Fans of the long-running series American Pickers have had to do their fair share of worrying about former star Frank Fritz since the show premiered in 2010. Today, things are looking worse for Frank than ever. After a bout with alcoholism that saw him kicked off the series, it seemed like he was finally managing to turn his life around. However, all hope of him returning to the show came crashing down when it was revealed in the summer of 2022 that he had suffered a debilitating stroke. American Pickers is still going strong with Frank’s former costar Mike Wolfe. Though Mike gave well wishes for Frank over social media after the news of his stroke was made public, the two haven’t talked in several years. Join Facts Verse as we explore how American Pickers’ Mike and Frank still aren’t talking after his stroke.
Frank Fritz Isn’t Doing Too Good
Frank Fritz aficionados are used to bad news. However, fans of the former American Pickers star weren’t prepared in summer of 2022 when it was revealed that he had suffered a debilitating stroke. It’s now October, and fans have been chomping at the bit for some good news. Sadly, it seems like there isn’t much to be had. Frank is doing his best to recover from the stroke, but things aren’t looking good. In October of 2022, it was revealed that things had gotten so bad for Frank that he was in need of a guardian. That month, Frank Fritz was placed under conservatorship on account of the damage that had been doing by the preceding summer’s stroke.
The reason for the conservatorship is clear. It appears that Frank Fritz’ health is so poor in the wake of his stroke that he is no longer capable of taking care of himself. Not only does that mean that the man is no longer capable of performing his own day-to-day tasks, but it also means that he’s no longer capable of making his own life decisions. After suffering the stroke in July, Frank was kept in the hospital for a month. He was released to a rehabilitation center after being given the okay to leave the hospital. Though those close to the former American Pickers star are remaining optimistic, it seems that the recovery process is going to be long and arduous. The conservatorship will remain in effect until then, and it’s possible he’ll never fully recover.
It the wake of the conservatorship, Frank Fritz has been placed into the care of a longtime friend. As one might’ve guessed, this friend is not Mike Wolfe. Mike Wolfe was Frank Fritz’s fellow star on American Pickers. That is, until Mike booted him off of the show. Frank was booted off of American Pickers unceremoniously at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the 2022 stroke, Frank could be heard in the media proclaiming that Mike hadn’t even talked to him in several years. Given that the two were longtime friends before American Pickers ever even came on the air, many have wondered what came between them.
Why Was Frank Fired from American Pickers?
While Frank Fritz’s wellbeing is being placed in the hands of the aforementioned longtime friends, his finances are being managed by a figure from his bank. Frank doesn’t have any close family, and it’s arguably the former American Pickers costar Mike Wolfe is the person that he is closest to in the entire world. When the two started American Pickers together, it changed the name of the game when it came to reality television. The show put a spin on the traditional Antique Roadshow format, providing a much more homespun take on competing reality series like Pawn Stars.
Though American Pickers is still on the air and seems to still be doing fairly well in the ratings, it can’t be denied that Frank Fritz’s absence had been felt amongst the show’s diehard fan base. Frank stopped showing up on the show in 2020, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, there was no reason given for why Frank was no longer a part of the American Pickers team. Many fans assumed that the star had possibly been infected with the virus. However, it later turned out that there had been a falling out between him and longtime friend Mike Wolfe.
It’s still unclear what exactly happened between Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz. The two had been friends for decades before American Pickers even came on the air. Their friendship formed a huge part of what made the show so popular with fans. Though fans keep tuning in out of habit, the show hasn’t been the same since Frank was booted off. Mike and Frank have certainly had their differences over the years. When Frank was still involved, he was always mad about American Pickers being more Mike’s show than his. On the other hand, Mike was often dissatisfied with Frank’s alcoholism and erratic behavior during his time on the show.
