Christmas is a time to spend with your loved ones but for Dog Chapman, it looks like this holiday is going to be a lonely one.
How quickly six months have gone by since the famed TV personality and star of Dog the Bounty Hunter, Beth Chapman, passed away after attempting to beat her second battle against cancer. And no one is feeling her loss more than her husband of 13 years, Duane "Dog" Chapman.
Ever since her death on June 26, 2019, "Dog" Chapman has been open about how he feels since his beloved wife left him and their children behind. “When your spouse dies, as a man, I mean as me, so generally probably everybody, you’re released from that obligation of being married,” the bounty hunter told People Now.
“So your mind and you go crazy. And then after a while, you realize that never will no one ever love me as much as she did. And I will probably never love anyone else as much as I loved her.”
Now, he has to face Christmas, the season of love and joy, without her by his side. The 66-year-old actor also revealed to Radar Online that his children too won't be visiting with him during the season. "I will be glad when this year is over," he told the publication, a statement that is not surprising considering the robbery at Beth's store and his own heart scare.
"I’m trying to hold the holiday traditions. Beth was very traditional, and I want to hold those traditions as we did when Beth was here," he said. He explained that when Beth was still around, “it was mandatory” for all their children to come home for Christmas. However, this year, “that’s not going to happen.”
“Beth was the punisher in the family and they know their dad is a softy,” he explained. “So, a lot of the kids aren’t coming this year. They’re like ‘Dad, we are going to do our own thing.’ I’m like ‘Okay, whatever.’ So that’s a little sad. I’ll mostly be alone.” But despite the seeming bleakness of the situation, Chapman hasn't let it bring him down. In fact, he's already gotten into the festive spirit by hanging up stockings as a way to honor the mother of his children.
‘I’ve got it all decorated. All the stockings are hung. We always left – when the kids were young – cookies for Santa, and I think I’ll do that this year also,’ he told Entertainment Tonight, according to Metro UK. He also revealed certain other traditions wherein, as a family, they would put up trees, the two of them would sing to Christmas songs as well as playing festive chart-toppers before finally retiring for the night.
"Beth knew every single [Christmas song], and she made us all listen to Christmas songs like two weeks before Christmas. As we decorated the tree, she'd put on Christmas songs. Every night before we went to bed she'd put them on," he remembered, according to The Daily Mail.
"So I think the girls are taking it the hardest without being able to sing with mom."
Additionally, he told ET Online in an exclusive, "Every little ball that’s on the tree, every ornament, you know, there’s 20 years plus of ornaments on that tree, so as I hung [them], I remembered where and when we bought each one." During the final episode of his hit series Dog’s Most Wanted, Chapman opened about his heartbreak over Beth's death. He said, "I’ve only been alone as I showered and I had to run out without a towel, because I can’t be alone right now."
"It seems like yesterday. Six whole months already. And pretty soon it will be a year. It's really hard when you start thinking about how long it's been," he said to ET Online. "I think that's the worst of all, because I can't believe it's been six months." Our hearts and prayers are with you, Duane Chapman, and wherever Beth might be, she's smiling down on you this season. R.I.P Beth.
References:
https://people.com/tv/duane-dog-chapman-sex-is-a-thing-almost-in-the-past-after-beth-death/