Whether we like it or not, the thrill of the hunt excites most humans. While many of us don't support trophy hunting, we do support hunting for trophies. Especially if those trophies come in the form of actual golden statues! You never know what you can find when it comes to storage units, and Storage Wars knows that. This is a show that absolutely plays on our innate love of the hunt for treasures.

Storage Wars has expanded from its simple beginnings and has since become a stalwart player in the world of reality TV. There's spin offs, players, and more viewers than anyone can count. But is it all as innocent and fun as it seems? Believe it or not, Storage Wars has a dark side. After all, who knows what's hiding in those abandoned units. Time to place our bets and find out!

20 There Isn’t Actually Any Auction

Part of the thrill of Storage Wars is the excitement that comes from people potentially winning big. Between the auction and the exciting hunt through the unit itself, the tension in this show is amazing. Unfortunately, the auction isn't real. Everyone knows who's going to win which unit, according to an inside informant at Looper.

19 They Definitely Pre-Set The Storage Units

Just like how Survivor lets the teams do a preliminary run of the challenges, there's some hand crafting that goes into the storage units as well. Reality TV can be pretty constructed, so why not plant a few big, money making pieces into certain storage units? That's what the producers have done, at least.

18 The Surgery Scandal

Here’s a situation that most of us didn’t hear about. According to Looper, Storage Wars came under fire for supposedly paying a cast member/auctioneer to go under the knife. While we’re not sure if enhancement was something she’d thought about before, we do know that a network show offering to pay for this kind of surgery is not our favorite thing to think about.

17 They Fire Cast Members A LOT

And, trust us, they don’t often come back. In fact, we can’t think of a time when anyone was brought back. Is this because they want to keep things fresh? Maybe. All we know is that Looper quoted an ex-cast member who was super unhappy with the way they ran the show.

16 And One Spoke Up About Poor Treatment

Speaking of, let’s talk about this next point. Everyone knows filming a TV show is hard. It’s not an easy thing to do, and most people can’t handle being on and off camera for so long every day. Luckily for us, one person did speak up. They mentioned how Storage Wars is a, “show and people who simply do not care about others and their quality of life".

15 Legally, It’s Not A Game Show

According to the rules of television, in order to be a game show there has to be an element of chance (or something like it). For Storage Wars, this means that they’re not technically classified as such. This is mostly due to the fact that they don’t have anything to do with chance, since most of the units are pre-stacked anyway.

14 Which Means They Don’t Necessarily Need ‘Authenticity’

This brings up an interesting point, which is that the show can get away with pushing the limits of how much “reality” they actually use. They don’t need to be authentic in terms of how much people can afford to bet. The producers will make anything happen, and the cast members just go along with it.

To be fair, the jury is still out (maybe literally) on whether or not this was the only reason Storage Wars: Miami wasn’t renewed for another season. According to Looper, one of the cast members had a family member who ended up committing a felony. The legal entanglements could have been too much, though the series has remained tight lipped.

12 Intimidation Is Not Unheard Of

Though we don’t mean in the muscles-and-brawn way. Intimidation comes in many forms, and appears in several different ways on the show. Sometimes it’s in the form of people dressing provocatively to distract others. Sometimes it’s throwing up a wad of cash every other unit. Sometimes it’s a good, old fashioned stare down. Regardless, intimidation is alive and well.

Any fans of Storage Wars know that the highlight of every episode is hearing Hester yell “Yuuup!” as loud as he can (or just with serious conviction). But who knew it could cause drama? Apparently Hester got into a legal battle with Trey Songz, an artist who also used “Yuup!” on his merchandise and in his music.

10 Hester Is Paid Much More Than We Thought

Just take a guess: how much do you think Hester is paid to yell “Yuuup!” and keep the show running smoothly? A couple hundred an episode? Think again. Looper says that Hester easily gets, “$799,500 to star on one season of a show about buying abandoned storage units.” Wow! That gets a big “Yuuup!” from us!

9 Some Cast Members Have Troubled Pasts

It’s true what they say, at least in our opinion. Drama makes the reality TV richer to watch, even if it also means there’s more for the network to cover up. In this case, the show itself doesn’t have much to hide. However, some of the cast members do. From felons to lawsuits, many of the cast members are rocking legal records to some degree.

8 The ‘Customers’ Are Handpicked (Of Course)

Just like when we say that some of the storage units are packed and some of the dialogue is scripted, some of the customers are also handpicked. Producers have admitted to configuring auction audiences to be compelling for TV. Whether that means that they were built for drama or that they were built for fun is another story.

7 Dan Dotson Almost Didn’t Make It

Beloved Dan almost ceased to be. Storage Wars never tried to cover this up, but it does make us feel a little sad; and that might be why everyone ceased talking about it. Just due to the natural wear and tear of life, Dan Dotson ended up getting hit with a double brain aneurysm, as mentioned by TMZ. Luckily he survived, which is the part of the story we know.

6 Emily Wears Is A Full-On Prodigy

And when we say prodigy, we mean prodigy. Not only is she “the first woman to win major auctioneering contests in Colorado and Wyoming,” but she also got “second and first place finishes in the International Junior Auctioneer Championship,” according to Looper. She’s also been auctioneering since she was 10, which might be part of the reason she’s so good.

5 A Lot Is, Surprisingly, Scripted

Just like any good reality TV, we need to expect a little bit of staging. Producers have mentioned on several occasions, according to Looper, that they stage certain things about the show. From storage units to who’s bidding how much, Storage Wars is as much constructed as it is impromptu revelling in the thrill of the storage hunt.

4 There’s Been Quite A Few Spin Offs With Unique Stars...

Including everything from loud and proud Miami storage stars to units up in the great white north. While some of these spin-offs didn’t last, Storage Wars seems to have a big enough following that we can still find episodes and highlights online; proof that the excitement lives on long after the auction.

3 Including Weather Battles!

Yes, the great white north truly lives up to its name in this version of Storage Wars. Typically contestants only have to deal with the other contestants if they want to win on classic Storage Wars. On the northern version though, Huffington Post tells us that they need to contend with snow, ice, wind, and rain. Sure, it’s not the same as fighting over a statue, but it’s still intense!

2 There Is Actual, Literal Treasure In Some

Believe it or not, someone did find real treasure in a storage unit. Looper recounts the fact that somebody found pirate treasure equal to a high monetary amount in the storage unit they bought. The best part? The treasure was so buried that supposedly the producers didn't even know about it! The news came out later on about this pirate bounty.

1 A Key Player Left The Show For A While For A Surprising Reason

Everyone knows about Barry Weiss, right? Super chill person, and had been on the show for several seasons before calling it quits. While some feel he left just due to scheduling issues or for the sake of change, we know he did it in order to start his other TV show, Barry’d Treasure.

Sources: looper.com, huffingtonpost.com