A new season of American Pickers recently hit the 2023 TV schedule starring longtime lead Mike Wolfe and his brother Robbie. While fans have been waiting for new episodes for quite a while, the show has continued to struggle in the ratings since the exit of Frank Fritz a couple of years ago. Now, an insider is claiming the veteran reality series wants the show’s former co-star back, but how realistic is that really?
If a report from an insider who spoke with Radar Online is true, Wolfe allegedly has wanted Frank back for a while, albeit reluctantly. That insider actually told the outlet, “Coming crawling back to Frank is a bitter pill for Mike to swallow,” noting it’s one that might be necessary given the current state of the ratings. With a few bright spots, American Pickers has dropped in the ratings since Fritz left.
Last week’s premiere episode also brought in well under the 1 million benchmark the series used to frequently hit, rounding out at about 943,000 viewers. While the show could maybe use a little help, there’s a bit of counterevidence out there on this front, however.
Mike Wolfe Is Still Happy As A Clam Promoting American Pickers Without Frank
It is worth noting that when Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz broke the band up, it wasn’t exactly copacetic. While Frank initially left the show of his own accord to deal with mounting health issues, it was confirmed by Mike Wolfe that he was not asked back to the show. As the story blew up bigger and bigger, Danielle Colby and others involved with the show noted that Frank had struggles the show had accommodated for years but that had reached a breaking point. Rumors of a feud between the Pickers stars have continually cropped up.
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.
Then, there was plenty of back and forth when both Wolfe and Frank Fritz spoke to press, with the former reality star calling out Wolfe’s statement as “bullshit” and straight up direct addressing him with a “fuck you.” Therefore, it’s not as if things ended on a positive note between everyone involved.
Secondarily, ahead of the most recent batch of episodes, Mike Wolfe shared a post on his Instagram Story noting how “excited” he was about the new batch of episodes airing on History on Wednesday nights. Not exactly the mark of a “bitter” man.
Frank Fritz’s Health Issues Sound Quite Serious
The other, and probably even more relevant piece of information to note is that Frank Fritz is dealing with major health issues. Even if the fandom has been vocal about wanting Fritz back, and even if Wolfe did see that to be a potential pathway, I’m not sure it’s possible. When last we heard about the star’s health journey, he was being placed under a temporary guardianship by the court system.
Why? In October we learned that Fritz had been in a rehabilitation center since August following a stroke he had suffered earlier in 2022. A guardianship was put into place to watch over the former reality star’s “safety” and to help him make decisions about things like food, shelter and medical care. This healthcare is costing him a pretty penny and MidWestOne Bank recently filed paperwork tallying up the cost of Frank Fritz’s needs. While a reality TV paycheck would likely be a boon for him, and Fritz had said he'd like to return to reality TV, it doesn’t sound like he is in much of a position to be able to take on a job requiring long hours and travel, etc at this time. And until we hear otherwise from Frank himself, I doubt this will be changing.
Our thoughts do go out to the former reality star at this time. On a brighter note, if you do want to influence those ratings, new episodes of American Pickers do air on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET, only on History.
