Whether it’s for good or bad, reality TV is known for providing its audiences with more than just realistic entertainment. Arguments, temper tantrums, personal struggles, addictions and more are a huge part of why shows such as “Deadliest Catch” have been on air for so long.

However, while part of the cast has overcome their fair share of personal difficulties, the same can’t be said about some others. The latter applies well to Elliot Neese, whose controversial personality and bad temper is still a topic of discussion until this day.

So whatever happened to him? Why did he leave “Deadliest Catch” and what has been going on with him? Keep with us to discover all about the current life of the former Captain of the Saga.

Where Is Elliott Now?

While the TV industry usually brings positive things to people’s lives, some other times it means bad news for those involved with it.

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Such is the case of Elliott Neese, who was known in “Deadliest Catch” for not getting along with a lot of his cast mates and subordinates while captaining the Saga, in addition to easily exploding against people on social media.

Although his exit from the show in 2015 meant Elliott could take a break from public scrutiny, recently his name was in the headlines again, but not for good reasons. Reportedly, in 2019 Alaska’s authorities found ‘six ounces of heroin, a small amount of methamphetamine, digital scales’, in addition to $80,000 in cash in Elliott’s house.

Said information was kept a secret until December 2021, when it was brought to light that Elliott had admitted to being involved with a local heroin trafficking operation, which of course was related to the previous search in his home. While Elliott could be facing decades in jail for this crime, details about the case, including his agreement with prosecutors and sentencing schedule, weren’t revealed to the general public.

Though Elliott resumed posting on social media in early 2022, and told his fans he’s still roaming the Bering Sea in a new ship, he didn’t let out any information about his legal issues.

Previous Legal Problems

Elliott’s problems with justice are surely unfortunate for a man whose career on high seas and reality TV seemed promising at one point. However, any long-time fan of “Deadliest Catch” remembers this isn’t the first time Elliott has been involved in unfortunate events.

As it happens, back in 2012 his former girlfriend and mother of his child Valerie Gunderson, filed a restraining order against Elliott for violent behavior. As court documents stated, Elliott had a long history of damaging Valerie’s belongings, physical attacks and other events of domestic violence which had apparently started happening in 2006.

Following Valerie’s claims, early that year Elliott’s behaviour became frantic every time she refused to talk to him and reached new highs, to the point he would call her dozens of times per hour.

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Besides the aforementioned, Valerie claimed some of the reasons she feared for her life were related to Elliott’s alcoholic tendencies and drug addiction, in addition to him telling her mother that ‘If I can’t have (Valerie) nobody can’, leaving Valerie no other option than to search for protection.

Despite the severity of the claims, Elliott kept appearing in “Deadliest Catch” just as normally as ever. However, the incident wasn’t easily erased from many people’s minds.

His Exit From The Show

As if that wasn’t obvious enough, Elliott’s not-so-kind behavior caused many issues both on and off-screen throughout the years. Unsurprisingly, his ultimate exit from “Deadliest Catch” in the 11th season was related to these tendencies too.

Back in May 2015, Elliott joined a 60-day long rehab program in Malibu to get rid of his dependency to drugs, which had affected his performance as Captain of the Saga for a long time, as seen in “Deadliest Catch”.

Though his trouble-making personality was a big reason he often clashed with his crew members, and even with people on social media, the truth is that Elliot himself admitted to having a substance problem back then, eventually leading to him leaving the Saga’s wheel to Jeff Folk.

Although Elliott successfully completed his rehabilitation, his time with the show was over. Captain Jake Anderson took his spot on the Saga in the following season, which obviously didn’t sit well with Elliott. As he told Insquisitr in 2016, Anderson was only the Saga’s ‘Captain for TV’, while he remained ‘the real one’, who won’t appear in the show for some time, even though he affirmed that he was still on board of the Saga: ‘I won’t be on this season because of what I had to do to get better. I’ll be on a time or two, but not all season’.

Despite Elliott’s words, he’s never returned to “Deadliest Catch”.

What About His Personal Issues?

Although Elliot’s exit from “Deadliest Catch” and the Saga was controversial to say the least, he seemed to be doing well on the personal side back then. Following his departure from a California rehab center in 2015, Elliott was apparently recovering well despite the struggles: ‘I’m doing great. I have my good days and my bad days, you know. But, it’s going great’, he told the Inquisitr.

Proud of his accomplishments, Elliott continued to update his fans on his path to keep himself clean the following year. As well, he wasn’t shy about his new-found romance with a woman named Erika Fridenbergs, whom he met during his time in rehab in Malibu and was apparently planning on moving with to Hawaii.

