‘Deadliest Catch’ Season 13 Cast: Contract Renewals For Captains Sig Hansen, Bill Wichrowski, Others Due This Year
Contract renewals are coming up for Deadliest Catch Season 13. Several of the veteran captains who fans have come to know and adore are due to sign on for another season, but will any of them back out?
On the Season 12 finale, Sig was told by the doctor in Anchorage that if he wants to prolong his life, he needs to make serious lifestyle changes. Work-related stress and smoking cigarettes were the reasons of his heart attack. As a commercial fisherman, stress is unavoidable. Will this culminate in Sig not renewing his contract for another season of Deadliest Catch?
Capt. Bill Wichrowski was asked about his thoughts regarding the contract renewals in an interview this week. He says that not just anyone on the cast can keep the Discovery series afloat with the kind of ratings it’s seen.
“Well, I don’t think just any group of guys can make this happen. Phil [Harris] was one of the original guys and we lost Phil and Phil’s still as much a part of the show as some of the guys on the show,” Capt. Bill Wichrowski told A.V. Club. “Sig’s been on for 10 years or since conception. You lose Sig, you lose Time Bandit and you’re not going to keep this fan base. These guys have developed a fan base and these people can relate to these guys like they’re family. To think you’re just going to bring in some new boat and it’s going to fill the slot, that’s crazy. That’s not going to happen.”
He added, “This a critical year, because a lot of those boats are up for contracts, because they thought 10 years was going to be the extent of this whole thing, myself included. This is my contract year.”
Capt. Bill adds that he sees himself staying on Deadliest Catch until its last episode, but doesn’t want to continue another five years of crab fishing. The one thing he fears about leaving television is becoming a has-been who nobody remembers. The longtime captain admits to enjoying the perks of being a celebrity, like attending NASCAR events and helping with the Wounded Warriors projects.
Bill says he’s looking into other options when the show eventually ends.
“I’ve been pursuing a couple of other avenues to try and sidestep into something,” Bill shares. “But I’ve got a couple more years in me. I’m seriously trying to get Zack into the wheelhouse and that’s going to take a little time. So we’ll see what happens.”
On the finale episode, Bill and Zack had a defining moment on the show. Bill was frustrated with his son for not showing more motivation to learn the ropes of being a future captain. When it came down to it, Zack told his father that he has personal issues with him. Resentment over the past was brought up because Bill was out at sea 10 months of the year so Zack and his mother could have whatever they wanted. He believed it was the key to happiness.
Bill is also talking to Discovery about hosting a travel show that highlights seaports around the world.
“It’s a little bit like Anthony Bourdain,” Bill says. “His vocabulary is pretty tough to compete with, but it’s kind of the same thing. Travel around and whether it’s a sailing port or a sport fishing port or a yachting port—that’d be the show that I’d like to do, because that’s pretty much what I do with my life anyway. I just need someone to come along with a fricking camera.”
“This was a big one. It could’ve killed you.” #DeadliestCatch https://t.co/9crYzIRaKJ
— Deadliest Catch (@DeadliestCatch) August 3, 2016
TV Ruckus addressed the fate of Sig Hansen following his life-threatening heart attack that played out on the Deadliest Catch Season 12 finale on Tuesday night. It’s unclear how much fishing he’ll be able to endure next season. Sig isn’t likely to let this heart condition stand in his way.
Sig Hansen has health issues, Bill Wichrowski had a life-changing event with Zack, and Capt. Keith Colburn had a profound change in his life after getting divorced. Which captains plan to renew their contracts for Deadliest Catch Season 13?
[Image via Discovery]
