Unemployed mum Bindi is trapped in a home full of alarming health hazards - and is struggling with past traumas.
Her two-bed first floor flat in Headingley, West Yorkshire, is jam-packed with disordered mess, unsanitary surfaces and worryingly out of date food.
Despite moving in two years ago to be closer to her son, the recently unemployed library assistant has found it impossible to settle in and it still doesn't feel like home.
The 54-year-old singleton, who has been married three times, is haunted by the death of her second husband of 15 years and is still coming to terms with the breakdown of her third marriage two year ago.
The widow and divorcee is desperately clinging onto the past by surrounding herself with remnants and reminders of former relationships.
Bindi explains: "Bereavement is partly why I've held onto a lot of my things and not really let them go because they remind me of times and memories.
"Losing a spouse and relationships ending is effecting my pattern of keeping stuff. Having loss like that changing your coping strategies."
Having left her job in a library over a year ago due to ill health, which was made worse by a fall, Bindi is now stuck in her flat surrounded by the souvenirs of her past she just can't let go of.
As a result, cleaning her home has become a massive challenge but now is ready to turn her life around and realised she needs a major intervention.
"This last year was a really difficult year for me and I'm ready for someone to help me make the change. I'm not saying I'm wiping my past out but I don't want that baggage," she admits.
Keeping those attachments has made it almost impossible to clean and her flat is now a haven for filth and grime.
Fortunately, the extreme cleaners from Filthy House SOS are on hand to sort through the clutter and eradicate the dirt, but they get more than they bargained for.
Cleaning experts Richard and Brennan question how made a two-bed flat could be and joke they could be finished by lunchtime.
However, the laughter soon stops when they arrive at the flat and find out exactly what's lurking inside.
From the outside, Bindi's apartment block looks tidy and respectable, but horrors await the lads when they step in.
The first room into their voyage of the unknown is Bindi's bedroom, which is far from calming and clean as it's stuffed full of dust-covered boxes.
Brennan says: "First impression of the bedroom - very claustrophobic. It feels like the walls are caving in on you. Too much stuff for such a small room."
Tearful Bindi explains that she is keeping old belongings because it gives her security having dealt with a lot of loss in her life, but deep down realises it's false.
Shocked by the sheer amount of clutter in the bedroom, the boys switch their attention to the grimy bathroom.
It's anything but relaxing as there is mould on the ceiling, sink and shower curtain - with no window to let air in.
They enter the tightly-packed, disorganised living room which is once again full of boxes stacked up against the walls and flat pack which has never been built.
The box mystery leaves the expert cleaners rather baffled as they can't work out whether Bindi is moving out or still moving in.
Finally the boys walk into the tiny kitchen and realise it's a potential health hazard, despite it looking fairly clean to the untrained eye.
All the cupboards are stuffed full, there is open food packets and products in one corner and out-of-date food in the fridge.
Out-of-date food could make Bindi seriously ill, so with alarm bells ringing, Richard uses his trusty swab testing kit to find out what's really lurking on those kitchen surfaces.
Anything over 60 relative light units is a fail, so the duo are horrified to discover the reading is a staggering 15,117.
There are 13 boxes of cereal, some of which are considerably past their best, so they get rid of the multiple items of excess food - sending some to the food bank and others to the skip.
Having been unemployed for over a year, Bindi has had to rely on food banks before so is very keen to give back with her donations.
While cleaning the neglected bedroom, the boys discover a memory box of letters and postcards from her third marriage which ended two years ago.
Confronting the elephant in the room, Brennan admits it's like a "dark shadow" in the corner as the box has been hidden away.
"It's the emotion that I'm attaching to it that's making it scary," admits Bindi. "I thought it would bring up emotions and feelings I wasn't ready to deal with but actually it wasn't as bad as that.
"Finally getting down and sitting there tackled that fear of mine. It's quite liberating now I've actually done it."
The extreme cleaners build up a sweat as they scrub the place spotless and even put up Bindi's forgotten flat pack furniture.
The living room was ramshackled, run down and uninviting, but now it's a warm and welcoming space to socialise in.
The dirty mould-covered bathroom turns into a tranquil space to relax and unwind in, while the dark and dingy bedroom becomes a calm space to wind down.
After two years of living in chaos, Bindi is finally able to make her house a home and invite her son round for a visit.
"Moving forward I can see myself having friends over for dinner, my relationship with my son will be better and it will be easier and more manageable to keep it like this."
*Filthy House SOS airs on Wednesdays on 5STAR at 9pm
