Among the most successful series the A&E Network has ever aired, Storage Wars has been an absolute cash cow for the company. As for why the show is such a colossal hit, there are two reasons for that. First of all, seeing other people supposedly put their money at risk by buying the contents of a storage locker with very little information is entertaining. On top of that, many viewers have become invested in the cast of Storage Wars.
Just like a lot of people who find themselves in the public eye, the cast of Storage Wars had to learn to cope with being the center of attention. For example, there are things that have gotten out about these “reality” stars that they wish was still under their hats. With that in mind, it is time to get to this list of 20 secrets the cast of Storage Wars doesn’t want you to know.
20 Barry’s Produce Past
For some reason that we have never understood, during Barry Weiss’ time in the spotlight he was pretty cagey about where he made all of the money he clearly had. Given that he avoided speaking about the fact that he first made his fortune selling produce wholesale, he must not want anyone to know that fact even though it is admirable work.
19 Laura and Dan’s Privacy Invasion
As television personalities, Laura and And Dotson must have known that people would come up to them in public but they surely didn’t expect to have their banking accounts hacked. Eventually able to make things right, the Dotsons still probably want to keep this incident close to their chest so that other criminals aren’t inspired to do the same thing to them.
18 Some of the Feuds Aren’t Real
When you tune in to an episode of Storage Wars, there is a very good chance that two of the stars will be feuding for one reason or another. However, if you ever see Brandi Passante and Mary Padian trying to mess with one another, keep in mind that the pair are best friends off-camera.
17 Batmobile Crash
Arguably the most delightful cast member in Storage Wars history, it often was a lot of fun to see Barry Weiss on TV. When he briefly got a show of his own, however, he had to keep fans interested for the full run time. As such, during one episode he was involved in one particularly embarrassing moment when he drove a Batmobile from Tim Burton’s film which he owns and got into a fender bender. Thankfully for him, very few people watched Barry’s show.
16 Scripted Lines
If there is one thing that is supposed to make “reality” shows different it is this, the lack of scripts. However, according to former Storage Wars executive producer Thom Beers, around 50% of the dialogue heard in the show has been provided to the cast by writers. Considering that makes the stars of this show look more like puppets, we’re sure they don’t want that to be common knowledge.
15 Brandi and Jarrod’s Utter Failure
To the surprise of nobody who has a passing knowledge of the internet, the most talked-about Storage Wars cast member online has to be Brandi Passante. That must be why the show’s producers decided to develop a spin-off for Pasante and her husband. To the embarrassment of both, Brandi & Jarrod: Married to the Job never found a notable audience.
14 Dave Hester’s Other Lawsuit
While Dave Hester often sports a very satisfied look on his face whenever he lets out a loud “yup” on Storage Wars, fans of the show aren’t as taken with his trademark word as he is. Despite that, in the early 2010s Hester got into a lawsuit with rapper Trey Songz because both of them wanted to sell yup merchandise. A ridiculous lawsuit from beginning to end, Hester must be embarrassed by it now since his yup merchandise failed for the most part.
13 Anything About Mary Padian’s Romantic Life
Given the fact that Mary Padian decided to sign on to be a “reality” TV star, you’d probably think that she would be fine with letting the world in on her private life to a certain degree. However, aside from briefly referencing a man she’d fallen for during an episode of Storage Wars: Texas, Padian has proven that she wants to keep her love life to herself.
12 Brandi Passante’s Criminal Record
Even though Storage Wars makes Brandi Passante look pretty squeaky clean, she has made some mistakes in the past. Arrested for DUI in 2007 according to online reports, Passante was sentenced to three years’ probation, $390 in fines, and three months of a First Offender Alcohol Problem.
11 The Show Peppering In High-End Items
Let's face facts, if each time the cast of Storage Wars bought a new locker on the show they found nothing but dusty old crap, this show would be pretty boring. As a result, it makes sense that according to many reports, Storage Wars’ producers pepper the lockers with cool and expensive items. However, each time a fan learns about these claims it only serves to paint the show’s cast as being complicit with deceit.
10 Barry’s Television Failure
As we touched on earlier in this list, Brandi and Jarrod were given a spin-off show of their own only for it to fail completely. Similarly, former Storage Wars standout Barry Weiss tried his hand at going solo when he starred in Barry'd Treasure. Unfortunately for him, not only did his own show fail but Barry never returned to Storage Wars which is sad since it marked the end of his TV career.
9 The Fake Video of Brandi
When Brandi Passante rose to fame, it clearly did marvelous things for her pocketbook. Unfortunately for her, however, some creep decided that they wanted to get in on the money-making too so they posted a video online that they claimed featured Brandi in the bedroom. This led to Brandi suing the person and after winning the case we’re sure she wants to put the whole thing behind her.
8 Financed Cast Members
While Dave Hester has been one of Storage Wars' biggest stars throughout much of the show’s history, when he briefly left the show it led to a real-life lawsuit. Due to that fact, Hester is on the record claiming certain aspects of the show aren’t what they seem like. For example, Hester alleged that the show’s producers paid for the bids of some cast members which makes those people look weak.
7 Dave Paid Less
Indisputably Storage Wars’ main villain, on the show Dave Hester argues with everyone and tries to present himself as superior to his co-stars. With that in mind, we can only imagine how upset Hester was when one piece of information from his aforementioned lawsuit leaked out. According to Hester’s own paperwork, at the time he was being paid $25,000 while in the past Darrell Sheets had been making $30,000.
6 Disturbing
Just like Barry, Jarrod, and Brandi’s aforementioned failed spin-offs, Storage Wars: Miami never found a sufficient audience so it was canceled after a single season. Still, the show brought us the most disturbing story that has any relation to the Storage Wars franchise when Kevin Pew’s son Hashim was charged with taking a family friend’s life.
5 The Details of Jarrod’s Criminal Past
During Jarrod Schulz’s time starring in Storage Wars, he has referenced his past run-ins with the law on more than one occasion. However, he never elaborates on what exactly got him in trouble. As it turns out, Schulz was caught by cops multiple times and his crimes include selling narcotics and DUI which resulted in him spending 16 months in state prison.
4 Claims About Producers Pushing the Women To Look Their Best
Like a lot of TV bigwigs, Storage Wars’ producers put their female cast members under a lot of pressure to look their best. In fact, according to Hester’s lawsuit paperwork they even paid for one of the female cast members to go under the knife. That sure makes the show look bad since the guys are allowed to look pretty schlubby so the cast members wouldn’t want it promoted in order to keep Storage Wars going.
3 Darrell Demoted
Earlier in this list, we looked at the fact that paperwork from Dave Hester’s lawsuit makes it seem like for a time Darrell Sheets was paid more than his co-star. Unfortunately for Darrell, that same paperwork claimed that by the time the lawsuit was filed Darrell had been demoted and his pay per episode was cut in half.
2 Barry’s Unfortunate Gift
After the world learned that the formerly beloved “reality” star Jesse James had habitually cheated on Sandra Bullock, it is safe to say he wasn’t a popular man. Worse yet, not long after that a photo of James wearing a Nazi visor while saluting went public which made him look even worse. With that in mind, Barry Weiss likely doesn’t want anyone to know that he and James have a close relationship and he gave him the infamous visor.
1 What They Are Doing
When it comes to this entry, it is more about what the cast of Storage Wars doesn’t want you to think about. After all, all the controversies aside, at face value this show is all about people buying the things that other people left in storage lockers they couldn’t pay to rent anymore. Essentially, that means the stars of Storage Wars are profiting off the misery of others.
Sources: screenrant.com, fame10.com, foxnews.com, hollywoodreporter.com