More importantly, he was apparently rebuilding his relationship with his kids: ‘I keep in touch with my kids every day, I talk to them a lot. Things are good there’, he affirmed in the same interview.

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Nowadays, Elliott’s bond with his two children seems to be in place, but his relationship with Fridenbergs apparently ended at some point, judging by the lack of pictures of her on his social media. Unfortunately, his updates on sobriety stopped at some point as well, leaving his followers with no clue about his current personal endeavors.

What The Producers Had To Say

As many long-time “Deadliest Catch” fans might remember, the situation on board the Saga was quite dramatic prior to Elliott Neese’s exit. Before handing the wheel to his first mate Jeff Folk, Elliott had angrily snapped at one camera-man and warned him to better not be filming.

Although the job on the high seas is always dangerous, Elliott’s attitude and the then-current dire weather conditions obviously worried both viewers and the show’s crew.

As admitted by “Deadliest Catch” producer Jeff Conroy, the well-being of the show’s staff was a big concern during those stressing times: ‘We reassigned our chase boat so that it would be within range of the Saga, and if necessary, we could pull our guys off’, as he told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2015.

Although Conroy considered ‘the safest alternative’ leaving Folk in charge at the wheel, he admitted that the problems aboard the ship were somewhat expected: ‘Knowing what’s going on, you look at that and go ‘this is a person with a real problem.’ He’s at that point where he doesn’t want to fully face it’, he said in reference to Elliot’s then-current drug addiction, recalling how in previous seasons he had already denied having a problem with substances.

How Usual Are Drug Problems On the High Seas?

As dramatic and eyebrow-raising as the situation with Elliott Neese might have been, he isn’t the first seaman to have dealt with addiction.

One of the most commented on of these cases featured in “Deadliest Catch” is that of Jake Harris, who despite not having a Captain’s position, became one of the most controversial cast members, given his issues with drug and alcohol abuse.

Following his departure from the series a couple of seasons after his father Phil’s death in 2010, Jake had repeated problems with the law, and was ultimately sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2019 for possession of heroin, with intent to manufacture or distribute.

The current Saga’s Captain Jake Anderson also dealt with drug addiction, developed after he suffered an injury in his teens. Although Anderson overcame that unfortunate stage of his life, the fact these issues are apparently so common is worrisome to say the least. As affirmed by the show’s producer Jeff Conroy in 2015, nine out of 10 people in the industry have been affected in some way by substance abuse.

However, in his opinion, bringing these issues to light could help other people suffering the same: ‘That’s what sets us apart, to be able to tell authentic, real stories. That’s what I would hope would be the legacy of this show’.

Was Elliot Going To Return To The Show?

Regardless of his personal struggles and the mixed feelings he caused in the audience, Elliott Neese’s exit from “Deadliest Catch” was apparently not definitive. Following his completion of rehab, he told Inquisitr: ‘I’m going to talk to Discovery about getting on season 13, but I want them to tell my side of the story’.

While Elliot’s promise to return to the show might have sounded unconvincing, in April 2016 he tweeted that he was still hopeful that his comeback to “Deadliest Catch” might happen, claiming he wanted to show the world that ‘there is hope, that recovery is possible’.

Though in the following months Elliott seemed busy working both on crab fishing and in a local touristic sea company, in early 2017 he directly asked “Deadliest Catch” producer Decker Watson on Twitter if his return to the series was possible.

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However, Watson answered that despite ‘trying like hell’ to get Elliott in the 13th season, things hadn’t turned in their favor. Although he promised there was a chance for Elliott to appear in the 14th season, that never happened either.

All in all, it seems that Elliott’s initial claims that his comeback to “Deadliest Catch” would happen sometime in the future were sincere, probably other events made it impossible.

Elliot’s Beginnings

Ever since Elliott Neese was introduced in the eighth season of “Deadliest Catch”, viewers knew he was meant to become memorable. Despite his young age, Elliot appeared to be ruthless and bad tempered as the Captain of the Ramblin’ Rose, an image which was only cemented by his seemingly rough relationship with his family.

However, no matter how much of a bad guy he seemed to be, Elliott evidently loved to be on the high seas, which is unsurprising knowing his backstory. As it happens, Elliott inherited his passion for crabbing from his father Mike, who worked his entire life as a fisherman, and took his son on board a ship for the first time when he was two years old.

At 16 years old, Elliott finally made his dream of working on a ship come true. On board the Ocean Cape, he realized this was where he was meant to be: ‘I thought it was fascinating. It’s something only the top one percent of people can even do; it’s like being a rock star’, Elliott told Boating Mag in 2014.

