The camaraderie between co-hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz is part of what makes "American
Pickers" worth watching.
Or at least, it used to be.
Now, it seems it's all over.
Let's dig behind the scenes to find out what went wrong between Mike and Frank.
They may have made TV magic together, but Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz weren't a match
made in Hollywood.
Before it all went wrong, "American Pickers" was a classic tale of two childhood friends
who started from meager beginnings before making it in the biz.
The dynamic treasure-hunting duo met in grade school, long before either of the two had
any kind of ambitions to be famous around the world.
They also started picking well before they thought about turning their work into reality
TV.
In an interview with Bicycling, Wolfe says he picked his first item when he was still
a kid, and the two had been picking for years before the show ran its first episode.
In fact, "American Pickers" took a while to get off the ground.
Wolfe spent years sending home-shot videos of his picking to networks before the History
Channel picked them up.
At the time, Fritz was working full-time selling fire fighting equipment, but Wolfe didn't
want to do the show without his friend.
So, Mike talked him into giving up his day job to venture into the world of television
picking, and from there, the story basically wrote itself.
With such a long history of friendship and partnership, it seems almost impossible that
the original American Pickers' bond could have simply disintegrated.
The evidence, however, says otherwise.
"That's some of the biggest arguments you and I have when we're on the road, man, is
change, man."
"No."
One thing "American Pickers" fans are likely to have noticed is that Frank Fritz hasn't
been on the show for a while now, and he seemed to have just disappeared into thin air.
In one episode he was there, and in the next he was gone.
Fritz's IMDB profile shows that his final episode outside of some credits was the 2020
season's "Burlesque Queen," in which the pair picked through a marina in Illinois while
Danielle Colby, Antique Archaeology's shop manager, was off doing her own thing.
"Burlesque Queen" seemed like any other episode of the show.
There was picking, there was van-riding, there was haggling, and there wasn't any palpable
sign that this would be Frank's final episode, nor was there even a hint that Wolfe and Mike's
friendship and professional relationships were on the fritz.
Pun intended.
Things got weird when the next episode, "Ghost of the West," rolled its opening credits without
any sign of a very important member of the main cast.
There was no mention of Frank or why he wasn't there until some episodes later, when it was
said that he was out for back surgery.
But viewers were still left wondering whether or not they'd see Frank again as the show
kept filming without him.
This is the big question that's been on fans' minds since Frank Fritz last appeared on "American
Pickers": Is Frank gone for good or is he only out for a short break?
Does he even want to come back at all?
In an interview with the Sun after his disappearance, Fritz said,
"I would like to come back to the show, but we will see.
I was doing it for 11 years, but there is a lot of controversy going on right now."
When he seemingly vanished from the show in 2020, the picker says he was out for a couple
of reasons.
The first is the back surgery, in which he had metal rods inserted into his spine.
He also made a reference to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fritz has Crohn's disease, and according to WebMD, people with Crohn's have a chance of
having worse outcomes with the virus because some of the drugs prescribed to treat Crohn's
lower the immune system -- so while the pandemic was shutting down the world of TV production,
it also made things extra risky for him.
Even with those understandable reasons for Frank being gone from the show, he said it
would be up to the network if he'd be coming back.
After the interview, it was officially announced that Fritz would not be returning to the show.
The network may have been in charge of Frank Fritz's possible return to the show after
his time off for health reasons, but in the end, it looks like they gave him the red light.
This news broke when the feud between Fritz and Mike Wolfe was officially confirmed in
an interview with the Sun in July 2021.
All that time, fans were questioning what had happened, and it had taken over a year
to get a straight answer.
Fritz said that he didn't leave the show, but rather finished filming and stepped away
for the back surgery.
Now, he's saying he's done with the production for good, and he blames it on the dissolution
of his and Wolfe's friendship, which he ultimately blames on Wolfe.
Of course, celebrity feuds are nothing new, and they don't always last forever.
There's still a shot that he could end up back on the show before it's finished running
its course, but from the way he talks, even that is doubtful.
Frank seems to place all the blame on Wolfe, but that doesn't necessarily mean he had no
part in their fallout.
He's had his problems too, and there are two sides to every story.
Frank Fritz has admitted to having a history of alcohol abuse issues, which may have contributed
to his departure from the show.
He told the Sun that they had gotten bad enough for him to do 77 days of treatment at the
Abbey Addiction Treatment Center in Bettendorf, Iowa, to get those issues under control.
From the way he talks about it, it seems he may have taken the experience pretty seriously.
Recalling the rehab, he said,
"I went there to learn and get the most out of it that I possibly could."
He says that he's been sober ever since.
but beforehand, things had gotten a little rough.
In 2017, Fritz was arrested after a concerned citizen called his van in for swerving down
the road, and in 2018, he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated.
