American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Was Hesitant About Danielle Joining Them On The Road
Part backroad travelogue and part backyard treasure hunt, History's long-running reality series "American Pickers" has spent the better part of its decade-plus on the air taking viewers places they've likely never heard of, let alone visited. And yes, they've just as often shown fans rusted-out and half-buried treasures, the likes of which they've never before seen.
Over the 350-plus episodes "American Pickers" has aired since its 2010 debut, that hunt for rusty gold has been led by Mike Wolfe. He is, of course, typically joined on the road by a fellow antiquing guru because, well, four eyes are always better than two when you're trudging through another collector's cluttered crawl space or garage. Though she's hit the road on the regular in recent seasons, "American Pickers" star Danielle Colby was largely relegated to holding down the fort at Wolfe's Antique Archeology store early in the series' run.
As Colby told Famous Interviews a few years back, Wolfe has always been wary of her hitting the road, in part because he's protective of his longtime friend. "Mike and I specifically have been very close friends for a very long time," she said. "Mike has viewed me as his little sister for a very long time."
As for the hesitation Wolfe had about taking Colby out on the road, she says it's mostly because the job requires the "American Pickers" mastermind and his antique-obsessed crew to put themselves in situations that can sometimes become unsafe.
Wolfe thinks some situations are too dicey for his co-star
Danielle Colby went on to say of Mike Wolfe, "He's extremely protective," later admitting to Famous Interviews that he'd gone out of his way at first to ensure her "American Pickers" gig was primarily running the Antique Archeology store.
"The situations they go into are not necessarily the most safe." Colby said. "I think in part it worries them sick to put me in a position where I could get hurt."
For the record, Wolfe's initial hesitation to send Colby out on a pick wasn't entirely born of some misguided sense of chivalry. The "American Pickers" creator has been quite vocal over the years that he often fears for his own safety on certain picks, even claiming a collector once inadvertently locked him up in a dark cellar for more than an hour. As any fan of the series knows, kicking around in overstuffed crawl spaces and storage units comes with its own particular set of perils. Given the stakes, it's not hard to understand why Wolfe might balk at putting someone he thinks about as his kid sister in the middle of it — even if he regularly puts his actual big brother Robbie Wolfe in similarly dangerous situations.
Still, since getting the green light to hit the road with Mike Wolfe and the gang, Colby has become an even more valuable member of the "American Pickers" team. It seems likely she'll remain with the team, so as long as the show is on the air.