money Dog the Bounty Hunter Calls His New Girlfriend ‘Babe’ as They Go Fishing
Dog’s gone fishing!
Over the weekend, Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman posted an Instagram video of his time spent catching fish in the great outdoors of Colorado.
In the footage, which was first shared to his Facebook page on April 6, the 67-year-old Dog’s Most Wanted star is filmed by his girlfriend, Francie Frane, as he casts out his line to see if he can “catch the big one.”
Although Frane was not shown in the video, the camera captured the couple’s sweet banter.
“You gonna catch the big one today?” she asks him.
“Yes I am,” he says. “Bigger than yours.”
“I don’t know about that. Mine’s pretty good,” she tells him.
Dog then proceeds to tease Frane. “Let’s see yours. Where’d it go? Oh, it floated away,” he jokes.
“No it didn’t. It’s in the basket for everyone to see,” she reminds him as they walk over to her fish.
“Oh it’s gone, babe,” he says with a smile before pulling in the basket, which holds two fish. “Good Lord!”
“Check it out and weep, baby,” says Frane as Dog laughs and places the fish back in the water.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FOfficialDogTheBountyHunter%2Fvideos%2F147103390066059%2F&show_text=1&width=267
Days prior to Dog sharing the video to Instagram, the Dog the Bounty Hunter star reposted Frane’s photo of the pair to the social media app.
“#Repost @franciefrane • • • • • • So excited for this new chapter! ❤️,” Frane’s original post reads.
In the image, Frane places her hand on Dog’s chest as he embraces her back and arm.
RELATED: Dog the Bounty Hunter’s Daughter Defends His New Relationship After Wife Beth Chapman’s Death
#Repost @franciefrane • • • • • • So excited for this new chapter! ❤️
A post shared by Duane Lee Chapman (@duanedogchapman) on Apr 15, 2020 at 5:20pm PDT
The reality star confirmed in March that he is dating Frane. Last week, his daughter Lyssa Chapman, 32, posted a photo of the couple, writing, “How cute are these two?!”
In response to fans criticizing Dog for the relationship, which comes almost 10 months after the death of his wife Beth Chapman, another one of the star’s daughters stepped in to defend him.
“Everyone who’s judging my father should sure pray that they never have to lose their loved one and get judged for trying to fill the void,” wrote Bonnie Chapman, 21. “Your opinion is invalid. My mother would’ve wanted him to be happy. Now please shut up and let me my dad live in peace.”
Beth, who was diagnosed with stage II throat cancer in 2017, died last June at the age of 51.
Dog has been open about his grief after her passing. He told PEOPLE Now last summer that he’d promised Beth he wouldn’t wed again, and marriage aside, in another interview with PEOPLE Now last fall, he said he was nowhere near ready to date again.
“Not that I have, but you know, it’s not worth it,” he explained. “I don’t want to tell the whole story about my mom, my dad and my life and all that stuff again to a new person. Not yet.”
But Dog appears to have since found love again. In an interview with The Sun U.S. last month, Dog called his relationship with Frane “a miracle.”
RELATED: Dog the Bounty Hunter Celebrates First Valentine’s Day Since Wife Beth’s Death — ‘Where Are You’
“It’s going really good,” he said. “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.”
According to the outlet, Dog and Frane, a 51-year-old rancher from Colorado, have bonded over their shared grief of losing a spouse to cancer. Frane’s late husband Bob died just months before 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,” Dog said. “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,” he continued. “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. There are a lot of people watching us.”
Asked if he think he’ll marry Frane, Dog said, “There will never be another Mrs. Dog but it looks like there will be a final Mrs. Chapman.”
Dog’s rep told PEOPLE, “Dog is very happy. He is sending much love and aloha to all of his fans, and hopes everyone is staying safe and healthy.”
