DoctorOz: Dog The Bounty Hunter Opens Up About Grief and Finding New Love

What would Beth say if she was looking at you right now? If she could see all the things you're going through, all the challenges you're feeling about just staying alive? Well, my parrot died about two months before Beth left me, and I was crying. And she said, why are you crying? It's a bird. I said, because I loved it. She said, Big Daddy, you're going to be so sad when I die that it's going to be okay. She said, the Bible says time heals all wounds, and I looked, and that's not in there. Oh, gosh. And she said, with time, it'll get better. But don't you ever take my name off your chest. I promise you, honey, I won't. He's fearlessly captured over 8,000 people as a bounty hunter. But this tough guy stole my heart when he bravely opened up to me about the difficult loss of his wife Beth to lung cancer. Dog the bounty hunter has battled health emergencies, deep grief, and even a difficult search for new love. But now in a daytime exclusive, he's opening up about the new beginning he never saw coming and how it's transformed him inside and out. Love is love, and business is business. But I love Beth. She was our lion tamer, the Chapman family. I cannot believe that she's gone. This is not possible. I want to wake up from a dream. I just keep seeing that last day. I wasn't going to commit suicide with a gun or something. I was going to take a lot of pills. So I thought, you know, I just need one drink of water. I've heard that things get better. To me, they're getting worse. That's a piece of blood clot that is actually inside the arteries of your lungs. That's called a pulmonary embolism. And the problem with these clots is when they block off the arteries, they don't let any oxygen get to the lungs. And there are plenty of folks who die from these embolisms. How are you holding up? It's been rough. It's been a crazy year, I think. It's amazing how we live every day thinking that nothing bad will ever happen, and when things do happen, we're really not prepared for them. Are you lonely, dog? Everything's different. The last time Dog was here, he shocked us all with the news that left me stunned. And now he is back with a twist in the story none of us saw coming. A new love and a new lease on life. Joining me now is my dear friend, Dog the Bounty Hunter. I've been thinking about you a lot during this pandemic, especially when you're working through grief and loss because there's been a lot of new grief and loss from the pandemic. You and your family recently went through a tough milestone, the one-year anniversary of your dear wife Beth's death. What are some of the struggles that you still continue to suffer through? Well, she always liked to go down a river on Father's Day called the South Platte in Colorado. So she went down in a tube, and then I'd drive a couple miles down to pick her up. And I sent the tube with her favorite flowers, and I said, this time, Beth, I won't be there to pick you up. So I think I went to Google and tried to find out what to do to respect, and it said once a year to make an anniversary or a special occasion for the person. And so we decided once a year that we were going to do that for Beth. You really are romantic. I mean, just the visual of that is pretty cool. You say you couldn't have gotten through the grief without someone who's been at your side. And I've never introduced my audience to Francie, but I'd love if you could. Tell us a bit about her. Well, Francie is a rancher, and, of course, that was not in my black book at all. So ranching or a rancherette. So I called one day because my lawyer friend next door, I need my driveway fixed. It's dirt. And I said, who do you know that would own an excavating company? And he said, well, all of the people around here use Bob. Let me give you his number. So I called Bob and said, hi, this is Dog. I'd like you to come call me back and look at my driveway. I'm going to interrupt you for a second because I've got a little surprise for you, if you don't mind. I had forgotten this. One of my producers, Charlie, remembered it. But when we first, first met, you shared this story. We never aired it, actually, because it wasn't part of the story. At least I didn't think. But it is remarkable how the world comes around. You want to take a listen to this? This is going to stun you. You're going to get goosebumps. Yes, sir. Scott, please play that little video. You're being called on to counsel people. But I've been wanting to. But everyone's following the story, so it ends up coming up. I know that you were calling to get something fixed in Colorado at your home. Your driveway. My driveway, yes, sir. And I guess a woman picked up. If you don't mind, this is so unbelievable. I want the audience to hear this. What did the lady say to you when you called her? I go, this is Dog Chapman. And she goes, hi, Doug. And I go, no, Dog, the bounty hunter. She goes, this is Click. She hung up on me. She didn't think it was real. No, she didn't think it was real. So I call her back, and I go, ma'am, this is Dog. And she goes, it sure is, isn't it? And I go, yeah, is your husband there? And she's like, Dog, he passed away. I go, when? She goes, a couple months ago. I'm not going