A Place in the Sun's Scarlette Douglas left alarmed over chilling collection in unsellable house

Daily Record

25-06-2025

A Place in the Sun star Scarlette Douglas has revealed the one unforgettable discovery she made in a home whilst filming her latest property show Can't Sell Must Sell with her brother, Stuart.
Property development duo Scarlette and Stuart Douglas have issued some advice to homeowners in unsellable homes in their latest show, Can't Sell Must Sell. However, one chilling discovery left the former A Place In The Sun host Scarlette gobsmacked.
Best known for their teamwork on Channel 4's Worst House on the Street, Scarlette, 38, and her brother Stuart, 47, are now taking on a new challenge of splitting up to help desperate sellers fix up homes that simply won't budge on the market. In each of the six episodes, the sibling duo are both handing a property that requires a lot of renovation work done to it.
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With the assistance of a skilled team of carpenters and designers, they each work to make their house more likely to sell. Recalling one chilling discovery she made in one unsellable home while filming the show, Scarlette said: "One lady was very attached to her house and its Victorian style – she has lots of dolls.
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"When you walked in, everything felt oppressive. It was dark, dingy and scary. Even her daughters were trying to get her to sell it. She didn't want to listen.'
Another tough project for Scarlette was a charming cottage that unfortunately stank of dog odour, the Mirror reports.
She said: 'I love dogs, but you can become nose-blind to them. 'One of the properties was a really beautiful cottage but the minute you walked in, it smelled of dog.
'They were so used to the smell that they couldn't get their head around it. Those are things you're not going to see but they affect a sale.'
Although the unpleasant smell was strong, Stuart found himself particularly moved by the property's back story.
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He explained: 'What made it important for me was how important it was for the owner. She was a really lovely lady. The transformation of the house itself was amazing but the transformation in her was memorable. She was so grateful.'
Emotions also ran high during another case in Swansea that hit Scarlette hard where they met with a widow who had filled her home with china plates and memories.
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Scarlette explained: 'Her husband did the DIY. She couldn't do anything around the house. She was so grateful at the end, I was an emotional wreck.'
While houses and empathy are at the heart of the show, the hard graft is just as real.
Scarlette said: 'We're not just walking in, saying our piece and walking out. We really do get involved, even off-camera.'
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Stuart agrees: 'We had great teams. But we needed lots of hands on deck to complete the transformations. Even the cameraman took things to the skip. Everyone chipped in.'
Scarlette chimed in: "That level of involvement was essential, given the scale of the jobs – and the tight turnaround. It was hard and stressful. We started around 8am and wouldn't finish until about 11pm. We cover two houses in a week, but the end result made it all worth it.'
However, it wouldn't be a Douglas project without a bit of healthy competition.
Stuart said: 'We are competitive in nature. Scarlette was a professional dancer in the West End, our brother and I played professional football. We are very close, but we're very competitive.'
He adds: 'The real goal was to help the homeowners, though we both still wanted to have the best house. In our family, we go into things and we do it to be the best.'