Danielle Colby A Look Into The Life Of The ‘American Pickers’ Star
American Pickers is among the top TV shows today and has been running for almost 10 years now. In the show, a couple of guys travel around the United States to pick antiques, but fans truly love one person – Danielle Colby, manager of Antique Archaeology. This Iowa girl appears to have done it all, with her incredible assortment of tattoos, wonderful sense of humor and can-do attitude. It is pretty clear she is the one driving the program forward, but who is Danielle Colby? Keep reading to find out.
Danielle Colby: A Look Into The Life Of The ‘American Pickers’ Star
The Show
American Pickers is a TV show which has basically taken over the airwaves. The show follows the duo Mike and Frank as they travel around the country in search of cool and interesting historical items at old junkyards.
The Show
However, the person behind the sales, and the one that finds these items and sets them up, is Danielle Colby, the real driving force of the show. And her story is more interesting than all the items ever picked.
A Girl From Iowa
Danielle Colby is from and grew up in Davenport in Iowa. The city is located along the Mississippi River and across from Moline, Illinois. It is a 3-hour drive away from Chicago.
A Girl From Iowa
Because her hometown is close to the Windy City, she had an avenue of escape and was exposed to the alternative subculture.
Shop Manager
Danielle Colby manages the Antique Archaeology shop. This is not a small task since she is in charge of everything, such as the business plans, the budget that the guys can spend while on the road, and the places the guys go for picking.
Shop Manager
Danielle coordinates picks with antiques collectors from different parts of the United States, and finds a buyer for those items. Though the job is hectic, she does it amazingly.
VERY Friendly
You might be wondering what’s going on with Danielle and Mike because they always appear to be together and seem to have a VERY friendly relationship (which is putting it lightly). It turns out that they are actually just best friends.
VERY Friendly
As a matter of fact, Danielle and Mike have been friends for over two decades! When you have been friends with someone for more than half of your life, it is natural for you to see that person more as a sibling than a friend.
Her Real Relationship(s)
Danielle and Mike definitely don’t have a thing, but Danielle has had a few significant others. She was married to French designer Alexandre de Mayer, but they split soon after the wedding.
Her Real Relationship(s)
She was also formerly married to Kevin Colby, and she has two children with him. However, the pressures of fame was too much for him and he wanted to break up.
Her Children
Danielle has one girl and one boy. She had her children in the 2000s with her former husband Kevin Colby. When she became a mother, she grew to love all children, and she is regularly photographed with young ones.
Her Children
She hopes to inspire her children and her younger fans to have a sense of self worth and self pride.
Her Amazing Tattoos
Some say the body is a canvas. This is surely true for Danielle as she loves getting tattoos. There are currently over 30 tattoos covering her body.
Her Amazing Tattoos
However, every single one of her tattoos is a representation of something important to her, such as a very special person, a moment, or a place. However, Danielle’s favorite tattoos are found on her hands because her own two children drew them for her.
One Of The Biggest Shows On Cable
American Pickers has become one of the biggest and most watched TV shows in the United States and it has broken records left and right. Mike and Frank have something that people can just connect to.
One Of The Biggest Shows On Cable
It could be the awesome chemistry that they have or the genteel, Midwestern manners that they possess. We think it is due to the spunkiness the office manager, Danielle, offers.
Punk Rock Lover
The punk lifestyle is something that Danielle loves and she especially loves the music which comes with it. According to her, the first band which made her fall in love with the genre was The Pogues, an Irish band.
Punk Rock Lover
Danielle says that soon after, she found other bands that she also liked, such as the Flaming Lips, Against Me! (whose t-shirt she sported in one of the episodes), and needless to say, the Dead Kennedys.
A Lover Of Bugs
Danielle Colby is actually quite the entomophile and entomologist. If you’re wondering what that means, she really likes bugs and enjoys learning about the little critters.
A Lover Of Bugs
Most women and girls try to live life free from bugs as much as possible, but Danielle is very much interested in them and how they help balance out the ecosystem. As a matter of fact, her love for them made her get a tattoo of a fly on her arm.
Roller Derby
Danielle Colby has done many things in her life, but one of the really adventurous things she has been part of is the contact sport roller derby. She loves the idea of a girl’s only sport with strong women in it, and decided to form a team together with other Irish descended women.
Roller Derby
The team is called the Big Mouth Mickies. They competed for three years but Danielle was forced to quit competing because of an injury.
