Danielle Colby's Relationship With Mike Wolfe Explained

Since the show's premiere in 2010, Danielle Colby remains an important part of the Antique Archeology team on the hit History Channel reality show "American Pickers." Her job is to seek out leads for Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz to scour for treasure to buy and resell. Throughout that time, she has also handled the retail side of Wolfe's business, with stores in both Iowa and Nashville. In 2020, Fritz left the show amidst some controversy, per TVLine.

Following Fritz' sudden departure from the popular series, and the media feud that ignited between the two pickers, some speculated that Colby would soon follow. According to People Magazine, though, Colby stood by Wolfe. She wrote on Instagram that although she was saddened by Fritz' exit, she looked forward to many more years "rolling around this big blue marble together" with Wolfe (via Instagram.) What's clear most of all from the series is that Colby and Wolfe share a passion for all things antique. Could there be, though, more to the relationship than what's just what's portrayed on the screen?

According to Outsider, Colby, who calls herself "The Queen of Rust" (via her Instagram), first met Mike Wolfe at a yard sale in Le Claire, Iowa, where both she and Wolfe lived at the time. That's also where Wolfe's flagship store is located. Appropriately enough, the pair quickly bonded over a love for vintage items and objects. From that point on the pair were quite close, and when Wolfe pitched the show he asked her to be his retail manager and project coordinator for picking trips. Colby did not agree to the job right away.

As Colby recalled in a chat with Famous Interview, it was five years before she agreed to join Wolfe on TV. That began before he had even approached the History Channel about the series. At that time, he self-produced his own videos, she says. Eventually, Colby accepted Wolfe's offer. With the interest of a small network called "Plumb TV," Wolfe wanted "bigger and better," and soon History Channel was on board. Colby said, "everything just kind of went from there," and from that point forward, she was along for the ride (via Famous Interview).

Danielle Colby has assumed even more on-camera time since Frank Fritz left "American Pickers," as she accompanies Wolfe on his picking trips. She also leads a few expeditions all on her own. Despite some consternation from the Pickers-verse about the absence of Fritz (per The U.S. Sun) there's evidence that this new role for Colby is a popular update. For example, the last season in which Fritz appeared drew about 1.2 million viewers on average, and although it's impossible to say if this is entirely due to more screen time with Colby and Wolfe — Wolfe's brother Robbie and "Jersey" Jon Szalay are also more prominent — the show's 2021 ratings are north of 1.3 million viewers on average (per The U.S. Sun).

Around that same time, Colby spoke on the Sailor Jerry Podcast (posted on YouTube) about her ongoing relationship with Wolfe, to whom she says she's "life married," per Fox News. "I think he just needed a female force in his life that could kick his a** every once in a while," she said. "I really needed a male force in my life that didn't think I was crazy for expecting the same thing they expected out of life. I think it all kind of came together, and we have loved and fought so much over the last 20 years, and we're forever intertwined" (via Fox News).

But what exactly does Colby mean by "life married" and "forever intertwined"? Per Outsider, Colby has two children from her first marriage, which ended in 2012, two years after "American Pickers" debuted and after she began working with Wolfe. Following that, she was briefly married to French graphic designer Alexandre De Meyer, but that relationship ended in 2015. In 2021, Wolfe's nine-year marriage to Jodi Catherine Wolfe also dissolved, as People Magazine reports.

But despite the strong on-screen chemistry and persistent rumors, Mike Wolfe and Danielle Colby remain just friends and business partners. Also according to Outsider, Colby — who now splits time between the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico, per the official Danielle Colby website — married Jeremy Scheuch in 2021. Following his divorce from Jodi Catherine, Wolfe has been romantically linked to the model Leticia Cline, per TMZ. But they, too, split up, according to Suggest. Implications that Colby had something to do with it remain unsubstantiated. All this combined it appears that as far as antique pickers Mike Wolfe and Danielle Colby are concerned, it's all for the love of the junk.