Duane Chapman's fiancee Francie Frane reveals she 'had no idea' who he was before they started dating
Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Chapman, 67, recently got engaged to his girlfriend Francie Frane post the death of his beloved wife Beth who died last year in June.
It has now been revealed that Frane, 51, had no idea who the reality TV star was before meeting him. She made the astonishing confession while doing an interview that detailed the start of her and Chapman's relationship.
The first time that Frane had heard of Chapman was after one of her girlfriends was left upset by the death of Beth Chapman. While speaking to The Sun, Frane shared, "In June of last year, I was six months into my grieving, and my really close girlfriend and I went to Arizona together with her mom."
"We're involved with a ministry there. We were in the hotel room and my girlfriend was listening to some worship music on YouTube and she said to me, 'Oh my gosh, Beth Chapman passed away two days ago. I had no idea. She had throat cancer'," Frane revealed.
Frane recalled saying, "And I said, 'Oh my gosh, that's so sucky. I hate cancer'" before asking "Who's Beth Chapman?" Her friend then clarified and told her, "Dog The Bounty Hunter's wife, you don't know who that is?" to which Francie responded, "No, I don't know who Dog The Bounty Hunter is."
At the time, Frane had also said, "I looked at his picture and said, 'I have no idea who that is - and that guy needs a haircut!" She credits God for having met the love of her life and also shared another story about the same trip where her friend told her, "Okay, you're going to think this is nuts, but I have to tell you anyway, God just said to me that you're going to meet Dog The Bounty Hunter and he's going to use you guys in a huge way to change lives."
Frane did not think much of her friend's prediction till August last year when she answered a voicemail left by Chapman for her late husband Bob's excavating business back in Colorado. Frane had to break the unfortunate news that Bob had passed away several months before Chapman's wife, Beth, died from cancer last June. The couple had started out by talking on the phone and became increasingly close.
"I called back and he answers the phone and I said to him, 'I'm really sorry to tell you that my husband passed away a few months ago'. So he starts balling and then I start crying. So then all of a sudden I hear him take this big, deep breath and he says, 'My name's not Doug, it's Dog The Bounty Hunter'," she recalled.
"And he said, I lost my wife to cancer a few months ago also. And so we ended up having this like hour and a half conversation about what we've been through," she added.
The couple stayed in touch after the phone call and eventually went out for coffee together. Their unexpected friendship slowly turned romantic with the two helping each other get over the pain of losing their loved ones.
We had previously reported that Chapman is still mourning the death of his wife Beth but he says that his new love Francie Frane is helping to turn the pain into happiness.