''House of Villains'' is an American

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series that premiered on E! on October 12, 2023. The series, hosted by

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger, Jeffrey "Jeff" Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community (TV seri ...

, 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 Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, which is set to premiere in early 2026.

Overview

The format of the show loosely resembles that of 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 Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

for the week, a luxury reward for themselves and two other villains, and the power to nominate three of their fellow players for banishment 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. The villains build alliances, scheme, manipulate, and backstab as they are eliminated one by one until only one remains and is crowned America's Ultimate Supervillain.

Season 1

Contestants

Carole Baskin Carole Ann Baskin (née Stairs; formerly Murdock and Lewis; born June 6, 1961) is the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary. She has attracted the attention of local, national and international media outlets to the plight of capti ...

Abby Lee Miller Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American dance instructor, choreographer, studio owner, television personality, and author. She is the founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company, and owns a studio in L.A. She appeared on the realit ...

Spencer Pratt Spencer William Pratt (born August 14, 1983) is an American reality television personality. In 2007, he began dating Heidi Montag, a primary cast member of the reality television series '' The Hills''. Subsequently, he came to prominence after ...

, Ben Robinson, and

Danielle Staub Danielle Staub (born Beverly Ann Merrill; July 29, 1962) is an American television personality. In May 2009, she came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', as a main cast member fo ...

made guest appearances during the first season.

Voting history

Color key:

Episodes

Season 2

Contestants

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 Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)As per Dickinson in NNDB aJanice Dickinson profilegives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography ''No Lifeguard on Duty'' that she ...

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. Her first major role was Donna Martin (character), Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', from 1990 to 2000. She has appeared in made-for-television films, including ''A Fri ...

, along with former contestants Bobby Lytes and Jax Taylor, made guest appearances during the second season.

Voting history

Color key:

Episodes

Season 3

Contestants

Production and release

Filming for the series began in early February 2023 at The Valley Villa in Los Angeles. ''House of Villains'' was officially announced by

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

, E!'s parent company, on May 9, 2023.

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

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, Syfy, and

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

. On September 7, 2023, an official trailer was released. The first season of the series became available to stream on

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 is set to premiere in early 2026.

Ratings

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 The key demographic or target demographic is a term in commercial broadcasting that refers to the most desirable demographic group to a given advertiser. Key demographics vary by outlet, time of day, and programming type, but they are generally ...

, 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.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Peacock (streaming service) 2020s American reality television series 2023 American television series debuts E! original programming Peacock (streaming service) original programming American English-language television shows Reality competition television series Television shows filmed in California Television shows set in California Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Los Angeles