Alcoholism often impacts those around the person affected, and it seems that Fritz's
substance abuse may have changed his relationships — or at least it's hinted at in a recent
Instagram post from Danielle Colby regarding Frank leaving the show.
She wrote,
"I wish things could have been different but we must be accountable for our actions when
we cause instability or pain and suffering to others.
Frank caused so much pain for himself that it has been hard to watch.
I truly hope Frank receives all the help he needs to become well after years of being
unwell."
Frank Fritz told the Sun that while he was down from his back injury and subsequent surgery,
Mike Wolfe, the man who's been his friend and picking partner since they were children,
didn't contact him once.
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."
Fritz also said that he believes there's no way the show could find two people that have
the same chemistry that he and Mike do while riding around the country, which as a missing
element in the show's future, could certainly change the feel of the production.
The picker expressed that it would be hard for him to continue on with the show after
so long of not even talking to Mike.
If what Frank says is true, the show would probably miss the chemistry he mentions even
if he does return.
Let's say for the sake of argument that Frank Fritz is correct and his former co-host and
friend hasn't tried to contact him in almost two years.
It sounds like something deeply personal, and Fritz certainly seems to feel that way
about it.
But maybe there's another reason.
Maybe Mike Wolfe just has too much on his plate to keep in contact — especially if
Fritz is still dealing with his own personal demons.
Besides being the primary face for the History Channel's "American Pickers" franchise, which
undoubtedly saps the majority of Wolfe's time, the guy really does have a lot going on.
Wolfe is a family man, and as such, he's got what many would agree are more important people
he needs to make time for.
These days, as TMZ notes, Wolfe both has a new girlfriend and is also going through a
divorce, meaning that even in the best of times, it wouldn't be surprising if he didn't
have a lot of time to hang out or keep up with friends.
On top of that, Wolfe has also written a book, "Kid Pickers," a follow-up to the 2011 book
"American Pickers Guide to Picking," which he wrote with Fritz and other members of the
show's cast.
He's also worked with a charity called Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries for children
with cleft lips and palates.
He commissioned a line of sculptures called "Charlie's Smile," inspired by his daughter.
And Wolfe does all of this while spending a huge portion of his time on the road for
the show.
He's busy with a capital "B."
Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz may have been the faces of "American Pickers" for the majority
of the show's run, but there wouldn't have been an "American Pickers" if it wasn't for
Wolfe.
He is the one who conceptualized, pitched, and sold the show while Fritz was busy with
his day job.
Wolfe is also the one who convinced Fritz to come to the show in the first place.
But would any of that excuse Wolfe from becoming a glory hog who makes the show all about him?
Fritz doesn't think so.
When Fritz explained his estrangement from his co-host and the show to the Sun, he had
some choice things to say about how he believes Mike is trying to take all the glory.
Being just about as blunt as possible, Fritz said,
"The show is tilted towards him 1,000 percent [...] I'm second and he's number one on the
show."
"You can't ride this bike by yourself.
You need two people to balance it."
Watching "American Pickers" will quickly show you that Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz each have
their own picking style, even if there's been a lot of crossover over the seasons.
For example, they both seem to love motorcycle stuff, but Wolfe is more energetic and personable
while Fritz tends to be more reserved in demeanor.
Fritz likes hair metal and Wolfe likes country.
Fritz also seems to think the differences in their picking reflect the differences in
who they are, both of which he implies are important to their fallout.
Fritz told the Sun, quote, "I'm not arrogant and I'm more of a regular ol' guy," implying
that his former friend might just be the opposite.
For Fritz, the people he says he "connects with" are the ones who drink Busch Light and
eat pizza.
As he put it,
"My guy buys a $150 sign, not an $8,000 sign."
The way Fritz mentions this stuff suggests that he believes Wolfe is the opposite, or
at least a different, type of person than he is.
Maybe it took a decade or more of riding around in a van for that to become clear and take
its toll on their relationship.
You're bound to learn a lot about someone when you're that close for that long.
One of two things are likely to happen if "American Pickers" wants to keep the two-person
dynamic that made up so much of the show.
Either Danielle Colby is going to have to pick up the slack and take Frank Fritz's seat
in the van, or they're going to have to find someone totally new to replace the original
American Picker.
There's also a chance that the show will simply try to come up with a new dynamic that doesn't
involve a replacement, which Entertainment Weekly's sources suggest may happen.
But there have been rumors circulating around about someone else stepping in Fritz's shoes.
If you hop over to Reddit, you'll see that some fans think Mike Wolfe's brother, Robbie,
is going to replace Fritz.
Robbie has already been on the show since Fritz departed, and Fritz has straight up
said he thinks Wolfe was gunning to have Robbie replace him.
Regardless, it seems like Fritz is gone for good, and it looks like when he went to the
wayside, his friendship with Wolfe disappeared too.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite movies and TV shows are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.