to make it. I go, the hell you're not, lady. You are going to make it, because he's going to be so ashamed if you don't. And we talked a few minutes, and then when I go back, I'm meeting her for lunch. Because I came to see you, so I postponed it. And when I hung up, I thought, wow, this is like therapy, right? That woman was Francie's, now your fiancee. I mean, I got in the way of you meeting her. But it's remarkable that even then she obviously touched your soul. Yes, she did give me goosebumps, Dr. Oz. But then I had no idea that that was going to lead to what it has today. So that is definitely a God idea, wasn't it? Well, soon after you met Francie, did you feel a romantic connection? I was lonesome and said, would you like to go to the movie? And she goes, that's kind of like a date. And I go, well, would you like to go on a date? She goes, yes, if you go to church with me first. And so I was raised Pentecostal by my mother. And so I thought, OK, I'll do that. And then it started. I know religion has become a lot more important to you. Actually, you're starting, congratulations, a new faith-based movie, Hunter's Creed. And I hear Francie even got you to stop swearing and start going back to church almost every Sunday. Is that all true? Where did you hear all this? I follow you, dog. I know your doctors, your nurse practitioners, your family. Yeah, Dr. Oz, you're like an FBI. So first of all, yes, I don't swear a lot, but I swear, because get out on the ground, blah, blah, blah. Smoking, she's like, listen to you. And I'm way, way down. My diet, I've lost up to 20 pounds. I don't really like to eat. What she eats is grass, dandelions. I hold my breath and get water and ice and eat it and drink it. But I can tell a lot of difference in my attitude, even, by eating differently. The other day, I missed church, and she sat me down on the front porch and said, listen, there is a requisite, is that the word? There's requirements that we have when we first started this relationship. And she said, one of them was that you would go to church with me. And I go, does that mean if I don't go to church that you may take all this back? She goes, yep. You know, there's kind of Christians, and there's real Holy Ghost Christians. And Francie is straight up real Christian, Holy Ghost and all. Well, I'm glad you found the spirit and a woman with it as well. All right, up next in this daytime exclusive, Dog opens up about what his late wife would say about his new beginning with his new fiancée. I'm back with my good friend, Dog the Bounty Hunter. Dog, you say that your late wife Beth was your guardian when you were on dangerous bounty hunts. But I understand you recently went, for the first time ever, on a hunt with your new fiancée. What was that like? Did she cope with it? Did you think she'd be good at it? Well, I know she's a hunter. Her and her two sons have hunted bow hunt. So they track, they look for, you know, things that the prey leaves behind. And so she's kind of a natural. She just fit right in. She started getting leads and writing them down. So there's more than just tracking and hunting. There's figuring, you know, the investigation behind the investigation. And she's really, really good at that. Well, Beth was so good at all that stuff. What would you think of your new fiancée? Would you like Francie? Oh, absolutely. I asked Beth, you know how you do? And I said, well, what do you think about this one? And I felt very peaceful that, you know, you better be with her. You better stay with her. You better do it right. So I felt very confident that, because I didn't know, again, that I would ever pick a rancher. How did you know that you wanted to marry Francie? How did that come down? It's a big step. Well, I fell in love. Love, right? She's a Christian. And Christians, you got to marry them or, you know, you don't get no smoochies. So I just felt that I had known what love is. And I felt I went to the Bible, Dr. Oz. And in Genesis, it says a man, 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, you know, any of those things. You gave Adam a girl. I need a girl. You know the kind I need, and you know exactly what I need. And the next day, I didn't know when I met her that God had answered the prayer and had somebody already ready for me. And then as I started falling in love, I remembered the prayer. God said, how's that? I said, I shall call her woman. Yeah. And you did it. Just so everyone knows, this wasn't your first or your second proposal, right? You've been married five times. I'm just curious, how did you actually pop the question to Francie? Well, she's a rancher again. And I said, you know, how would he really like if someone asked you to marry him? She said, well, you'd have to get down on your knee. So I got down on one knee and said, Francie, pray, will you marry me? My name is Dwight. And so she said, yes, I will. Good for her. And good for you as well for getting down on one knee. I know how important it was for you that Beth held the family together. It was the center point, the fulcrum. What do your daughters, what does Lisa think about Francie? So when I told her, she goes, yeah, well, just don't get too excited until we all meet her. And then we brought Lisa for a couple weeks from