The Life And Times Of Chumlee Austin From Pawn Stars
It was in 2009 that The History Channel started to air Pawn Stars. It has been ten years since then, if you can believe it! The program has only gotten better and bigger over the years. Sadly, one of the stars went down a rather bad path… Read on to find out what Chumlee has been doing as of late. This reality TV show takes place in Las Vegas. It is not at all a reach to say that it would not be successful if it were not for him.
The Star Of The Show
Chumlee, whose real name is Austin Lee Russell charmed a lot of the viewers. He is the sort of person that you need if you wanted to brighten up your day. For now, we shall take a look at his early life. He grew up in Nevada, but he was not a very good student at school. This is quite an understatement, as a matter of fact. He was even known to pay others to do his homework when he was in high school!
Not The Best Student In High School
We doubt that the other students were surprised to find that he wanted to drop out, which he did. In school, he also had to deal with other things than academic difficulties. What was up with his nickname?
Not The Best Student In High School
We know that it sounds quite nice, but trust us when we say that it was not nice of the other kids to call him that. Where did it come from? If you wanted to know, the nickname came from a character in Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. This was an old cartoon program.
He Never Graduated
The thing is that Chumley was a fat walrus on the show. How hurtful must that have been? Luckily, he always had a good friend whom he could rely on even back then. This was none other than another Pawn Stars star, Corey Harrison!
He Never Graduated
Yep, the colleagues and co-stars on the show have a long history together. When they were young, they liked to spend their time at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, which was owned by Rick Harrison himself. The friendship also had certain benefits for these two men. Can you guess what we are talking about?
The Story Behind It
For one thing, Chumlee was able to get employed there when he was only 21. Hold your horses if you think that it is going to be all about the glamour. While you need to be precise about certain things, the job is mostly menial work.
The Story Behind It
In reality, this is not a glamorous job no matter what you might think. Only five years after he started there, Chumlee and the rest of the crew would start the gig of a lifetime! We are sure that he liked his job even more when they had to perform it in front of the cameras.
Cute Nickname But Cruel Intentions
They filmed one season after another, with the newest one even more successful and popular than the last. Chumlee is always ready to provide comic relief when he had to. He was always good at making everyone laugh with all his antics and jokes.
Friends From Childhood
The fans loved his onscreen personality. For one thing, everyone knew what kind of things he was interested in. After all, he had a tendency to target the things that he personally liked. They knew that he was a fan of sneakers, video games, pinball, and rap!
Friends From Childhood
We are sure that you think these are all fascinating as well. The thing is that they did not always mean good decisions for the store. Watch Pawn Stars to see how often he messes up on the job!
Popularity For His Mishaps
According to the other cast members, he has always been like this. There was even a time when he broke a stand-up bass that he left standing against a shelf! It cost the store a total of $20,000. Yikes!
A Friendship With Employment Benefits
The rest of the cast of Pawn Stars like to tease him for mistakes like that. This is not surprising, which you will know when you watch the show. Luckily, these errors only made him more popular among the viewers of the show.
A Friendship With Employment Benefits
We think that it is pretty cool that he got so much attention that he hired a bodyguard for the times they had to make public appearances at the beginning of their career. Without a doubt, he is in the big leagues now.
Not What He Expected
In the beginning, he liked the attention that they showed him. In fact, he was able to monetize the attention by having a personalized merch line! The other people from the store tried to do it too.
Not What He Expected
In the end, they were unable to beat Chumlee when it comes to merch. We guess that this is because he is easily the most famous Pawn Stars cast member. Aside from this, he also opened his own candy shop in the Vegas strip.
Five Short Years Later
Chumlee is not someone who likes to boast about all the money that he earns. However, it is not a secret that he earned $155k after selling half of the shop shares he had to Rick Harrison back in 2010.
Five Short Years Later
Why did he do such a thing? It turns out that this was something he did because he wanted to focus on his merch line. Sure, he has some bumbler tendencies. However, there is no denying that he knew how to be a good businessman. Good job, Chumlee!
Can’t Help It
He decided that it was time to make certain changes in his life around two weeks before the show premiered on TV. What could have motivated him? It would have to be the death of his father at only 54 years old back in 2009. He died of pancreatic cancer.
Can’t Help It
You only needed to look at Chumlee to figure out that he did not have a healthy lifestyle. The death of his father served as the last push for him. He began to exercise and eat cleaner!
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Not The Best Buys
In order to get his blood flowing, he went to the gym and also practiced yoga. On top of these things, he liked to meditate and practice mindfulness. He had a great plan to make his goal come true.
Not The Best Buys
He paid a visit to the gym nearly every day and only spent one day resting. He made fruit smoothies in the morning and cut out red meat. Did these measures work for him? It was rather intense, but we are glad to hear that it all worked out in the end.
