EXCLUSIVE: ‘Hoarders’ Star Brandon Bronaugh Reveals the Most ‘Eerie’ Items He’s Found—and How To Keep Your Home Clutter-Free

Brandon Bronaugh, star of the reality series "Hoarders," has lifted the lid on the worst cases he has seen as he reveals how to keep your home from becoming a hoarding ground.

The TV star and expert has tackled some extreme hoarding cases, and in an interview with Realtor.com®, Bronaugh candidly opened up about how he shows compassion to help heal those dealing with hoarding and why seeing picture frames on the wall gave him the most "eerie" feeling.

When Bronaugh isn't appearing on the A&E series, he is still helping hoarders as the founder and CEO of LifeCycle Transitions, which guides people from the beginning to the end of their hoarding illness.

Bronaugh, who works with a team of over 200 experts and has rescued over 8,000 people across the country, revealed that he began helping hoarders "17 or 18 years ago."

"I realized that people needed more assistance in more ways than one, with more than just figuring out how to get rid of things, but how to move forward, and how to deal with these circumstances, both mentally, physically, and emotionally," he explained.

He then began by sharing some of the unfortunate situations he has seen.

"We were going to some homes, and, you know, it would be like, in the middle of the night, the family was so ashamed and so embarrassed due to, unfortunately, losing their home. They would leave in the middle of the night, and we would come there to change the locks, and empty out the house, and be greeted by concerned neighbors, and the police would come, and it'd be a big spectacle, because no one knew that this was happening.

"We would go into the homes, and they would leave their pets behind back then, the house would be fully furnished, it was almost like they took everything that they can hold, and left," he added.

The TV pro then revealed that he has even seen clients "avoid communications" altogether because of how emotional the situation was.

Discussing the things that have stuck with him all these years later, Bronaugh said, "The most eerie thing would always be the family portraits on the wall.

"You don't see a lot of that now, but back in the day, 10, 15 years ago, if not longer, people took pictures, and they put their lives, their life memories on these walls, and when I would go into these homes to see those pictures and see what life once was for these individuals was very emotional," he said.

He revealed that that is what sparked him to start LifeCycle Transitions, adding that it was created as a "celebration of the cycle of life."

Bronaugh revealed that he has seen thousands of cases and is "not immune" to the tragedy of the situations.

"I've transitioned thousands and thousands of clients, and I'm proud to say I'm not immune to it. Every situation I walk into is almost like the first time I've experienced it. I think a lot of family members are really unaware of how their family members are living," he said.

Bronaugh revealed that the items people hoard often go "deeper," adding that people "put these barriers of items and miscellaneous things to keep the outside world from coming in to harm them, so they feel that the more things that they can clutter around these doors and around these corridors, the quicker they can insulate themselves and protect them from the outside world."

The pro explained that his approach is different from others because he helps clients "evaluate" all of their options.

"We rate homes on a scale of one to three, and depending on where your home is, we help them prioritize what direction they should go," he added.

Bronaugh also offered up some tips to ensure your home doesn't become a hoarding ground.

"Pay attention to your tendencies. Your home is a live organism, and it responds in a lot of ways to how you are. When you're depressed, when you're sad, when you're angry, when you're happy, pay attention to if you're ordering takeout and you're leaving it on the counter overnight.

"I tell my clients, 'When you're leaving out in a rush, in a hurry to begin your day, to go to work, pick the kids up, take a mental look of what you're leaving the house behind, and the condition you're leaving your home in, because the same condition you're leaving that house, is the same home that you're going to return to," he said.