Fans of Duane “Dog” Chapman, the star of the hit reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter and its spin-offs, were devastated in 2019 after Beth Chapman, Dog’s beloved wife and co-star, died following a battle with throat cancer.
But while Duane struggled with grief following the passing of his wife, two years later, he’s officially ready to move on and love again: he announced this week that he will be getting remarried next month.
“I’m getting married,” he said on an episode of the podcast Two Guys From Hollywood that aired yesterday. “We went to the venue, picked it out yesterday, looked at it. Man, it costs a lot to get married.”
Chapman has been engaged to his new love Francie Frane since last year. He hinted that they might be tying the knot soon in a recent Instagram post.
“My Francie Francie I Love You !!!!” he wrote. “And soon be proving that beyond a Shadow of a doubt!!!”
Duane’s new romance surprised fans, coming just months after the passing of his wife, Beth.
Beth Chapman, a fellow bounty hunter, married Duane in 2006. The couple became celebrities thanks to the hit reality series about their lives, Dog the Bounty Hunter, which aired for eight seasons on A&E. The couple also starred in spin-off series, Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.
Beth was diagnosed with Stage 2 throat cancer in 2017. While treatment was initially successful, she was hospitalized in April 2019 and ended up in a medically-induced coma. She died on June 26, 2019.
Fans of the couple mourned, and honored Beth’s life with memorials. But Duane had an especially difficult time moving on from Beth.
In the months following her passing, he admitted to having suicidal thoughts: “I just hope that I don’t live very much longer without her because now she made the first step, she’s through the gate,” he said on the set of Dog’s Most Wanted. “She’s paved a way for me.”
However, Duane has now moved on with a new romance. While some fans were surprised he was ready to settle down with a new love so soon after the death of his wife of 13 years, he said that part of what brought him so close to Francie was their shared grief.
Before they began dating, Francie had also lost a spouse, her husband Bob.
“We understood the pain that the other one was feeling and (in) those tough days and moments, we helped each other stand up,” Francie said in an interview with ET.
“We could cry with each other and talk about what we were feeling. We were able to walk alongside each other through the pain and heartbreak and it brought us together in this amazing way.”
“I say all the time, ‘Beth, I’m glad you provided me with Francie because that wasn’t on my list,’” Duane said.
After becoming engaged last year, Duane announced that the two have set a date: September 2.
“Francie’s husband passed away over three years ago, Beth passed away over two years ago, and I felt very bad about even wanting to have someone else after Beth,” Duane said on the podcast. “And then when I went to the Bible, the Genesis, and found out how Adam got Eve, as I was going to find the exact story, I saw the scripture that says, ‘God does not want a man to be alone.'”
Congrats to Duane “Dog” Chapman on his engagement, and best of luck on the new marriage. Moving on after the death of a spouse can be difficult, but it seems like this new romance has been great for him.
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