Dog the Bounty Hunter is engaged to new girlfriend Francie Frane — less than a year after Beth’s death
Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, is engaged to his new girlfriend, Francie Frane.
The Dog's Most Wanted star, who lost his wife and business partner, Beth Chapman, to cancer in June, shared the engagement news with The Sun, saying he proposed while they have been socially isolating together at his home in Colorado. He hopes to have a big wedding blowout wedding — his sixth time saying “I do” — when gatherings are permissible again amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Chapman, 67, said he staged a romantic candlelit proposal at the home they’ve been sharing — despite getting together only a couple months ago after his split with Moon Angell. He said he got down on one knee.
"I think I had gone to pick up some food and then when I came back he had all the lights turned down with just a few lights on and a bunch of candles lit,” Frane, 51, said. He called her over, "So I put all the food in the kitchen and I came in and he said, 'I know that God brought you into my life and I don't want to spend one moment of it without you.’... And he got down on one knee and he opened the ring box and he said, 'Will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?’”
She added, "Who can say no to that? It was wonderful."
Frane showed off her large engagement ring — and it was noted that a doting Dog has been painting his fiancée’s nails during quarantine. (They also enjoy hiking together, with pets, and fishing.)
Chapman shared they bonded over both recently losing spouses to cancer. He lost the love of his life, Beth, last June after her long battle with cancer. The reality star connected with Frane because he left a message for her husband to ask him to do work on his property, not realizing he passed away six months prior to Beth’s death. Frane called Dog back to explain that her husband died, they became friends then started dating in about March.
Chapman said his dream is to have a huge wedding with family — he has 12 children, 11 grandchildren and some great-grandchildren — once it’s safe to do so and promised it would be "one hell of a party."
He explained, “I've had so many fans ask 'When you marry Francie, are you going to let your fans come? So we're word negotiating right now because I want to open it up. I would love to have the biggest wedding there's ever been.”
And he acknowledged that not everyone will be happy for them — after promising Beth he wouldn’t remarry — but doesn’t care.
"There's always going to be haters, and I probably arrested half of them,” he quipped.
Frane said, “The truth is that both of us have spent three years walking alongside our spouses sick and we know that God brought us together and that's why we don't believe that it's too soon.”
Chapman and Frane declared their love for one another publicly on social media late last month, giving hints that things between them had quickly gotten serious.
Chapman’s family has been supportive of the coupling on social media — but that wasn’t the case when he dated Moon Angelll last year. Angell, who was the maid of honor at Dog and Beth’s wedding, moved into his home — and reportedly moved out Beth’s possessions, angering Dog’s children.
Chapman proposed to Angell on an episode of Dr. Oz in January, but they were not technically engaged apparently and they split soon after.
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