Inside Dog The Bounty Hunter's Complicated Love Life Since Losing Beth
Duane Chapman, or more sensationally called "Dog the Bounty Hunter," has regaled us with his bold hair choices and outrageous personality for decades. While everyone else seems to think that those wrap-around Oakley sunglasses need to be retired, Duane still chooses these to finish off his iconic look. Who are we to argue with the Dog?
The bounty hunter managed to combine a rather eclectic career choice with the candidness of reality TV, and he's made an impressive net worth while doing so. But he hasn't had an easy life either. His childhood was riddled with tragedy and he's had some contentious relationships with his children as they grew into adulthood. While the odd family rift is nothing new, it might blow your mind to discover that Duane has 13 kids. He's also been married six times, so the bounty hunter never does anything halfway.
His most high-profile marriage was to wife, Beth Chapman, and the two of them became an iconic duo thanks to their co-starring in several reality shows, including A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "Dog and Beth: On the Hunt," and the two-hour special, "Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives." The special chronicled "Beth's battle with throat cancer," per A&E, which she died from in June 2019. Duane was hit hard by her passing but went on to find love again. However, it wasn't the most simple journey for our favorite bounty hunter and came with its fair share of drama.
What Beth had to say about Dog remarrying
Beth Chapman had some famous last words for her husband, Duane Chapman. She asked Duane to keep the tattoo of her name on his chest and to never get married again. Dating was still on the table, as Duane opened up about the possibility of getting a girlfriend with People in August 2019. "I probably will do that, and I told [Beth] that," Duane said. "What deal we said is I will never take 'Beth' off my chest, I have her name here. And I will never get married."
Duane added that he and Beth spoke about the option to date but to keep marriage out of it. "And she said to me, 'We are human, okay?'" Duane told People. "And probably the same thing I'd say to her: 'I know you're gonna have a boyfriend, I hope you have 10, but don't go fricking marry one, and say those words. Don't you dare do that.' I would say that, and she did say that to me."
Duane reiterated this message to ET in September 2019: "There will never be another Mrs. Dog." Earlier in the interview, Duane spoke about some of the women he had been hanging out with. "They're not really my girlfriends," the bounty hunter explained. "I'm not saying I'm not gonna have one, 'cause I will, [but] I'm not gonna get married." While this was clearly Duane's intention early on, he didn't exactly stick with it.
How Moon Angell helped Dog
As he predicted, Duane Chapman began dating after his wife, Beth Chapman, died. The bounty hunter reached out to his longtime assistant, Moon Angell, who was also a friend of Beth's. News about the budding connection broke in January 2020, but with an emphasis that it was not romantic.
Duane posted a selfie with Moon on Instagram, and the caption read: "Thank you MOON !!!!" Naturally, everyone got curious but a source told People that it was purely platonic. "Moon has been a family friend to Beth and Dog for years," the insider explained. "Since Beth's death, she has stepped in to help Dog in his time of need. There will never be another Beth."
Moon came back on the scene at an opportune moment. Duane later told Dr. Oz that at the time, he was considering taking his own life. "I couldn't stop crying," the bounty hunter told Dr. Oz in February 2020, saying he even had a plan. Thankfully, Moon stepped in with a different plan — one to get Dog back to work and focused on something else. "She's pretty rough, this one," Duane said of Moon, who also appeared on Dr. Oz. "I say brutally honest," Moon countered and later explained: "I don't go in and out. It's one way. This is the way we're going to do it. He needs to get going. We need to get back on the show and get him busy again." That seemed to be the right move for Dog.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Moon Angell moved her things into Beth's closet
While Moon Angell helped Duane Chapman get out of a very dark period after Beth Chapman died, there was drama as she got closer to the bounty hunter. Initially, they claimed that their connection was purely platonic and supportive, but it quickly became romantic. When Dr. Oz asked them if they were more than friends, Moon said, "It has to be intimate because there's a lot of powerful things going on with Dog." So that's that.
