It’s been over a year since Frank Fritz’s stroke and more than two since he was let go from the famous History series, marking the start of an alleged feud between Fritz and Mike Wolfe. The former reality star is on the mend these days, but there’s still a faction of fans who haven’t forgotten what happened behind-the-scenes of the long-running TV series. Now, semi-newcomer Robbie Wolfe has spoken out about the “haters” and the advice his brother Mike gave him when he joined the show.
While Robbie Wolfe had popped up on American Pickers over the years, it was only after Fritz’s exit that he became a regular fixture on the show, even appearing in official promotional posters for the History series. He officially joined in the capacity of “lead host” at the start of 2023, and it was around that time his brother gave him a piece of advice about dealing with criticism online.
In an interview with the Des Moines Register he went into detail about what his brother told him.
My brother taught me well: Don't pay attention to any of that. It's always gonna be there. You're always gonna have somebody out there that's gonna be a hater.
It’s advice that has seemingly served him well. It's also a message many people on the Internet could likely stand to hear. The majority of people are not going to comment on posts and of those who do comment, most are nice. It’s just that the negative comments tend to stand out a bit more, but per Wolfe, keeping the focus on the positive is the key to maintaining a good attitude about the job… and its fans.
Look at it this way: Out of every 10 people, you might have one person that's a hater and nine that love it. So don't focus on that one person. Focus on the good.
To his point, it would be weird to be a normal, anonymous dude and then to suddenly draw the attention of the Internet’s ire. Entire books have been written on what it’s like to be canceled by the internet, and in Robbie Wolfe’s case, all of that vitriol happened simply because he signed on to help with American Pickers after its former sidekick left and was not asked to return back.
This led to members of the Pickers fanbase pushing back and feeling like the show had lost some of its charisma after it changed course. While this attitude has died down a bit over time, it was coming to a head as Robbie became a more permanent fixture on the series and as news broke about Fritz's stroke and subsequent recovery.
The thing is when last we heard about Frank Fritz’s condition, we learned he was still “picking signs” and doing the work he loves on the regular. He and Mike Wolfe allegedly reunited in the summer of 2023 and the new season hit the TV schedule to more positivity at the tail end of last year. While it's been a lot of ups and downs for the show and its cast, it seems like Robbie Wolfe has a pretty good perspective on the gig, and it sounds like he can chalk at least a little bit of that up to the note from his famous brother.
