Woman Finds 'Mysterious Trap Door' in New Home—Films Moment She Opens It

After moving to a new house last month, Jill Bearup thought she knew every square inch of her new home, but as it turns out, there was one secret room that she was yet to discover.

When she first moved in, Bearup had to spend a week without any Wi-Fi in the house, which, of course, is incredibly limiting nowadays. What could she possibly do for that long without social media and streaming channels? Fortunately, she had plenty of time to explore every crevice of her new home, including a hidden trap door that was previously unnoticed.

Bearup, from the United Kingdom, told Newsweek that she was intrigued and wanted to open the secret door, "even if there's nothing down there." She simply couldn't resist, so she found an old knife to prize it open and look inside, with the assistance of her cat, Nemo, of course.

Woman explores trap door
From left: Jill Bearup explores the trap door she found in her new home. She moved into the house in early 2024, and she couldn't wait to delve into the secret space hidden underneath. @jillbearup / TikTok

With her curiosity peaked, Bearup managed to lift the trap door and discovered that the space below was around 10 feet deep and was mostly empty. She shared footage of her unusual discovery on social media (@jillbearup), much to the amazement of her social-media followers. The clip has already been viewed more than 348,100 times and gained over 19,300 likes in a matter of days.

Bearup said: "About three weeks ago, I moved out of a house built in the 1980s and into this house, which is probably at least a century old. I haven't been able to make my usual YouTube content since moving house, mainly because I didn't have internet for a week, and also because everything has been chaotic, so I don't have any filming space set up just yet.

"When I saw the mysterious trap door, I thought it would make a funny YouTube video to open it. We had a survey done on the house before, so I knew that whatever was under there was probably not very exciting," Bearup added.

Although she felt it was somewhat anticlimactic to discover that there was nothing interesting in the secret basement, Bearup said that she was "mostly pleased there weren't any random dead animals in there."

Despite finding nothing but insulation materials beneath the door, that didn't stop TikTok users from giving Bearup their own suggestions for what she could put in the hidden room herself.

Bearup said: "The video really took off, and most of the reaction has been from people making references to the 1980s kids' show called The Trap Door. Others suggested that I should stick a plastic skeleton down there, or even turn it into my very own cheese cellar."

Among the comments on the viral post, one TikTok user wrote: "You need to put in there a ladder, storage shelves and wine. Lots of wine."

Another comment reads: "I mean if you clean it up real good could be nice underfloor storage."

A third user posted: "My stress when Nemo stuck his head under the door."

Do you have any funny or interesting videos or pictures of your home that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Alyce Collins is a Newsweek Life and Trends reporter based in Birmingham, U.K. with a focus on trending topics that ... Read more

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