American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Recalls The Time He Got Trapped In A Cellar While Out On A Pick

Thanks to History's reality series "American Pickers," series creator and star Mike Wolfe has essentially become the face of the antiquing world-at-large. For Wolfe, that's sort of a dream come true, as the "American Pickers" host has been quite candid over the years about picking being his passion since he was just a kid.

As he's gotten older, picking has arguably become as much an obsession as a passion for Wolfe. In fact, the TV star has waxed poetic often over the years about how far he's willing to go in the name of a good pick with a unique story behind it. Wolfe reaffirmed this fact during a Season 18 episode of "American Pickers," when he stated emphatically, "You gotta check every nook and cranny, behind every piece of plywood. You gotta get in the attic. You gotta get in the basement."

If you've seen "American Pickers," you know Wolfe's searches regularly lead him to explore out-of-the-way spaces most folks wouldn't dream of stepping foot in. And as the "American Pickers" frontman admitted during a 2019 interview, diving blindly into all those nooks and crannies can sometimes get a little dicey. On one particularly tricky pick, he even found himself trapped in a cellar.

During an interview with Chattic, Mike Wolfe discussed the time he was accidentally locked in a cellar while on a pick. Wolfe told the story when asked about the craziest thing that ever happened to him on a pick. And hearing him tell the story, one can imagine it also ranks among the scariest. "There was a time where I got locked in a cellar, and the guy forgot I was down there," Wolfe told Chattic. Wolfe went on to add that the potential seller actually left the house after locking the cellar door on him. "So he had left the house, and I was down there for like half an hour banging on the door."

Not for nothing, but that sounds like a legit worst-case scenario for any antiquer who's ever stepped foot into a stranger's home on a pick. Thankfully, as Wolfe explains, his unexpected captivity was both short-lived, and very much an accident. "He came back and he was like, 'Oh my gosh, I forgot you were down here, I came back to let you out.'" 

The "American Pickers" star was laughing as he told this otherwise terrifying cellar tale. Still, even Wolfe admits his mind went to a pretty dark place at the moment. "You can imagine what was going through my mind there," Wolfe said.