Making Many Mistakes
We cannot believe how big of a metamorphosis he underwent. This is the way to go if you also want to become stronger and healthier. You only need to follow the same regimen he did!
Making Many Mistakes
We think that it is incredible how he accomplished this between 2012 and 2013. He lost a lot of weight, but exactly how much pounds did he lose? The truth was that he shed 75 pounds. Whoa!
Popularity For His Mishaps
We are glad that he did this to improve the quality of his life. His life has turned around for the better after he did this. Most people think that the greatest thing about shedding weight is wearing their old clothes.
The Fan-Favorite
It was different for Chumlee, however. For him, it was another thing altogether. He was happy that it was finally possible for him to take out the hovercraft for a spin! That sure sounds like a lot of fun.
Quite The Popular Guy
Aside from that, he met Tanya Hyjazi and started dating her. This chef works at the STACK Restaurant & Bar at the Mirage Casino. Isn’t it great that he finally met the love of his life? They also got engaged!
Quite The Popular Guy
Uh-huh, Chumlee asked for her hand in marriage with a beautiful ring. She replied yes! They celebrated it by going to the Royal Hawaiian Resort in Hawaii. They also held a celebration at the Andiamo Italian Steakhouse in Las Vegas with their friends.
Enjoying The Fame
They were surrounded by all the people they loved during the second celebration. Everyone was thrilled for these two! There was no way that they would ever forget to invite Rick and Corey Harrison to this.
Enjoying The Fame
Nope, there was no chance that was happening! All seemed to be going well, so what went wrong for this Pawn Stars star? The first sign of trouble happened in May 2016… Read on to find out what took place.
The Fan-Favorite
That was the time that he was under suspicion for a sexual assault. Perhaps the worst thing about this news was that the charges were made by someone else who worked at the shop. However, the case was dropped for insufficient evidence.
Quite The Private Person
We bet he felt relieved when he heard that this was what happened. However, it was not the only or last time that he found himself at odds with the law. Nope, he found himself in hot water once more…
Quite The Private Person
The next time that such a thing happened, the authorities raided his house. It was the beginning of his serious legal problems. They did not see anything that would help them with the investigation they were initially there for. However, certain things piqued their interest.
At The Very Least
Exactly what did the police officers find in his house? Let us fill you in. They found a gun, crystal meth, and marijuana in there. Yikes. They were curious if there was anything else that he was hiding…
Surprisingly Business Minded
They later returned for another raid of the house. This one was no good either because they only found more contraband there. They were mostly concerned about the 11 firearms that they saw. Only 4 of them were registered!
Surprisingly Business Minded
Aside from the guns, they also came across more drugs as well as evidence that suggested cocaine use. Uh-oh. We are sure that you can figure out what came next. Of course, they arrested the reality TV personality.
Time To Make A Change
A couple of months after this went down, he had to deal with 20 felony charges in court. While this sounds bad, the good thing was that the court did not really have any substantial evidence against him.
Time To Make A Change
It is important to note that the firearms they found did not seem to be used for anything illegal. We just hope that he will be comforted by this thought. If it was the other way around, it would be a lot worse for him.
A Healthier Lifestyle
This beloved reality TV personality pleaded guilty to the charges of attempted misdemeanor, drug possession, and unlawful weapons possession. While he did not have to go to prison, he did get slapped with a year-long probation.
Illegal Substances Abound
He only needs to follow the rules of the probation for a year. If he succeeds in doing this, they would only add the misdemeanor count to his records. Lastly, they also made him go to mandatory counseling.
The Mind And Soul
We only hope that he will get out of this streak of misfortune sooner than later. We all know that there are people who were ruined by scandals like this. Luckily, this did not seem to be the case for him.
The Mind And Soul
When 2016 was coming to a close, he agreed to do a follow-up interview. This gave him the chance to talk about what happened that year. He said that it was even harder than usual. Aside from this, he took the time to thank his fans for their never-ending support.
Taking The Necessary Steps
The fans had his back even when things were at the worst for him. If they did not send him their messages of support and love, we are sure that it would have been even tougher for him. He took to Instagram to express more of his gratitude.
Endless Gratitude
This was what he told them: “I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to all my amazing fans that come and see me daily at @chums_candy – Thank you all for all the amazing love you show me.” However, what was in store for this Pawn Stars star?
Impressive Transformation
Fans were eager to know what was going to happen with the show. Would it get canceled or renewed? Everyone felt nervous and anxious about the answer. It was a good thing that the show proved that it was going nowhere. It is still ongoing to this day!
Where Things Went Wrong
Just so you know, Chumlee is still on the cast. His probation will end in a short period of time. When he had to deal with his legal issues, he first had to take a break from Pawn Stars to get everything in order once again.
