A bittersweet holiday. Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman celebrated his first Christmas since the death of his late wife, Beth Chapman, surrounded by his family at his home in Colorado.
“Merry Christmas it’s unfermented wine,” Chapman, 66, captioned a photo with his family members toasting to the camera. Beth passed away at the age of 59 in June following a long battle with throat cancer.
Beth’s stepdaughter, Lyssa Chapman, honored Beth with an emotional tribute via Instagram. “Nothing is the same without you. Merry Christmas in Heaven @mrsdog4real 🎄🎁 I bet you have the biggest tree ever,” Lyssa, 32, captioned a photo of her stepmother on Wednesday, December 25.
Dog opened up about his holiday plans in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on December 19. The A&E personality told the outlet that he wanted to keep Beth’s spirit alive by recreating her Christmas decorations.
“Beth was old style, old-fashioned. So, you know, that means the tree and the presents, all the stockings hung up … so I’m trying to keep that exact tradition,” Dog explained. “I’ve got it all decorated.”
He added that Beth’s presence would be missed during the family’s holiday traditions.
“Beth knew every single [Christmas song],” he said. “As we decorated the tree, she’d put on Christmas songs. Every night before we went to bed she’d put them on. I think the girls are taking it the hardest without being able to sing with mom.”
Despite the trauma of the past year, Dog revealed that his 2020 resolutions include becoming a healthier version of himself.
“I’ve almost quit smoking … I’m taking blood thinners for the blood clot in my lung and exercising. I always have worked out every day and I’m double that now,” the reality star, who was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in September, told Entertainment Tonight. “I need to live to get through my mission in life.”
Dog has been candid about his emotional struggles in the aftermath of his wife’s death. He revealed that he contemplated suicide on an episode of Dog’s Most Wanted in November. However, he was concerned his wife wouldn’t approve of his decision.
“I feel like if I did something to myself right now and passed away suicidal and I got to heaven and was like, ‘Hi honey,’ and would she go, ‘You d–k a– why would you do that?’ Or, would she go, ‘Wow, you’re here.’ I’ll be like ‘Of course I’m here. You left me. I’m here.’ So, am I obligated to do that?” he said.
Dog told Us Weekly exclusively in August that he couldn’t see himself ever getting married again.
“There will never be another Mrs. Dog,” he said at the time. “We both said, ‘If I die, you can have a man. 10 [men], I don’t care. But don’t marry one.’ … And she said, ‘Don’t take my name off your chest, Dog. Do not get married.’ … Don’t worry, I will not get married. I still put the pillows in the middle of the bed. This morning I thought she was still there.”