Not only did they become intimate, it appeared that Moon moved her things into Beth's closet and this did not go down well with Duane's daughter, Lyssa Chapman, who got sassy on Twitter. "You're [a] disgusting woman," she tweeted. "Any person who moves in on a man weeks after losing his wife, who you were supposed to be a 'friend' to, Is the lowest scum on the planet-Which for you wasn't that far of a step down from where you were before."
While this would be a shocking thing for relatives to see, Duane and Moon addressed her clothing in Beth's closet on Dr. Oz. They explained that Moon didn't want to take out Beth's things and replace them with her own but she did it because Duane asked her to, noting it was painful for him to see Beth's things there. "So, it wasn't a negative thing, it was because he couldn't do it anymore," Moon said. At least they were able to give the situation some context.
Dog's proposal to Moon
Of all the unexpected things to come from Duane Chapman, his on-air proposal to Moon Angell might have been the most unusual. For a little context, Duane proposed to Moon while live on Dr. Oz in February 2020.
Duane spoke about Beth Chapman as she was dying and said she told him: "I want you to be happy." Using that to frame his proposal, Duane turned to Moon and said "I didn't tell you I was going to do this, but this is 'The Dr. Oz Show.' I think this will put a stop to a lot of this. Moon Angell, will you marry me?" While surprised, Moon turned him down and said, "We're friends Duane. I love you as a friend." She added, "I can't marry you. Right at this very moment, I don't see you as that. I love you and Beth as my friends." Duane then said that he proposed as a test, since he was aware that they were just friends. His plan was to prove that to everyone else. Whether that was actually his plan or if he said that to save face is something only Dog can answer.
We're kind of thinking it was the latter because The Sun revealed that this wasn't the first time Duane had proposed to Moon. It happened in September 2019, three months after Beth died. Duane was in the hospital and his daughter, Bonnie Chapman, saw that her dad proposed to Moon via text and that she had said 'yes.'
Dog's kids react to his proposal to Moon
Duane Chapman's kids had mixed reactions to his romantic inclinations following Beth Chapman's death. His kids were especially skeptical of prospective partners taking advantage of his fame. Duane told ET, "Well, the girls are very upset because of other girls I'd be looking at. Or they may say, 'Dad, they just like you because you are Dog the Bounty Hunter. They don't like you because you are Dwayne or Dad.' The boys are like, 'Dad, you know, if you love them, if you like them, we are for you or whatever you decide.'"
When Duane's daughter, Bonnie Chapman, found out that her dad had proposed to Moon Angell over text only three months after Beth died, she was devastated. "She cried for hours to family friends," an insider told The Sun. "Bonnie and Moon have never had a close relationship, especially after her mother died."
"She was heartbroken, and so were his other children," the insider added. "That's how the family found out they were dating." Allegedly, Beth herself saw this coming and was less worried about a potential romance than Moon's wish to take over Duane's life. Moon was his assistant, after all. "Beth warned those closest to her this would happen," an insider told a later publication of The Sun. "Beth told people because she knew Moon's intentions, which were to get Duane to trust her, so she could control every aspect of his life." So, Moon wasn't popular with many of the Chapmans.
Dog and Moon's rocky breakup
Quite likely to the relief of the Chapman family, Duane Chapman and Moon Angell broke up after their two proposals and bumpy start, thanks to pushback from some of the bounty hunter's kids. In early February 2020, Moon packed her things and left Duane's house, The Sun reported.
In fact, a source told The Sun that Duane's kids were indeed relieved but angry about their dad's quick rebound after Beth Chapman died. "Right now they aren't really speaking to each other — Dog's relationship with Moon has caused a lot of tension within the family," the source explained. "Losing their mom, not getting to mourn properly, then Dog moving in with Moon so quickly, the kids have been through a lot and they still miss Beth terribly," they added.
For her own part, Moon shared several tweets on Twitter in early February that were probably directed at the Chapmans. She shared a tweet on February 13that read: "People who hurt you, do not deserve you." On the same day, she retweeted: "The darkest place in the universe is a heart." Also on the same day, she retweeted: "Not to be romantic but you're dead to me." Since then, as of this writing, it appears that Moon deleted her Twitter account.
