American pickers‘ Mike Wolfe sets the record straight on his friendship with his late teammate Frank Fritz.

Shortly after Fritz left the show in 2021, he said The Sun that he hadn’t “spoken to Mike in two years.” Reacting to the comment, Wolfe, 60, said Us every week in a statement that Fritz was “a brother to me.”

While opening up about their dynamic in an interview with People posted on Monday, November 4, Wolfe admitted the friends had a rift — but claimed he and Fritz “never disconnected.”

“I walked away a little bit because I was watching what he was doing, but I still fought for him to go to rehab and I still had those conversations,” he said. “I never completely walked away from him. That would be impossible for me. But I watched it all unfold. I tried to help him as best I could and we talked.”

The Ups and Downs of American Pickers’ Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe: From Fallout to Reconciliation

When he reunited with Fritz, Wolfe called the moment “beautiful.” Wolfe added: “He was struggling with addiction. I know how critical the public can be. And that’s why, when we finally talked again, it was so easy for me to forgive him because I knew it wasn’t him talking. It was his addiction talking.

Wolfe and Fritz hosted American pickers for 10 years after its debut in 2010. Two years after his departure in 2021Fritz died at age 60 in September. His representative said TMZ in October that Fritz was in a hospice surrounded by friends at the time of his death, adding that the star died after suffering a stroke. A day after Fritz’s death, Wolfe posted a sweet tribute for her boyfriend via Instagram.

Frank Fritz, Former American Pickers Co-Host, Dies at 60 After Previous Health Complications

“It is with a broken heart that I share with you all the passing of Frank last night,” Wolfe wrote in October. “I’ve known Frank for more than half my life and what you saw on TV was always what I saw, a dreamer who was as sensitive as he was funny. Both off camera and on camera, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many by simply being himself.

“Who would have dreamed that we would share the cockpit of a white van in front of millions of people interested in our adventures. Before the show, we would go together to places we never knew existed, with no destination in mind and just a shared passion to discover something interesting and historic,” Wolfe continued. “We have made countless trips and shared so many miles and I feel blessed to be there by his side as he made one final journey home. I love you buddy and I’m going to miss you so much, I know you’re (sic) in a better place.