american-pickers-frank-fritz-reveals-last-time-show-contacted-him-wants-to-return

‘American Pickers’: Frank Fritz Reveals the Last Time Show Contacted Him, Said He Still Wants to Return

Frank Fritz, one-third of the antique-hunting team on American Pickers, said he still wants to return to the popular show, but producers haven’t reached out to him.

Fritz stepped back from the show in March 2020 when doctors told him he needed surgery to repair his back. Now, after having two rods inserted into his spine, he is back to “100 percent,” the motorcycling-loving 55-year-old said. And he is ready to return to the road. However, he told The Sun that American Pickers producers aren’t returning his calls.

“They talk out of both sides of their mouth,” he told the British newspaper. “It would be like me telling you I want to go back on the show and then tomorrow going, ‘I never said that, I never said anything about that.’

“The showrunner called me on my birthday on October 11 of last year, and he said ‘I’ll call you back tomorrow.’ But I haven’t heard from those people at all. They don’t contact me.”

He reiterated that he wants to return. But the prospects seem more and more unlikely that he’ll be digging through attics and crawl spaces looking for hidden treasures with show partner Mike Wolfe anytime soon.

Wolfe effectively confirmed Fritz’s exit from American Pickers in an Instagram post last week.

“I have known Frank for as long as I can remember, he’s been like a brother to me. The journey that Frank, Dani and I started back in 2009, like all of life, has come with its highs and lows, blessings and challenges, but it has also been the most rewarding,” he wrote on a photo of the three. “… I will miss Frank, just like all of you, and I pray for the very best and all good things for him on the next part of his journey.”

Turmoil Behind the Scenes of ‘American Pickers’

Frank Fritz dropped something of a bomb recently when he told The Sun, that he hasn’t spoken to Mike in nearly years.

“I haven’t talked to Mike in two years,” he 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.”

Fritz said the show always appeared to make Mike Wolfe the star. “The show is tilted towards him 1,000 percent,” he said.

But he was fine with that, as he’d found his place on American Pickers. But he did seemingly take a jab at his former partner.

“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. That’s no problem with me, maybe he does have a problem. I’m not arrogant, and I’m more of a regular ol’ guy.”