How Dog's Christian roots impacted his decision
While Moon Angell was out of the picture, Duane Chapman was still keeping his heart open after Beth Chapman's passing. One of the bounty hunter's main justifications for doing so was his dedication to scripture. Duane is a devout Christian and in an interview with The Christian Post, he opened up about trusting God even after losing Beth. "I never doubted, okay, I don't doubt God at all!" Duane said. "You go to Scripture, and you listen to the voice in your mind that's in your head that says, 'This has happened for a reason.'"
While he found a way to buffer the pain of losing Beth, Duane also used his faith to open the door to finding love again. On the podcast "Two Guys from Hollywood," Duane said that he turned to the Bible and found a passage that said, "God does not want a man to be alone, that he knows we need a companion, whether we're man or woman."
This inspiration proved useful especially when Duane met his future wife, Francie Frane, and in an interview with Dr. Oz, he said, "I just felt that I [knew] what love is, and I went to the Bible ... and in Genesis it says God does not expect or want a man to be alone. And so I said 'God, I don't have to go to Christian.com or any of those things, you gave Adam a girl and I need a girl.'" Well, God certainly answered his prayers.
Dog meets Francie Frane
Duane Chapman and Francie Frane were a match made in heaven; at least Duane, with his Christian roots, thought so. In an interview with The Sun, he said of their relationship: "It's a God relationship because it's just like a miracle." Both Francie and Duane were Colorado residents and they met because the bounty hunter needed some work done on his house and called to speak to Francie's husband, Bob. As it turned out, Bob had died some months before Duane's wife, Beth Chapman, died, a previous publication by The Sun noted.
The two grew close through their shared grief and it ended up being the glue that brought them together. "I know that when I start to feel bad about Beth and it's overwhelming, Francie seems to show up and that helps the kids," Duane told The Sun. "And I feel that Beth expects her to show up to take care of me. And Bob, Francie's late husband, expects me to be a man and a gentleman and so I am."
Even Duane's family approved of Francie. Lyssa Chapman, who was vocal about her dislike for Moon Angell, told The Sun what she thought of Francie. "They are both so happy together and they are good for each other," Lyssa said. His family's approval was obviously very meaningful to the bounty hunter. "But what's important now is that my family, my close family, every single one of the kids and grandkids, approve of Francie and that makes a huge difference," he said.
Dog proposes to Francie Frane
It wasn't long after meeting Francie Frane that Duane Chapman decided to propose. The bounty hunter joked with Dr. Oz in September 2020 that he had to marry Francie due to her Christian background: "She's a Christian and you gotta marry them or you get no smooches!" To be fair, though, Duane is also Christian and this impacted his decision to propose too. The bounty hunter said that he had prayed to God so that he wouldn't be alone and told Dr. Oz, "As I started falling in love I remembered the prayer, and God said 'how's that?" and I said 'I shall call her woman!'"
The couple publicly confirmed their relationship in March 2020, The Sun notes, and Duane proposed in May 2020, ten months after Beth Chapman died. In a later exclusive with The Sun, Francie shared how he proposed. "I wasn't expecting it at all," she began. "I think I had gone to pick up some food and then when I came back he had all the lights turned down with just a few lights on and a bunch of candles lit." She said that Duane asked her to sit down and said to her, "I know that God brought you into my life and I don't want to spend one moment of it without you." He got down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?" Francie joked, "Who can say no to that? It was wonderful." Fair enough!
Family drama about Francie
It wouldn't be a Duane Chapman story without a little more family drama. Most of his children were supportive of Francie Frane, especially daughter Lyssa Chapman. "Francie has been very respectful to all the kids — and to Beth's memory — and my dad is the same way with Bob and their children," Lyssa told The Sun. "They go to church three times a week and dad is trying to give up smoking — she is a good woman for my dad. He's the happiest I've seen him in a long time — he's so in love and wants to spend the rest of his life with Francie."
