The appeal of many shows is mostly dictated by its stars. The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show wouldn’t have been long-running, hit talk shows without, well, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres themselves. The same can be said with every TV show or series regardless of the genre. Often, viewers fall in love with one of the show’s stars and this becomes a big part of its success both in the short-run and long-run.
On Storage Wars, you might have observed that the regular cast members will almost always snatch the unit regardless if there are other non-cast members bidding on it at the same time. Understandably so, the show intends to put the spotlight on their stars, although that meant losing out on quality TV. As it appears, amateur storage hunters can also bring home the bacon. The following amateur storage hunter ended up with the best find in the entire history of the show, putting the rest of all the cast members into shame.
Hester Says It’s Staged, And A&E Didn’t Argue It
David Hester is perhaps the most opinionated personality on the show and he almost always speaks what’s inside his head. In 2012, Hester alleged that Storage Wars was purely a staged act and the that producers would plant items inside the units to make the show interesting. Normally, we don’t put much weight on what Hester says but it seemed quite fishy that A&E didn’t even make an attempt to rebut his claim. The producers simply stated that Hester had the right to express his opinion.
David Hester actually filed a lawsuit against the show on December 2012 after he was booted out of the show exclaiming that it was unjust and also that the Storage Wars was completely rigged. The case was later resolved in July 2014 and following a settlement, the Storage Wars star would immediately return to the show in the same year.
Thanks To His Aunt, Jarrod's In The Business
People help people to succeed. Indeed, it’s difficult to pursue all your dreams in life if there is no one who you can rely on for support during the ebb and flow of the process. Bill Clinton notably aided his friend Barack Obama in winning his presidential electoral campaign and eventually in navigating the political scenery that followed. American rap and hip-hop legends Dr. Dre and Eminem were instrumental in launching the music career of their friend 50 Cent.
For Jarrod, he had his aunt and partner Brandi to thank for in transforming his troubled past into a promising future. His aunt was, in fact, an owner of a public storage facility where Jarrod would spend some time with and ultimately led him to enter into the storage hunting business. Jarrod’s partner, on the other hand, provided him the necessary mental and emotional support to accomplish his dreams.
The Most Original Storage Unit Treasure Ever
A certain storage unit discovery that wasn’t aired on TV included a bundle of cash that totaled to well… just a whopping $7.5 million! Auctioneer couples Dan and Laura Dotson unsuspectingly unloaded the most valuable locker they have ever sold in their entire lives in Indio, California for a mere $500. The man who purchased the unit discovered a safe inside the locker that stored over $7 million in cold, hard cash!
Apparently, things didn’t go as smoothly as the guy who bought the safe would have thought of though. Shortly after his unbelievable find, he claimed that a lawyer contacted him, declaring to represent the individuals who were the original owners of the storage unit and the $7.5 million bundle of cash inside. The attorney offered a $600,000 reward if he gave back the money. The guy rejected it at first but then took a second offer to retain $1.2 million and return the $6.3 million that’s left.
A Sad Loss
Amidst all the success and popularity of Storage Wars, the show also had its own fair share of tragedies. Everyone in the cast and crew and countless others who watched the show was deeply saddened when one of its co-stars, Mark Balelo, passed away from an apparent suicide. The police discovered Balelo lifeless due to carbon monoxide poisoning just days following his apprehension for possession of the illegal substance. Unfortunately, it appeared that the Storage Wars star endured a problematic life and had been apprehended by law enforcement officers for the same violation back in 2007.
Mark Balelo was the owner of Balelo Inc., a liquidation merchandise business, and became popular in the show for being among the “big buyers” who were adept at bargaining and spotting treasure beneath all the trash. Nicknamed "Rico Suave," Balelo made front page news in 2011 after helping famed actor Nicolas Cage regain a mint-condition copy of a 1938 Action Comics book that got stolen from his storage locker.