Hawaii to Colorado and stayed at the house. And baby Lisa got up one in the morning and started texting me, paging me. I want to see you in the front room. I thought, uh-oh. And she's like, Dad, my God, don't you lose this woman. I see that joy in your face. I'm seeing a new and improved dog. And if Francie's making you this happy and has brought love into your life and got into your life, I think it's pretty cool. You've overcome so many life challenges in the past year. Pull those all together for the folks who are struggling with life right now. What do you want them to know? Well, my grandfather, when I was very young, would tell me, when you get depressed, the word depression wasn't used. So he said, when you're feeling down, okay? Find someone that is like worse than you and is feeling worse than you. And go to them and start talking to them. And all of a sudden, you'll realize how blessed you really are. And when you encourage that person, you feel better about helping them and you feel better about yourself. Yeah, it gives you purpose. It's beautiful. All right, so up next, the burning health question I thought dogs would never ask. I'm looking at you and telling you as a friend, you're a ticking time bomb. You aren't going to be here with the heart the way it is right now. And fear of death is normal. I'm surprised you don't fear death when you're chasing after convicts. When you run away from the doctor, that means you've got to do your own doctoring. After Beth left, I'm not afraid to die. Yeah, you said it on the show. Oh, I was afraid to die. I said, please let go of my heart, honey. Quit squeezing my heart. I was by Dog the Bounty Hunter's side when he battled a health emergency as he struggled from the loss of his wife, Beth. His health journey has been a roller coaster ride with ups and downs of deep grief and unhealthy habits that were killing him. But now, Dog's opening up about how he finally transformed his health and how he has found peace and healing when he least expected it. If you have a heart and a lung problem, well, they're supposed to back each other up. It's a buddy system. Oh. So you don't have a buddy with you. 148 over 97. Is that good? No, you know that's not good. No, I don't know. You're not supposed to be over 140 over 90. You're 148 over 97. Hypertension is the biggest ager of all. It's like a fire hydrant that's popped off its lid, squirting water, scraping off that delicate lining of your arteries. How would Beth grade how you're taking care of the man she loved? She did ask me before she passed if I would quit smoking. Of course, I lied and said yes. He lost his wife. He was the main caregiver of a cancer patient for two years. He just had a brand-new TV show come out. You know, he has 12 children. He's got a lot of pressure. Have you ever talked to him about his smoking? Many times. So how does that go usually? It's a very one-sided conversation. I mean, it's very like— Don't rat me out, baby, Lisa. I think every person who smokes knows it's bad for them, and they know it's not healthy, and he knows it's not good. I believe in God. And about a year ago, he said, how do you want to go, fast or slow? So I said to him the other day, I want to go prepared. Prepared. And I want advance notice. This is kind of advance notice. We can rehab your health if we do it together. Thank you. But the missing piece of the puzzle is you. Are you willing to commit right now to Lisa, to Beth, who's watching, and the rest of your family, that you're going to do what it takes? Do you have that fire in your belly to rehab your health? Yes. You know, Doug, a lot of folks have fallen back into bad habits due to the stresses of the pandemic. I get it completely. I know you do, too. But you've used this time to focus on your health. That's what really I think is pretty cool. So I spoke to your nurse practitioner. She's a real pistol. What have your doctors and her told you about your heart health in the last checkup? I want to hear what you understand from the discussion. From Katrina, right? Yeah. So I went to Katrina, and I take high blood pressure medicine for years. And she goes, oh, my God, your blood pressure, it's low. That means it's better. I said, what? And she looked at me, and, you know, she's a doctor. A nurse doctor. And she said, it's francy. And I said, probably so. Because probably so. So the diet, absolutely. So how much weight have you lost? Almost 20 pounds. And she took, like, 40 pounds of food out of this house, like a trick-or-treat sack. She just started loading it up. Boy, I was big there. Look at that belly. She started pulling all the stuff out of my cabinets and then threw them. Well, she didn't throw them away. She drove them away and put them in the neighbor's rubbish. Is that Francie laughing at your jokes? Is that her? Come over, Francie. I want to see you. Francie, come. Come on. I want to see the person responsible for fixing my friend's health. Sit there for a second. So I'm going to ask you. So I love that you're pushing him around. This is fantastic. Now, I want to point something out. You know, his testosterone levels are normal now. They were through the roof. Yes. Is he behaving like he's got normal testosterone? Yes. He's not growling anymore. Oh, good. All