But with two others, there wasn't a positive response. Bonnie Chapman, Duane and Beth Chapman's daughter, told TMZ that she was not invited to their wedding. The same goes for Cecily Chapman, Beth's biological daughter and a step-daughter to Duane. Cecily speculated that she and Bonnie remind Duane too much of Beth and that's why he was excluding them from the wedding, saying this "scares their dad." Beth and Duane's biological son, Garry Chapman, was invited to the wedding but the two sisters think it's because Garry doesn't look like Beth and that "Dog tends to favor his sons anyway." Yikes.
Duane and Francie gave a statement to TMZ. "We love Cecily and Bonnie very much, as we do all of our family. We pray for their health and happiness every day. Beyond this statement, we wish to keep any family issues private," they said.
How Dog and Francie keep their former spouses present
Part of what makes Duane Chapman and Francie Frane's relationship so successful is that they both honor the memory of their late spouses. There's no shying away from the past and both Duane and Francie allow the other to grieve. They know how to support each other and be respectful of past relationships.
"Both of us are allowed to talk about our spouses that are in Heaven — it's not like we're afraid to mention it or anything like that," Duane told The Sun in March 2020. "We console each other but we also know that we have a responsibility and that is to do this right." He added, "There are a lot of people watching us."
The bounty hunter reiterated how his and Francie's shared grief was what brought them together. "For a living, she's a rancher and she recently lost her husband to cancer six months before I lost Beth, so we hooked up on the phone, started talking to each other, crying and consoling each other, and then one thing led to another, and it's just incredible that I've been able to meet someone like her," he told TMZ Live. "With Francie, I'm allowed to speak about Beth ... We cry. We hold each other." Clearly, they've kept the door open for pain as well as healing. No wonder they've been able to find such a healthy, intimate way to relate to each other.
The wedding day
Duane Chapman is never one to go halfway on anything, so it's unsurprising that his wedding to Francie Frane was slated to be larger than life. At least, this is what he wanted for his sixth wedding. Duane told The Sun that he wanted to invite fans. "I would love to have the biggest wedding there's ever been," he said. "I'm sorry but that's just me. I hope I can talk Francie into it and open it to my fans, the 'Dog Pound,' to everybody."
They got married on September 3, 2020, as TMZ notes, in Colorado Springs at a famous wedding venue in the area called The Pinery At The Hill. Prior to the wedding, Francie and Duane spoke with ET, noting that they couldn't decide on a cake flavor and had to get two. "The reception is going to be a fun party and [occur] right after the wedding," Francie explained. "And we are going to be dancing and having a blast with all of our friends and our family and everybody that wants to share all of this with us."
The wedding wasn't without some drama. Duane had to get extra security when an anonymous threat came in before the nuptials that someone was going "to throw paint on Francie's wedding gown," the Daily Mail reported. Thankfully, this didn't happen but a guest did claim that their tires were "slashed" and many thought it was Duane's two daughters, Cecily and Bonnie Chapman, who had not been invited to the wedding.
Dog and Francie's honeymoon
Duane Chapman and Francie Frane enjoyed the first days of their honeymoon at The Antlers Hotel in Colorado, the Daily Mail reported, where they were spotted outside kissing. The couple then jetted down to the Sunshine State and Duane told The Sun why this was their top pick. "We came down to Florida for our honeymoon because Francie was born there," he said. "I asked her before we got married, where would you like to go? And she said, 'To Florida to put my feet in the sand, and my ocean.'"
But their honeymoon was interrupted by the national search for Brian Laundrie, the main person of interest in the case of Gabby Petito's death, NBC reported. Duane told The Sun that he and Francie were following the case but then decided to get personally involved, saying: "All of a sudden all my fans are like 'Dog Dog Dog this is up your alley!'"
Once they arrived in Florida, where the hunt for Laundrie was underway, Duane said he had to help. "Then we came down here and I said to Francie 'Honey, it's eight hours away. Honey, I need it so bad. My skin is crawling, I'm getting goose bumps. I'm having those dreams FREEZE I GOT YOU BOY! I'm having those kinds of dreams Francie," Duane told The Sun. The bounty hunter had to pull out due to an ankle injury but Francie got a clear picture: when you marry a bounty hunter, the chase comes first.