Burlesque Dancing
When Danielle Colby lived in Chicago with her family, she went to a Margaret Cho comedy show. In the show, there was a woman called “Satan’s Angel,” a burlesque dancer.
Burlesque Dancing
Danielle fell in love with the art form right away and decided to learn how to do the dance. She got enamored with the classy and old timey art, and she advanced in her studies quickly.
Le Mustache
Danielle decided to run with the idea of putting on a burlesque show, and thought of getting some of her family and friends involved. She initially got her sister involved before assembling the rest of the crew.
Le Mustache
Danielle mainly drew upon her roller derby teammates and girls from another team called the Quad City Rollers. They all make up Le Mustache, a burlesque squad.
Modesty Was An Issue
One of the issues women had when it came to deciding whether to join Danielle in her burlesque troupe or not was the fact that a lot of them were not comfortable with showing off their bodies.
Modesty Was An Issue
Her sister, the first person that joined, told Danielle she wanted to be the group’s “modest one” who didn’t need to show her entire body. However, one by one, the women Danielle recruited asked to be the “modest one.” Danielle, therefore, had to get everyone comfortable with their bodies in practice so that no one would need to be “the modest one.”
Posing In A Magazine
When Danielle was asked for her reason for not posing in a really popular magazine that features boudoir photos of punk girls proudly showing off themselves, she had a pretty simple answer.
Posing In A Magazine
Danielle said the magazine showcases 20-something girls who have tiny perfect bodies. After having two children and being in her third decade of life, she didn’t really feel she was a suitable candidate. However, the magazine eventually asked her to pose for them, and she looked amazing doing it.
Freedom In Burlesque
The reason Danielle loves dancing burlesque is because it is associated with freedom. She said this as she was leaving her first burlesque show one night in Chicago. She added that she felt she could do anything.
Freedom In Burlesque
Her size did not matter nor the fact that she had already given birth to two kids. What mattered was that she was comfortable with herself and that she would put on a good show.
The Nickname
When Danielle performs, she goes by her name Danny Diesel. The nickname came from her father’s really close friend who gave it to her when she was around the age of three or four.
The Nickname
Danielle has said that Danny Diesel is her alternate persona. She added that she feels closer to this alternate than her actual self. She gets to be free via Danny. Her freedom comes with being able to dance burlesque.
Go Way Back
American Pickers’ Danielle and Mike Wolfe actually go way, way back. They met around 20 years ago when they both lived in Iowa.
Go Way Back
Danielle says that she could always rely on Mike to help her out with her different projects, even if people think her projects were too zany and wacky to work. Mike never stopped believing in her and always helped her, which has definitely paid off.
Saying Yes
Mike Wolfe had already been picking peoples’ attics and garage sales for over twenty years when the History Channel offered him his own show.
Saying Yes
Mike asked Danielle if she would like to work as the manager at his antiques store and be on TV, and she obviously said yes. Danielle knew Mike and what kind of guy he is, so she felt completely comfortable to go along with his offer.
The Beginnings
Mike was actually a Youtube sensation before his show American Pickers started. He had someone film him as he went to different people around the midwest in order to pick their antiques that were sitting in the garages, basements, and attics.
The Beginnings
Mike sent the videos to various TV stations, but the History Channel eventually picked it up. The channel enjoyed the items he picked and the way that Mike interacted with people.
Main Complaint
In an interview during the time the TV show first started airing, Danielle was asked if she didn’t like anything about how the show was made. Danielle pointed out the fact that the program didn’t do enough to portray how Mike really gets to know those he is picking from.
Main Complaint
Danielle says the reason Mike is an amazing picker is because he is very much a people person, and she wishes the program would show that fact more.
The Mystery Man
For the past year, there has been a new man popping up in Danielle’s Twitter and Instagram photos. The two can be seen together on the beach, in airports, on boats – just about everywhere, but who could this mystery man be?
The Mystery Man
His name is Jeremy Scheuch. He and Danielle have been dating for quite some time and seem to be going back and forth between Iowa and Puerto Rico, each time bringing ten suitcases of medical supplies from the States to the island.
Her Store
When Danielle’s father, who lived in the Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois, became ill with Leukemia, she knew she had to move her family to her hometown.
Her Store
Danielle had to help pay for his medical bills. However, she didn’t want a random soul crushing job, so she opened up her own store that sells antique artwork in her hometown in order to make some money. Danielle has since moved her store to another location in Wicker Park, Chicago.