Healthy And Happy
Chumlee has never stopped working on himself, you know. We are happy to hear this because this was the best thing for him to do in such a situation. Meanwhile, Pawn Stars is still doing a killing in the world of reality television! They celebrate the 500th episode recently.
500 Episodes
Chumlee made an Instagram post and added the caption, “Come celebrate our 500th episode Monday night on History [channel].” “This is something we could not have done without you!!!! Thank you!!!”
A Major Change
There is no denying the fact that he played an integral role in the success of Pawn Stars. Without a thought, the show benefited from his humor and personality. Fans continue to be impressed with his sense of humor to this day.
A Major Change
Another sign that the show is doing well? It has spawned 9 spinoffs thus far. They are the following: Pawn Stars Australia, Counting Cars, Pawn Stars: Pumped Up, Pawn Queens, Harcore Pawn: Chicago, , Pawnography, Cajun Pawn StarsPawn Stars UK, and Hardcore Pawn.
Turning His Life Around
Without a doubt, Chumlee has truly become successful over the years. It is all thanks to his show and side businesses that he made a fortune! Take a look at this gorgeous Las Vegas house that he gets to call his home. He spent $1.5 million on it.
Money, Money, Money
We hope that he can back his life on track as soon as possible. Even though he went down a bad road, the only thing he can do now is to learn from the past mistakes he made.
New Relationships
Chumlee has not stopped working on bettering himself. He now has a stable home with his loving wife and dog. We bet that their presence is always helpful in the quest for stability. We are so happy for him!
It’s Official
Even though he is often busy on the set of Pawn Stars, he has tried his hand in a number of other businesses as well. Without a doubt, this is a guy who is bound for even greater things in the future.
Chumlee And His Sandwiches
Have you noticed that the cast of Pawn Stars seems to love Subway sandwiches more than most people do? In reality, the company is a sponsor of the show! To be fair, they do make delicious subs.
Chumlee And His Sandwiches
We are sure that they do not once regret eating the sandwiches on the job. Of course, they never neglect to show off the food wrappers and the name of the company on them while they are at it.
Must Be Incognito
The stars have become very famous over the past decade, so it is hard for them to stay unrecognizable when they are out and about. We bet they have gotten used to the hordes of people who want their autograph or a photo with them.
Must Be Incognito
It must get difficult when all they want is peace and quiet. Their star status has also made their job pretty difficult sometimes. Owners of the sale would jack up the prices or hide the more worthwhile items from them!
A Married Man
Even though Chumlee has experienced a lot of ups and downs in the past, we are glad that he finally married The One. He and his partner got married in May 2019. They are doing very well together if you wanted to know!
A Married Man
The two of them got married in Hawaii. That sure sounds like the dream! We would also love to get married in what seems like paradise in real life. Good for you, guys!
Animal Lover
Chumlee is a huge animal lover and loves to snuggle with them! He actually owns two dogs in his house. In the past, he has said that he would love to own two pit bulls.
Animal Lover
This has yet to come true for him. In the meantime, he still has two adorable pups that he loves very much. We are sure that he will get around to the pit bull he always wanted some time in the future.
Keeping Up With His New Lifestyle
Chumlee really does want to improve his life as much as possible. He already reached his goal in the past, but it is always a good idea to keep himself happy, healthy, and fit. We are so proud of you!
Keeping Up With His New Lifestyle
He does it no matter where he might be. For him, there is no time to take a vacation from self-improvement. Doesn’t he make you feel inspired and proud?
A Designer Punch
Over the course of his self-improvement journey, he has also undergone a closet upgrade. This makes sense since he did lose a lot of weight. We love those designer boxing gloves he has on!
A Designer Punch
We are sure it makes working out that much more satisfying. Considering all the hard work that he does, he definitely deserves something this fancy and functional.
A Man Of Many Talents
He is already a reality TV personality, a businessman, the owner of a candy shop. Do you think he will try his hand at aviation as well? He posted this on Instagram not that long ago!
A Man Of Many Talents
It looks like it is grounded but he might be up in the sky soon! Who knows what the future holds for this guy? Only time will tell!
Making A Living For Himself
We already mentioned this earlier, but he did not have it easy in life. He had problems when he was in high school. His personal life has not been the best either. Luckily, things seem to be getting better for him.
Making A Living For Himself
At this point, he is no longer worried about his finances at least. After all, he has a net worth of $5 million! Awesome job, Chumlee. We are proud that he did this even if he dropped out many years ago.
Inspirational Messages
We are sure you have figured out that Chumlee has not had it easy lately. It is for this reason that we are glad to see that he made this post on his Instagram account.
Inspirational Messages
He posted this nice photo of himself and then added an inspirational caption for all his followers. We hope that others were inspired by the journey he underwent. After all, this is the real purpose of social media platforms! Props to you, Chumlee.