AMERICAN Pickers star Mike Wolfe has claimed Frank Fritz struggled with a secret opioid addiction that led to the fan-favorite’s firing from the History Channel show.
Frank passed away on September 30 at the age of 60, two years after suffering a debilitating stroke.
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Frank last appeared on American Pickers in March 2020 and was officially fired from the series in 2021.
Mike opened up about Frank’s firing in an interview with People, as he also revealed the late star’s struggle with addiction.
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.
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"Here's the deal. I don't have the right to tell his story — only he does. But I do have, I feel, the right to tell the personal story of how myself and so many people struggled to navigate what was going on in his life."
Mike said he staged an intervention with Frank’s family members to help him during his addiction struggles.
"I remember running into him like a month later. He said he was just going to handle everything on his own, and I asked him how he was doing. He said, 'I'm fine. I'm fine. No, I'm really fine.' And then like a month later, he was gone.
"And so watching Frank doing some of the things that he was doing, it was really hard."
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But Mike claims Frank continued to struggle with addiction when filming started, as they "fought really hard to get him into rehab" and he "never, ever gave up" on him.
Frank Fritz's friend blames American Pickers for falling out with Mike Wolfe as he's 'very scripted' compared to late star
Mike claimed production asked Frank for negative drug tests, but he was unable to provide them.
"The network just finally made the decision," Mike said. "They're just like, 'Listen, we have to move on. We have to keep going with this.' I had mixed emotions about doing that... and we were just trying to figure out what we were going to do."
Mike said when Frank was let go, he was forced to “fend for himself.”
“I could finish his sentences. He could finish my sentences. I'm a left-handed person, but with him I felt ambidextrous,” Mike said.
He also said he “lost a brother” when the two had a falling out, which is “why it was so hard to hear him say the things that he said."
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INSIDE THE FEUD
Mike is referring to Frank’s 2021 interview with The U.S. Sun.
Frank said at the time, “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.”
But Frank insisted he was “bigger” when it comes to viewers.
The fan-favorite said, “I’m not arrogant and I’m more of a regular ol’ guy. The guy that connects with me is the guy who buys a 30-pack of Busch Light and a pizza on the weekend. That’s my guy. My guy buys a $150 sign, not an $8,000 sign.
“I’m more of the common man guy, I haven’t found a $100,000 vase or any Michelangelo stuff. I’ve never really had a big, big score like that.
“But all the small scores are the bread and butter and that’s my deal.”
Frank then said it would be “hard” to “put the show on after not talking to somebody for two years.”
He even admitted, “I think Mike wants to get his brother Robbie in there to replace me. I don’t know why he’s behaving like that towards me.
“You couldn’t just stick two people in a van and get the chemistry you get from me and Mike. We’ve known each other for about 40 years. We can finish each other’s sentences.
“When everybody is getting along and there’s no drama, me and him are very good together.”
Frank added, “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.”
Frank also revealed at the time that he had been sober for 11 months.
“It would have been a year but I had one slip up, it was maybe for four hours, but it was enough," he said.
Mike told People that while they did have a falling out, he was still always there for his longtime friend.
"I stepped away for a little because I was watching what he was doing, but I still fought for him to go to rehab and I still had those conversations.
"And everybody was like, 'Well, when his back is better... and I'm like, 'It's not his back. That's one thing, but we need to help heal him, because he needs us right now.'
"I never stepped away from him completely. That would be impossible for me to do. But I watched all of it unfold. I tried to help him as best I could, and we did speak," he said.
The two ultimately made up, as 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 because I knew it wasn't him talking. It was his addiction talking.”
HEALTH CRISIS
In July 2022, Frank suffered a stroke at his Iowa farmhouse.
Frank’s close friends filed a guardianship and conservatorship for him soon after, as his “decision-making capacity" was "so impaired.”
Frank Fritz's Conservatorship
Frank Fritz was placed under a conservatorship in August 2022, just weeks after he suffered a stroke.
- Frank's conservator is MidWestOne Bank and is in charge of his finances
- The bank agreed to invest Frank's money and collections to generate income
- The guardian is his good friend Chris Davis
- Chris is responsible for helping Frank manage his Crohn's disease treatment, go to physical therapy, grocery shop, cook and more day-to-day tasks
- The conservatorship also agreed to help replenish Frank's Iowa antique store, Frank Fritz Finds
- A wheel-chair ramp and more have been installed in his Iowa home under the conservatorship
On September 30, 2024 Frank passed away with Mike and loved ones by his side.
"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.
"I just told him that I wasn't mad at him and that I loved him and that I cared about him so much. And then when I could see that he was struggling, I just said, 'Just go find your mom. Go find her right now. Just go find her.'"
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 that, to be honest with you, who knows what our lives would've been like if there was never a show. I just want people to know who he was."
Frank appeared on American Pickers from 2010 to 2020.
Read More on The US Sun
He is remembered by fans as the “bearded charmer” who loved to pick vintage signs and small antiques.
The show now stars Mike, his brother Robbie Wolfe, Danielle Colby and Jon “Jersey Jon” Szalay.
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