MINUTES AGO! Very Tragic! Very Sad American Pickers Mike Drops Breaking News Frank! It Will Shock U!

American Pickers ratings have dropped to the lowest of the season for episode 4, after Mike Wolfe revealed the real reason for his late co-star Frank Fritz’s firing from the series.

Season 26 of American Pickers premiered with Mike Wolfe (59), Robbie Wolfe, John “Jersey” John, and Danielle Colby on October 9. However, ratings have been low compared to previous seasons. The October 30th episode saw the worst numbers since the premiere, with just 442,000 viewers tuning in for the episode titled DIY DeLorean, which saw Mike and Jersey John go wild for a four-generation Carney collection, complete with carousel horses, toy tanks, and bumper cars.

The premiere episode brought in 565,000 fans as Mike picked through Evil Knievel memorabilia. The second episode of the season, which aired on October 16, brought in just 463,000 viewers—over a 100,000 drop in just one week. The third episode of season 26, titled The Great Ruli, saw a bit of a surge with 566,000 viewers tuning in.

The ratings for the current season are low compared to Season 25. Season 25, which kicked off with a two-episode premiere in December 2023, brought in 723,000 viewers for the first episode and 676,000 for the second. The third episode had 880,000 viewers. By the January 24 episode, ratings surged to 948,000 viewers. The numbers dropped back down through most of February, with the lowest on February 14 having 774,000 viewers and the highest on February 28 with 966,000. The season finale on March 27 brought in 832,000 viewers.

When Frank was on the show, ratings were over a million viewers. Frank last appeared on American Pickers in March 2020. He left the series to undergo back surgery in 2021, and Mike revealed he would not be returning to the series. Frank told The Sun during a 2021 interview that he was feuding with his co-star Mike.

“I haven’t talked to Mike in two years,” Frank said. “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%. 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 frontman. I found my spot. I’m second, and he’s number one on the show. No problem with me. Maybe he does have a problem.”

Frank then said it would be hard to continue the show after not talking to somebody for two years. “I’m just trying to get through life like everybody else and be as happy as I possibly can. Life is what you put into it. If you don’t put much into it, you don’t get a lot out of it,” he added.

In an interview with People, Mike revealed the real reason Frank did not return to the History Channel series. Mike explained how during the pandemic, Frank injured his back while moving items around his Iowa home and underwent surgery. “With that time off and him having surgery, it was like the perfect storm. He became addicted to opioids, and that’s when everything changed,” Mike said.

Mike said he staged an intervention with Frank a month later. “I asked him how he was doing, and he said, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine. No, I’m really fine.’ And then, like a month later, he was gone.”

Mike claimed Frank continued to struggle with addiction when filming started, and they fought hard to get him into rehab, but he never gave up on his friend. “Production asked Frank for negative drug tests, but he didn’t provide them,” Mike explained. “The network just finally made the decision, despite the stars’ mixed emotions about doing that.”

Despite the firing and their feud, the two ultimately made up. Mike said of the reunion, “It was beautiful. He was struggling with addiction. I know how judgmental the public can be, and so that’s why when we did end up speaking again, it was so easy for me to forgive him. I knew it wasn’t him talking. It was his addiction talking.”

A source claimed to The Sun that Frank’s substance abuse battle began because of his Crohn’s disease. He was on medication that left his bones weak, and when he broke his back, he needed to undergo surgery. That’s when he got addicted to pain medication.

The insider alleged that Frank went to rehab twice to combat his addiction issues. He got out, but then he suffered a stroke. In a July 2021 interview with The Sun, Frank revealed that he entered treatment for alcohol abuse at the Abbey Center in Bendorf, Iowa, for 77 days. He had been sober for 11 months at the time of the interview.

Frank Fritz was placed under a conservatorship in August 2022, just weeks after he suffered a stroke. Frank’s conservator is MidwestOne Bank, which is in charge of his finances. The bank agreed to invest Frank’s money and collections to generate income. His guardian is his good friend, Chris Davis, who helps Frank manage his Crohn’s disease treatment, go to physical therapy, grocery shop, cook, and take care of more day-to-day tasks. The conservatorship also agreed to help replenish Frank’s Iowa antique store, Frank Fritz Finds, and a wheelchair ramp has been installed at his home.

But in July 2022, Frank suffered another stroke at his Iowa farmhouse. Frank’s close friends filed for guardianship and conservatorship for him soon after, as his decision-making capacity was severely impaired.

Frank passed away in hospice on September 30, 2024, at the age of 60. Mike told People of Frank’s final moments, “I got the call that he wasn’t doing well. I just feel blessed that I was able to get there. I was there for about an hour before he passed, and I was holding his hand and rubbing his chest when he took his last breath. I took my fingers and I closed his eyes.”

Mike said of his friend, “He was an extremely hard worker. He was like no one I’d ever met in my whole life. He was a beautiful, beautiful person. Who knows what our lives would have been like if there was never a show? I just want people to know who he was.”