Mike Wolfe, the star of the antique-hunting show American Pickers, is mourning the loss of his beloved dog.
The 61-year-old TV personality, whose mother passed away in February, adopted Francie Joe in 2020 and the canine regularly appeared on his History Channel series and social media.
On Wednesday, he took to Instagram to announce his pet’s death, writing: ‘In a tragic accident – one I feel very much responsible for – I lost my Francie Joe.’
He continued in the devastating caption, ‘My heart is shattered in a thousand pieces. I never got to say good bye or comfort her when she needed me most.’
Elsewhere in the note, he reminisced, ‘We traveled and explored this beautiful country of ours together. Her big brown eyes loving so many hearts and spreading so much joy.
‘She was family. She was everything I ever dreamed of in a dog. And now she’s gone, pulled from this world too soon. For days now I’ve tried to make sense of it all.’
Mike Wolfe, the star of the antique-hunting show American Pickers, is mourning the loss of his beloved dog
The 62-year-old TV personality – whose mother passed away in February – adopted Francie Joe in 2020, and the canine regularly appeared on his History Channel series and social media
Wolfe resolved, ‘I’ve realized that I can’t. all I can do is remember what she taught me and live my life the way she would be proud of me.’
Nearly six months ago, he paid tribute to his late mother Rita following her death from cancer.
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At the time, he announced online that she died in hospice care following a four-month battle with cancer, with her children by her side.
Wolfe credits his mother with helping him get into the business of picking and said she was his number one supporter.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, he recalled how American Pickers brought them even closer together.
‘One of the things she did early on that was really amazing was giving me her garage,’ he said, revealing that he had his own ‘man cave’ at just five years old.
‘I had been putting all this stuff in the front yard, and it piled up in the front yard, so she comes home and goes, “I tell you what, I’m going to give you the garage to put your stuff in.”
‘She didn’t park her car in the garage anymore. She gave it to me to put all my stuff in there and was encouraging me to bring things home still.’
On Wednesday, he took to Instagram to announce his pet’s death, writing, ‘In a tragic accident – one I feel very much responsible for – I lost my Francie Joe’
He said in the devastating caption, ‘My heart is shattered in a thousand pieces. I never got to say good bye or comfort her when she needed me most’
Wolfe shared a series of snapshots with the brown and white dog
Nearly six months ago he paid tribute to his late mother Rita following her death from cancer
Wolfe and his late co-star and long-time friend Frank Fritz brought American Pickers to the air in 2010 after years of pitching the show to a range of networks.
Currently in its 27th season, the show originally saw Wolfe and Fritz travel across the country to find rare Americana artifacts and national treasures to buy, then sell or add to their own collections.
Following Fritz’s death in September 2024, Wolfe has continued the show with the help of familiar favorites, including his brother Robert Wolfe and Danielle Colby.
Wolfe’s mother was also involved behind-the-scenes details of the show.
‘She travelled with us sometimes when we were filming and came to New York with me when we did talk shows,’ he said.
‘It was very cool for us to share that kind of time together.’
