American Pickers Star Frank Fritz Is Living A Totally Unglamorous Life After Leaving The Show
American Pickers Star Frank Fritz Is Living A Totally Unglamorous Life After Leaving The Show
Former American Pickers star Frank Fritz has had a tough personal life with alcohol use and some health struggles, including surgery on his back in March 2020. In 2021, it was revealed that he wouldn’t come back to the reality series, and that his co-star and friend Mike Wolfe would continue on without him. While co-host Danielle Colby has shared kind words about Fritz, the connection between Fritz and Wolfe seems like it’s fractured since their days working on the History Channel show together.
While it’s easy to think that reality stars make a ton of money and live fabulous lives even after they leave their TV jobs, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Frank Fritz. He’s had a difficult life since he was fired and fans will be saddened to hear what he has been up to.
Frank Fritz Lives A Regular Life In Iowa But Has Had A Tough Time
Ever since American Pickers first started airing on History in 2010, fans of antiquing and beautiful old objects have been happily tuning into the reality series and watching the dynamic between co-hosts Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe as they meet people who have been collectors.
There have been 23 seasons, which is definitely a lot of episodes, and while it appears that Fritz was paid a lot to be a co-host, as Celebrity Net Worth says that his net worth is $6 million, he hasn’t been living a very fancy life lately.
Frank Fritz has had health issues, as he went to rehab for alcoholism and also has Crohn’s disease, and since he left American Pickers, he has been living in Iowa. In 2022, he had a stroke, spent time in the hospital, and Fritz has been under conservatorship, according to The Sun. A friend has been helping him out and making sure that he is alright.
After his time on the reality series, Fritz has had some money trouble as he makes $60,000 per year due to what The Sun calls “investments” and yet he spends much more per month than that. One problem is that his healthcare costs are very high, and The Sun estimated that he would be spending $273,984 each year on his health.
The article revealed that in 2022, the former reality star was paying $22,832 each month for “in-home health care” and every month, he would spend $28,292 total. Since he has spent so much money on getting better, that definitely sounds stressful.
Court documents shared “Because of his stroke, Mr. Fritz’s decision-making capacity is so impaired that he is unable to care for his own safety, or to provide for necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, or medical care without which physical injury or illness may occur,” according to The Sun. They continued, “Mr. Fritz’s decisionmaking capacity is so impaired that he is unable to make, communicate, or carry out important decisions concerning his own financial affairs.”
Frank Fritz Has A Farmhouse In Le Claire, Iowa
Frank Fritz’s Iowa farmhouse in Le Claire set him back $130,000 when he purchased it in 2010. The Sun shared that Fritz has a ramp at his house, which will allow him to continue living there while he heals from his stroke.
It sounds like Fritz has a nice and pleasant place to live and it sounds much more peaceful than what fans might expect from someone who spent more than 20 seasons appearing on a reality series. Instead of living in a city like Los Angeles or New York City, or somewhere else that celebrities tend to enjoy spending time, he has made a home for himself in a small town in Iowa.
While the property isn’t huge, as it’s 1,660 square feet, Fritz spent $25,000 on a nearby house, which added .34 acres to the .79 acres that he already had. Since Fritz has many objects that he has obtained over the years, including several motorcycles, he also has a warehouse where he can store everything. The house has a shed, barn, three different garages,, so it definitely seems pretty big, although it is modest.
Are Frank Fritz And Mike Wolfe Friends?
Frank Fritz talked about his relationship with Mike Wolfe in an interview with The Sun and explained that after he had surgery on his back, Wolfe didn’t ask him how he was doing. In 2021, he said that Wolfe hadn’t spoken to him for a total of two years, so it sounds like they hit a rough spot in their relationship.
He said, “I haven’t talked to Mike in two years. He knew my back was messed up, but he didn’t call me up and ask how I was doing. That’s just how it is. The show is tilted towards him 1,000 percent. I can’t even bend that far down to show you how much. That’s fine. It’s like you’ve got Aerosmith and there’s Steven Tyler and he’s the front man. I found my spot, I’m second and he’s number one on the show. That’s no problem with me, maybe he does have a problem.”
Fans of American Pickers will be sad to know that after Wolfe shared some official words on Fritz no longer being part of the series, Fritz wasn’t pleased with what Wolfe said at all. Fritz said, “Somebody wrote it out for him. We never were friends in grade school. I don’t believe in ten years he’s said five nice things to me, you know? Unless he was cutting somebody else down and we were both laughing.”
Outsider.com shared in December 2022 that Fritz’s health doesn’t appear to be strong enough for him to appear on American Pickers again. The publication noted that when Fritz had his stroke, Wolfe shared on his Instagram account that he was thinking about Fritz and that he wanted fans to send good thoughts.
It’s tough to know exactly what is happening with these former co-stars, as Wolfe has said kind and positive things about Fritz and his health, but Fritz has said that Wolfe hasn’t been nice to him at all.
While fans hope that Frank Fritz will be alright, he hasn’t posted on his Instagram account since 2018, and he hasn’t shared any public updates for a few years. He definitely hasn’t had an easy or smooth time after he was told that he could no longer appear on American Pickers
