Every lover comes with some baggage, but some come with houses full of trash.
Just ask Lauren, whose boyfriend, a 55-year-old man identified only as "Ken," was featured on Wednesday's episode of TLC's "Hoarding: Buried Alive."
Piles of garbage and various useless objects cover the floors and furniture of Ken's home. Ken says he has not been able to use his couch in eight years.
"I don't think he's aware that his hoarding has put limits on our relationship," said Lauren, who believes she is the only girlfriend of Ken's who has ever entered his home.
In the episode, called "Cleaning Up For Love," a team led by behavioral therapist Dr. Natasha Santos attempted to tidy up Ken's habitat. Unfortunately, Ken was resistant to the initial efforts, refusing to throw out items like a phone book from 1986, which he said he used to look up old stores that have since gone out of business. He ultimately threw the whole team out of the house.
Six weeks later though, Ken's home was in somewhat better shape -- for instance, the stairs were clear -- but maybe not enough for Lauren.
"I love him with all my heart, but the condition that this house still is in is making me wonder whether we can have a future," Lauren told TLC.
Ken hopes Lauren won't give up on him, though. "Not only am I working on the house, I'm also working on our relationship," he said.
"Hoarding: Buried Alive" airs Wednesday nights on TLC. This episode can be viewed on iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play.
UPDATE -MARCH 14: Ken told the Huffington Post on Friday that he feels the episode misrepresented him, as well as his relationship with Lauren. He asserts that TLC manipulated footage to make it appear that he threw the cleaning team out of the house, but that no such incident took place.
"They just wanted to make me look like a raving maniac," he said.
Both Lauren and Ken stated that their three-year relationship is happy and stable.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article gave Ken's age as 35. He is 55. It also incorrectly stated that a phonebook from 1986 was from 1982.