for three party-style challenges to the deafened team member, who then announces these instructions to the blindfolded team member so they can complete the challenges. The first team to finish then individually compete to become Supervillain of the Week, where they attempt to find a stuffed animal in a bouncy castle while wearing the blindfold, gag and headphones. The first contestant to find the stuffed animal wins. | | | | | 6 | "This Is Bananas" | March 19, 2026 (2026-03-19) | | | Redemption Challenge (Minion Impossible): Contestants attempt to convince the non-competing contestants to complete six dares, worth varying amounts of points, on their behalf. Contestants may also complete one dare themselves. The contestant with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, a tiebreaker is held where contestants attempt to eat as many live hornworms as they can in one minute. | | | | | 7 | "The Nut House of Villains" | March 26, 2026 (2026-03-26) | | | Battle Royale Challenge (Nut Jobs): Each contestant is given 30 nuts for the entire challenge. Each round, contestants privately choose to place a certain amount of nuts into a sack. The contestant(s) with the fewest nuts placed each round is eliminated from the challenge. The last contestant standing wins. | | | | | 8 | "I'm Sorry You Had to See This" | April 2, 2026 (2026-04-02) | | | Redemption Challenge (Pipe Down): Working with a castmate from their former series, contestants must maneuver a ring through a wire loop game. Each time the ring touches the wire, contestants are sprayed with water and must restart. The first contestant to finish wins. | | | | | 9 | "Requiem for a Supervillain" | April 9, 2026 (2026-04-09) | | | Battle Royale Challenge (Spitting Venom): Contestants suck "venom" out of a "snake" and spit it into another contestant's container at the opposite end of a room of foam. Contestants are eliminated from the challenge once their container is full. The last contestant standing wins. | | | | | 10 | "It Feels So Good To Be Hated" | April 16, 2026 (2026-04-16) | |

Filming for the series began in early February 2023 at The Valley Villa in Los Angeles. House of Villains was officially announced by NBCUniversal, E!'s parent company, on May 9, 2023. Joel McHale was revealed to be the host of the series on the same day. The series is produced by Irwin Entertainment with John Irwin, Dave Kuba, Eli Frankel, and Matt Odgers serving as executive producers. In August 2023, E! revealed the first season's cast and announced the series would premiere on October 12, 2023. The series premiere aired simultaneously on E!'s sister channels Bravo, Syfy, and USA Network. On September 7, 2023, an official trailer was released. The first season of the series became available to stream on Peacock on February 19, 2024.

On January 18, 2024, E! renewed the series for a second season and announced that production for the second season would begin in February 2024. On March 27, 2024, the cast of the second season was revealed. In August 2024, an official trailer for the second season was released and it was announced that the second season would have a two-night premiere on October 9 and October 10, 2024. Like the first season, the second season premiere aired simultaneously on E!'s sister channels Bravo, Syfy, and USA Network. The first two episodes of the second season became available to stream on Peacock on October 16 and October 17, 2024, with subsequent episodes being released one week after their original air date. On May 9, 2025, it was announced that the series was renewed for a third season and would move to Peacock, which premiered on February 26, 2026.

The series premiere of House of Villains was watched by 1.2 million viewers across all platforms over the course of one week, with 500,000 of those viewers being in the adults 18–49 key demographic, making it E!'s most successful series launch since The Bradshaw Bunch in 2020. Overall, episodes in the first season averaged 861,000 total viewers and 384,000 viewers in the 18–49 key demographic after 35 days of multiplatform viewing.

• E! era
• Peacock era
• House of Villains at IMDb