Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman will always keep his wife’s memory with him.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Thursday, December 19, the realty TV star, 66, reflected on how his family’s holiday traditions will change following Beth Chapman‘s death. The 51-year-old A&E personality passed away in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 26 after a two-year-long battle with throat and lung cancer.
“This year, everybody’s all spread out,” Dog said of his 12 children, adding that while he plans to spend Christmas in Colorado, the other half of his family members will be celebrating in Hawaii.
Despite the loss of the family’s matriarch, the reality star revealed that he’s still dedicated to making sure his wife continues to be part of his holiday celebrations.
“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 told Entertainment Tonight. “I’ve got it all decorated.”
Not only is the former bail bondsman honoring his wife’s memory through their shared holiday decorating routine, but he’s also keeping her favorite Christmas carols on a loop at home. Every December, Beth and their daughters would sing along to holiday classics to get into the Christmas spirit.
“Beth knew every single [Christmas song],” he explained. “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.”
Throughout his heartbreaking year, Dog has dealt with some of his own health scares and landed in the hospital in September for a pulmonary embolism. The reality star even admitted during the season finale of Dog’s Most Wanted that he contemplated suicide after losing Beth. But as the reality star looks ahead to 2020, he’s planning on making some big changes.
“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 bounty hunter said on Thursday. “I need to live to get through my mission in life.”
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