"American Pickers" star Frank Fritz has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke.
The reality TV personality's former co-star, Mike Wolfe, shared the news Thursday in an Instagram post.
"Frank has suffered a stroke and is in the hospital. Please keep him in your hearts and thoughts,” Wolfe wrote. “Frank I pray more than anything that you make it through this okay. I love you buddy."
In the post, Wolfe also addressed his reportedly strained friendship with Fritz, who has spoken out about their falling out in the past.
"I have been very private in the past year in regards to Franks life and the journey he’s been on," Wolfe wrote. "There has been lots of opinions in regards to mine and Frank’s friendship and the show but now is not the time to set the record straight. Now is the time to pray for my friend."
Fritz has a long history of medical issues related to his back, which required surgery in 2020. Fans had wondered why he stopped being featured in "American Pickers" after his last appearance in March 2020, and in an interview with The Sun last year, he attributed it to his surgery.
"I didn’t leave the show, I finished shooting and then I had a little back surgery and the pandemic came," he said.
Fritz made a full recovery from the surgery but it was a grueling comeback from having "a couple of rods put in there." The injury was because he was constantly lifting heavy items.
"If you watch the show you can see who the guy is that’s lifting all the time, it’s always me," he said. "It had been hurting for a long, long time. I’m talking months and months and months."
Fritz went on to claim that he had not spoken with Wolfe for about 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," he said.
Fritz did not share why the two had fallen out, but hinted at tension over their shared stardom on "American Pickers,” which Wolfe confirmed Fritz had exited last year.
"The show is tilted towards him 1,000 percent. I can’t even bend that far down to show you how much," Fritz said of Wolfe.
"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," he added. "That’s no problem with me, maybe he does have a problem."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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