Her Own Documentary
Needless to say, Danielle Colby has grown used to cameras having been on History Channel’s American Pickers during its entire run of nearly ten years. This could be the reason Danielle decided to make her own documentary, which she based on her own personal hero – burlesque dancer Tempest Storm.
Her Own Documentary
Danielle was drawn by Storm’s strength, kindness, and beauty, and the fact that Storm was able to maintain her self-worth and pride at any age.
Issues With The Taxman
Danielle Colby definitely has to pay a lot of taxes because of the various streams of income coming her way. However, for some reason, she appears to have forgotten to pay her taxes for several years.
Issues With The Taxman
It is reported that the IRS sent several letters to Colby and ordered her to pay taxes – including the first one which is $6,000. She allegedly owes back taxes amounting to thousands of dollars, and as we know, the tax man does not take no for an answer.
Her Net Worth
Danielle Colby has certainly come a long way since the days she was a makeup saleswoman. As a matter of fact, she is now worth roughly $1.5 million!
Her Net Worth
Danielle made most of her money by being the manager of Antique Archaeology on American Pickers, but she also makes money through her burlesque shows and her store in Chicago. And because Danielle lives in Iowa, her money can go a loooooong way.
A Crush On Her
Some say one of American Pickers’ biggest draws is not actually the items that are picked, not the people who are featured on the program, and not even Frank and Mike’s hilarious banter.
A Crush On Her
Instead, it appears to be Danielle, whom many guys want to see on the show. It must be the strong way that she carries herself, and she has always been a fan favorite.
Her Clothing Line
Her clothing line is one of the things Danielle is really proud of. She likes to take antique and vintage things and incorporate them into some quirky but fashionable clothes.
Her Clothing Line
Mike spurred her on to make her clothing line after they had a conversation and he saw her feeling down. Mike told her she is creative, so if she isn’t creating, then she isn’t happy. Danielle listened to his advice and now her creations are selling really well.
Her Thoughts On A Spin Off
Danielle Colby was recently interviewed by the Miami New Times and asked if she was open to doing her own spinoff show. Danielle said she is obligated to Mike first and foremost, as he got her the job in the first place and enabled her to achieve success.
Her Thoughts On A Spin Off
Danielle says the show will definitely not be her last, and she hopes the History Channel or another channel would one day give Danielle her own program. We bet we are not the only ones who will watch it!
A Rough Start
There is no doubt that Danielle is a big part of American Pickers, though things apparently did not start out so well. When the History Channel crew first showed up to shoot, they did not want to film her since she wasn’t in the contract that they had signed.
A Rough Start
They did not know who Danielle was or the reason she was there. Fortunately, Mike was on her side, and after he talked to the producers, the crew changed their minds.
She Is Into Reading
Aside from antiques, burlesque dancing, and fashion, Danielle has another interest – reading. She is specifically interested in books on women’s studies, one of the topics she really likes to learn about.
She Is Into Reading
Danielle loves reading a lot and in an interview, she revealed that she enjoys reading more than spending time with others. One of her favorite activities is siting down and reading, and she can actually finish a book within just a few hours.
She Met Her Hero
For many American Pickers fans, Danielle is an icon, but she also has heroes of her own. In 2014, she had the chance to meet one of her heroes, Country star Dolly Parton. The music legend asked the team from American Pickers to find some items for a new ride at an amusement park.
She Met Her Hero
Danielle was the one who delivered the antiques. She made the trip to Tennessee and brought the items to Dolly personally. Danielle was thrilled to meet the legendary singer.
Conservative Upbringing
We have all gotten used to the free spirited image that Danielle has, but she was actually not raised this way. She grew up in a really conservative household, with her parents being Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Conservative Upbringing
They were actually not big fans of the interests their daughter had like tattoos and burlesque dancing. However, Danielle knows herself well and is passionate about things she likes, so there was no deterring their daughter. Because of this, she and her parents had a strained relationship.
She Loves Dogs
In addition to the many interests that she has, Danielle is also an animal lover. She particularly loves dogs and she adopted her own furry friend from a Chicago shelter in 2013. She is also active in several organizations working to help dogs that are in need.
She Loves Dogs
In addition, Danielle advocates for for the fair treatment of breeds of dogs which are often misunderstood like pitbulls.