right. And I also know that you've been really meticulous on his diet. I'm going to talk to him about that in a second. But was getting the weight off him hard? Really, it wasn't. He started going back to the gym with my son every day, and I started changing his diet. And when he was eating, I eat plant-based, and I juice a lot. So I started doing that with him, and the weight started falling off, and he feels so much better. Let's talk about his smoking for a second, because you're going to be my partner-at-arms here. Despite all of our best efforts, I know he's cut back, but he hasn't cut back all the way. So, Doug, how many cigarettes do you smoke in a day now? Well, you know, I was, when I met you, three packs a day, sometimes almost four. I'm about a pack a day now, or maybe less. Now we're at the point where I'm going to set a day, and after that, I'm not going to smoke. So, Francie, the man who gets on his knee for you, you can boss around a little bit. And since you were able to do it, no one else has done, is there a quit date you have in mind for Doug? I would say January 1st would be fabulous. So, I don't know. Are you good with that date? I'll go with that, yes. Okay. All right, so we have a quit date. Now, here's why it's important, Doug. And, Francie, you can use this as ammo. There was a study that showed that people who smoke have a 38% higher mortality rate if they contract COVID-19 compared to non-smokers. So, we've got a quit date. It's your final health hurdle. The fact that you've got everything else that I was worried about addressed, and Katrina and everyone else in your health care team, we're all proud of you. And I think, Francie, you have been a recipe for health. You've helped to transfer. You've taught an old dog new tricks. Oh, Doug. I thought you'd like that. All right, more with Doug the Bounty Hunter right after this. We're back with my friend Doug the Bounty Hunter, who's opening up about his recent health transformation. So, let me ask you, what other food that I've heard, Francie, you introduce to him? Quinoa. Yes. What is your favorite way to prepare quinoa for him? I put it in our salads. He has told me a couple of different times, hey, this stuff's pretty good. Oh. I never thought I would eat this. Well, in my job, you know, it is a, how do I say it, a physical contact job. So, you've got to have muscle, and you've got to be, you know, you've got to have protein. So, I am asking you, Doug, what can I eat? I hear this question all the time. When people transition from a meat diet to a plant-based diet, they don't have to give up the protein. So, I'm going to give you two answers here, and then I want you guys to practice on these. And, Francie, I'm sure you already eat these, but dogs need to get comfortable with them. Are you ready for this? Okay. All right. The first protein powerhouse are lentils, and lentils are pretty important. A half a cup of lentils has eight grams of protein in it, and there are a lot of things you can do with lentils. So, Doug, how do you and Francie feel about lentils? I love them. I thought it was a Jewish word. Oh, you know, I'll try it, yes. You had some lentil soup, didn't you? Oh, yeah, I had that soup. I liked that. Okay. You know, Francie, he says that you're forcing him to eat grass. Is that true? Yes. Well, it's not turkey bluegrass. Let me give you one more tip, though, that you may not have thought of. This next protein-packed powerhouse is a great snack for when you're on the road, Doug. It is dry roasted edamame. I live by these things. A quarter cup, so even less than the lentils, a quarter cup gives you 13 grams of protein. If I send you some, will you try it out? Yeah, that's really good. Francie, we've talked a lot about how Doug's fallen head over heels for you, and he's professed his love in some beautiful ways. I'd love to hear from you about Doug. What attracted you to him? Well, everybody makes fun of me because I didn't know who he was when I first met him, and I said he needed a haircut, which I don't think he does. I love his hair. And he is the most kind, gentle, sweet man, and when both of us really thought that we weren't going to stand up from our grief, we helped each other up, and he walks alongside me, and he has become somebody that I can't live without. And he's a rock. Would Bob be happy that you found Doug? Yes. I think that Bob would love what Doug has become in my life. Yeah, Doug, I bet Beth and Bob are up there gossiping about you, and happy for you. I look forward to, Francie, meeting you in person. Me too. Thank you so much. We love you, Dr. Oz, very much, bro. You saved my life more than you'll ever know. Thank you, sir. I love you too, my friend. Doug's got a wonderful new show, Dog Unleashed. It's going to be part of the new Unleashed streaming service, which is launching January 1st. You can learn more at dogunleashed.com. Please follow this man. He's got a lot of wisdom besides keeping the planet safe. We'll be right back. Up next, our season-long investigation into why we need more diverse doctors and nurses right now. Find out how we can start with the next generation. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss anything, and remember to check back often to see what's new.