Frank Fritz Managed to Turn His Life Around
Frank Fritz’s alcoholism and erratic behavior is certainly the main reason that he was unceremoniously booted off of American Pickers. The star took the wake up call. Before the 2022 stroke, Frank had done quite a bit in the way of turning his life around. If Frank had stuck to his guns, it’s possible that he could’ve been welcomed back onto American Pickers sooner rather than later. Now that this depilating stroke has occurred, it’s doubtful that he will ever return to the program. Besides being fired from American Pickers, another tragic thing that happened to Frank around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was the he broke up with his fiancée. He also suffered back problems, which required medical attention.
Before his stroke, Frank Fritz could be heard in the media complaining that Mike Wolfe never called to ask how his back problems were doing. Though Frank wasn’t getting any support from his longtime friend, he was doing his best to pick up the pieces of his broken life. He went to rehab for his alcoholism, and it appears that he had completely given up drinking in the time leading up to his recent stroke. The former American Pickers star had also lost a good deal of weight. Frank had lost so much weight, in fact, that some tabloids started worrying that he wasn’t eating enough.
As it turns out, there was a good reason that Frank Fritz lost so much weight. Frank suffers from Crohn’s disease, which causes him to have problems with digestion. Frank started following a new diet after learning that he had the condition, and his new diet caused him to lose a bunch of weight. Frank also claimed before his debilitating stroke that giving up drinking had caused him to change a lot of his eating habits for the better. According to him, drinking always made him want to binge large quantities of unhealthy food.
Mike Wolfe Wished Frank Well Over Social Media
After the news broke about Frank Fritz’s debilitating stroke, former American Pickers costar Mike Wolfe took to social media to give his regards. However, it still appears that the two haven’t talked since Frank was booted off of the program. The social-media post from Mike surprised many of the people still close to Frank, as they believed that the two longtime friends were never going to mention each other again. It’s still unclear what exactly transpired between the two former friends. However, Mike Wolfe has been going through plenty of tribulations of his own in recent years.
Just recently, Mike Wolfe divorced from his wife of over a decade. The divorce was a pretty big deal for Mike, who has amassed quite the fortune since American Pickers’ relatively humble beginning. Mike Wolfe’s former wife is named Jodi, and it was she who filed for divorce. As for the reason, Jodi cited irreconcilable differences. Mike and Jodi had a lot of wealth and property that they needed to divide up, and it’s possible that these court proceedings got in the way of the star worrying about his longtime friend. It was decided during the court proceeding that Mike was going to have to pay well over $600,000 in alimony to his former wife. However, this massive sum is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amount of wealth that the star lost in the divorce.
Mike and Jodi owned 15 properties, and Mike was allowed to keep 13 of them. However, the two that Jodi was allowed to keep are pretty important ones! For starter, Jodi was awarded with the main property that her and her husband called home. This property resides in Nashville, Tennessee, and t’s valued at around $2 million. Besides this property, Jodi was also given another property in North Carolina.
Mike Recently Lost Millions of Dollars in a Divorce
Property and alimony aren’t the only things that Jodi was awarded in her divorce from husband Mike Wolfe. She was also given a sum of over $5 million, as well as a piece of some past and future tax royalties coming Mike’s way as a result of his work on American Pickers. These payments won’t be nearly as grand as the aforementioned $5 million sum or the alimony payments totally $600,000, but they will be well into the thousands themselves. Another thing that Jodi was awarded during divorce proceeding was primary custody of her and Mike’s daughter, Charlie.
Though Jodi is now Charlie’s primary custodian, she still spends plenty of time with her father. Soon after the divorce went through, it was announced that Mike had moved on. He is now in a relationship with a model by the name of Leticia Cline, and he is living in a million-dollar bachelor pad that’s located in Tennessee. Hopefully, when Frank Fritz recovers from his stroke, he and Mike can put their differences aside.
American Pickers’ Frank Fritz hasn’t been doing so well since he was booted off the program by longtime friend Mike Wolfe, and things got even worse after the stroke he suffered in summer of 2022. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that American Picker’s Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz haven’t spoken in several years, and that Frank Fritz was just put under a conservatorship as a result of a debilitating stroke? Comment down below!
