‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Star Drops Bombshell About His Abusive Father

Duane “Dog” Chapman is opening up about his father, Wesley Chapman, telling Dr. Oz on his show that the abuse he suffered at his hands seemed a little more tragically clear in hindsight after he learned last year that he was not, in fact, his biological parent. Appearing on The Dr. Oz Show with his fiancée Francie Frane, the Dog the Bounty Hunter star said his younger sister told him the news before she passed away.

“My little sister was a couple of years younger than me and she had a very bad infection,” Chapman said in a clip published by PEOPLE. “She was a nurse and she knew that she was not going to make it. So just before she passed away, she said, ‘Oh, by the way, I want to tell you that Dad is not your father. He is Paula’s, Mike’s and mine, but he’s not really yours and maybe that’s some of the reason he beat you more.’”

Later, Chapman elaborated on the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, who has since died, throughout his childhood. “Well, my father, who I just found out last year was not my blood daddy, was in the Navy back in the day and there’s a scripture in the Bible that says, ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child. That’s Old Testament repercussion,” Chapman explained. “My father would spank me so hard with a belt or a piece of board, and he’d pull my pants down. Number one, that was humiliating. I lean over a couch and just go to wailing. I couldn’t even shower at school because I was so embarrassed of the bruises.”

He continued in another clip, saying his father beat him “daily” — something that started to add up once he learned of his true lineage. “When I found out that he wasn’t my dad, a lot of things that he used to say, [like] ‘I gave you your name,’ ‘I’ll beat the savage out of you,’ come to find out. A lot of things started coming full circle,” he said. “Oh, no wonder.”

He said knowing that piece of information changed his outlook on fugitives he’s arrested in the past who told him they blame their lack of a father figure on their criminal behavior. “I used to arrest people, I’d say, ‘Why do you do this, man?’ [They would reply,] ‘Well, I don’t know who my dad is, Dog,’ and I used to feel so bad. And I don’t know who my dad is either. But I still love my daddy,” Chapman said. “If there wouldn’t be how he raised me, I wouldn’t be the man I was today. So, I kind of get over those excuses that my people have. ‘Oh, I don’t know my dad, and you don’t understand.’ Yeah, big deal.”

Even though Chapman said he knows Wesley wasn’t his biological father, he still sees him as his dad and has no interest in tracking down his biological father. “Do I want to find my dad? No. Do I have a dad? Yes, and his name is Wesley Chapman.”

Chapman’s appearance on The Dr. Oz Show airs Monday, May 3. Check your local listings for air times and channels.