By Mariel Turner
5:59am PDT, Sep 10, 2019
Dog the Bounty Hunter has been chasing bad guys for decades and has no plans to stop anytime soon. In fact, he's upping the ante with his newest show, "Dog's Most Wanted," which follows Dog (real name: Duane Chapman) as he tracks down the biggest baddies from the list of America's Most Wanted criminals. The series, which premiered on WGN America on Sept. 4, 2019, also chronicles Dog's late wife Beth Chapman's cancer diagnosis and treatment. Wonderwall.com chatted with the infamous bounty hunter about dealing with grief, his feelings about modern medicine, what viewers can expect from his new show and more…
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On new show "Dog's Most Wanted":
"[The show] is a wild ride. Get a lot of Kleenexes [ready]. We used to go after bail jumpers and, you know, felons, but not not really the devil's hurt felons. Now we're going after America's Most Wanted. Horrendous felonies like kidnapping, sexual assault, [crimes against] children, attempted murder. These are some of the guys already caught for Season 1. But you know, we're using a lot of modern equipment because it's 15, 16 years [after the premiere of my first show 'Dog the Bounty Hunter']. These guys are going to prison. I mean, these guys are not getting a personal recognizance bond or able to make another bond because they're way past that stage. They've either been sentenced and took off or they're on the local, or the federal, most wanted list. These guys and girls are most wanted."
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On his concerns about chasing America's worst felons:
"Well, you know, I don't want to say that I don't have any fear because I'd be lying, but we're not afraid. If you are, you gotta quit, right? Because this is not a business for people that are afraid. Concerned? Maybe. Worried? Maybe. Those two words — concerned, you know? Yes. Worried? Yes. But never afraid. I mean, you can't be afraid or you don't go in, you don't go [get] them."
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On the most difficult case he encountered this season:
"They're all good. They're all dangerous. There's no worse than the next, you know. We got shot at. What I can say is that our new transport vehicle for the perp[s] seems to be ambulances."
On facing grief in the wake of wife Beth Chapman's death in June 2019:
"It's something I've never been through in my life. So it's terrible. I mean, I don't know yet. Basically, you know what I mean? Some days — as long as there's people around me — then I'm smiling for the last three days. And, you know, it's helping, but I got to be alone. Because that's just how it is. And when I'm alone, it's a lot harder."
On his late wife Beth's impact on the new show:
"Well, this season is about Beth's fight with cancer. The whole show. The whole 10 episodes. How she started out and how she ended. So this one's for Beth."
On modern medicine and what Beth's fans should take away from her battle:
"I'm sorry to say but you know, modern medicine is a lie. It's baloney. Yes, it's a crock of you know what. We've used THC and CBD at the last and they gave her — the doctor said six more months on her life. She was dwindling down to nothing when she started using chemo… I mean, what you want to take away is there's other remedies, cures — could be a cure — and treatment for cancer. It's not just me that says it. I saw those poor people, elderly people, you know, melting away doing their treatment… There might be something out there. I hope to God they already don't have it. Because I will turn back into a felon if they do. If they've already got a cure and these guys have been hiding it, they got a problem with me. Because it's just — I get so upset I don't even want to think about it. When you go through a tragedy, like a kidnapping or a death or something, the victim — the people that are left, the survivors — start foundations to help, you know what I mean? So that's what I want to get out there. There are other means besides chemotherapy and radiation but they're so afraid of the 'M word' — marijuana — that they don't want to say anything. And like I say, again, it's a lot cheaper than what the chemo is."
On Beth's final message:
"You know, like I've said before, she didn't die for this — because of the show — but she died for the show. You know, she was adamant that she was going to film this. She's going to do this. She's gonna show her fans. She thought she was gonna win. You know, she thought she was gonna beat it. There's seven, eight, nine things you go through when you're dying. The last one is acceptance. You know, as she was taking her final breath she didn't accept it. She's like, 'This is not happening.' She never accepted death."
