Duane “Dog” Chapman is still grieving the death of his late wife Beth but says that he’s “not afraid to die” because it means he’ll see her “again.” Beth passed away in June, after fighting throat cancer for many years. Her tragic death came ahead of the upcoming premiere of the Dog the Bounty Hunter alum’s new reality TV series, Dog’s Most Wanted.
During a recent interview with TV Insider, Dog addressed his outlook on life in the wake of his wife’s passing, saying candidly, “I told my camera crew after she [passed], ‘If something happens to me, you’d better get that shot.’ They’re like, ‘Boss, we will.’ I’m not afraid to die now, because I know where I’m going and who I’ll get to see again.”
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“I’m not afraid to die anymore,” Dog also said, then adding that, now whenever he’s about to knock down a door during a bust, he says to himself, “Here I come, Bethy,” and imagines her in a Heavenly garden saying, “Big Daddy, it took you a long time.”
While Beth may no longer be with Dog and his bounty hunting team physically, he says that she is still with them spiritually. As an example, Dog referred to a recent instance where the team was chasing after a fugitive who they lost in a neighborhood they were not familiar with.
Fe Fi Fo Fum Look out America here we come We’re going to make America Safe Again !!!! pic.twitter.com/c3tPqG0a7r
— Duane Dog Chapman (@DogBountyHunter) July 22, 2019
“I stopped for a second as I was running and said, ‘Beth, please. Where is he?’ All of a sudden, I heard [team member] David and Leland [Dog’s son] yell, ‘We’re on him again, boss.’ I told David, ‘Oh my God, she’s watching.’ David said, ‘We have an angelic drone.’ I feel her all the time,” Dog said.
“I always did this job to make her proud,” he also said. “I just thought on every arrest how proud she would be.”
Regarding the nature of Dog’s Most Wanted and how it differs from his previous shows, Dog explained that this time they are hunting down dangerous fugitives and wanted individuals, which is higher stakes than anything they’ve done before.
“Beth and I noticed it was more exciting and dangerous and gratifying to take out these kinds of fugitives,” he explained. “So this [show] is a lot crazier.”
Dog’s Most Wanted premieres Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 9 p.m. ET, on WGN America.
Photo Credit: WGN
