Dog the Bounty Hunter says fiancée Francie Frane ‘ain't gonna take Beth's place’ as they plan for their wedding
Duane Chapman, popularly known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, has said that no one can replace his late wife Beth, who died in 2019 due to throat and lung cancer. Dog is now engaged to Francie Frane, a widow of Bob who used to do yardwork for the TV personality, and the two are planning for their wedding. The pair recently appeared for an interview with ET and discussed their relationship as well as what their deceased partners meant to them. "Let me explain this, cause this is touch-and-go. She's not another Beth, she ain't gonna take Beth's place,” said Dog, who was married to Beth for 13 years. The couple has four children together. The 67-year-old and his fiancée also told ET as reported by The Sun that they understand each other since both of them lost their beloved partners around the same time. Bob died six months before Beth. Frane said, “We understood the pain that the other one was feeling and [in] those tough days and moments, we helped each other stand up. We could cry with each other and talk about what we were feeling. We were able to walk alongside each other through the pain and heartbreak and it brought us together in this amazing way.”
During the interview, Dog also quipped that his late wife “haunted me for a bit. I would never [have] thought [there would] be another Mrs. Dog, but by God, there will be a final Mrs. Chapman.” The duo also mentioned though they have decided to marry each other and the planning is on, they still remember their respective late spouses. “We honor those dates and we don't feel guilty, but it's kind of strange. But we're in love and I say all the time, ‘Beth, I'm glad you provided me with Francie because that wasn't on my list,’” Dog stated. While Frane added: “We're both still grieving. We're never going to leave Bob and Beth behind [or] forget about them. They'll always be a part of us. We thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives with them and that's not what happened and we were dealt a really hard hand. Both of us had a decision to make – are we going to rise up from the ashes and get back to life and what Beth and Bob would have wanted from us?”
Earlier in March, Dog said that the Colorado rancher will be "the last Mrs Chapman." “It's going really good. It's a God relationship because it's just like a miracle. It's a miracle how we met and it's a miracle how great we're getting along,” the American reality television star said at the time.
He also mentioned how Frane helped him cope with the loss of Beth. “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. 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. It's a very real love that we are developing with each other. 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. We console each other but we also know that we have a responsibility and that is to do this right,” Dog added.