Duane 'Dog' Chapman Responds to 'Haters' Saying He's Engaged to Francie Frane Too Soon After Beth Chapman's Death

Duane "Dog" Chapman is shutting down people who think his engagement to fiancée Francie Frane comes too soon after the death of wife Beth Chapman, who passed away due to cancer in June 2019. The Dog the Bounty Hunter star opened up to The Sun about handling fans who aren't on board for his new relationship after announcing their engagement Monday, saying, "You know there's always going to be haters, and I probably arrested half of them."

Frane added, "I think too that there's always going to be people who say we did this wrong or we did that wrong or we've moved on too quickly or too fast. But the truth is that both of us have spent three years walking alongside our spouses sick and we know that God brought us together and that's why we don't believe that it's too soon, and because we both have done our share of screaming and crying and asking why. Then for us to come together the way that we did and build this friendship because of what we've been through, that turned into a love story. We don't believe that it's too soon."

Dog's daughter, Lyssa Chapman, publicly defended her dad's new relationship last month, telling The Sun, "I think that it's really hard for people to see dad move on. It's hard for us, it's hard for the world. Beth and Dog were always together for everything, so it's been an adjustment period. And I think it's kind of selfish for people to kind of on-look and say things - even myself."

"I am not him. I don't know what he's personally going through or experiencing. So it's hard. It's selfish to put your judgment on someone and say, 'You didn't wait long enough, or you should have waited more time or that it's disrespectful,'" she continued. "I think that's selfish... you don't know what someone's going through."

Dog's proposal was a complete surprise, Frane added to the publication. "I wasn't expecting it at all. I think I had gone to pick up some food and then when I came back he had all the lights turned down with just a few lights on and a bunch of candles lit. So when I came in I was like, 'Wow, this is awesome'. Then he said, 'Come in, sit down because I need to talk to you,'" she recalled. "So I put all the food in the kitchen and I came in and he said, 'I know that God brought you into my life and I don't want to spend one moment of it without you.' And he got down on one knee and he opened the ring box and he said, 'Will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?' Who can say no to that? It was wonderful."