After spending a couple of seasons on the Ramblin’ Rose, in 2012 Elliott and his co-associate Lenny Herzog finally bought the Saga, but his final accomplished-dream of owning his own boat soon ended.

Elliott’s Portrayal In The Show

It’s not a secret that Elliott Neese was regarded as controversial and a villain for the “Deadliest Catch” audience.

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However, he always argued that what was seen in the show wasn’t his true self, claiming the reason many people had a negative perception of him was due to him not trying ‘to appease the camera’.

That being said, he considered his appearances in the show a ‘misportrayal’, meant to put him in a negative light for the sake of entertainment: ‘They just twist and turn everything the way they want’, he told BlastZone in 2013, claiming that if his personality was as bad as seen in the show, then there wouldn’t have been any reason for his crew to keep working with him.

However, while it was apparent that he understood why he was portrayed in a certain way, he was evidently upset his loved-ones became involved in the show’s drama: ‘I wouldn’t have let them film my family if I had known how they would show it’.

Whether or not Elliott’s claims hold any truth, it’s for sure that the not-so-positive reputation “Deadliest Catch” gave him, still haunts him these days.

It’s no secret that the car repair business is a male-dominated industry, even in modern days. However, women in the field are just as capable and efficient as their gender counterparts, something everyone could see first-hand thanks to MotorTrend’s “All Girls Garage”.

Although the show has successfully become enjoyable both for car experts and beginners, “All Girls Garage” is also known for its many changes of cast, having left behind some of its most memorable stars such as Rachel De Barros.

So where is she now, and why did she leave the show in the first place? Is she in another show or has left TV altogether? Stay with us to know what’s up with “All Girls Garage”s Rachel De Barros.

Why Did She Leave The Show?

Given the usual drama-oriented nature of reality shows, viewers are used to finding out that there’s always some type of questionable situation behind their favorite series.

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Even if no one could fault people for thinking there’s something not right with “All Girls Garage” seeing how often the show lets its cast members go away, this is fortunately not the case with Rachel De Barros, who was in the show for several seasons until April 2019, when her official exit from “All Girls Garage” was announced after the eighth season’s premiere.

As Rachel explained on her Facebook page, she was leaving the show in order to pursue other TV projects, which were supposed to be released later that year. When asked by a fan if her choice was influenced by ‘network politics’, Rachel affirmed her exit was solely a personal decision, to avoid schedule conflict when her new show came out. Aware of the suddenness of it all, Rachel also assured that she had planned on leaving for a long time.

Judging by the fact that Rachel sometimes posts pics with her former co-stars, it’s evident that there’s no bad blood between the girls. However, it’s unclear what happened to Rachel’s own TV project.

Where Is Rachel Now?

Unfortunately, Rachel De Barros’ own show apparently never saw the light. Besides a couple of appearances on the Science channel, Rachel has been away from TV since her exit from “All Girls Garage”.

Although that’s a shame considering how talented and charismatic Rachel is, she hasn’t stopped working on her personal projects. She now owns a content producing company named Purple Star Media, in addition to starting her online show GearHead Diva, which focuses on Do It Yourself projects in a wide variety of fields, such as science, woodworking, engineering and mechanics.

Describing herself as a ‘MacGyveress’ and ‘virtual reality creator’, Rachel is still the same girl who’s not afraid of getting her hands dirty if it’s needed. Though that doesn’t mean she’s completely away from the car industry, as she often attends conventions and exhibitions related to it, as seen on her social media.

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Who Is Rachel De Barros?

There’s no way to describe Rachel De Barros without including the words talented, skilled and hard-working. While many people know her for her wide knowledge in mechanics, metal building and wiring electric systems, Rachel takes pride in being an expert content producer, a science geek and enthusiastic inventor.

All of these talents don’t come out of nowhere, though. From her early years, Rachel was deeply interested in disassembling and building all types of artifacts, eventually taking summer jobs at her uncle’s collision shop, learning the basics of bodybuilding, mechanics and painting in the process.

Despite pursuing a career in marketing, Rachel’s mechanic skills served her well during her early 20s, saving her money in car repairs and maintenance, attracting fellow students who wanted her to fix their vehicles. Rachel finally established her own business, Purple Star Media in 2006, having furthered her knowledge in mechanics by completing a professional program at the Philadelphia Automotive Training School.

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Despite choosing two different career paths at the same time, her automotive skills and ability to communicate with wide audiences served her well in making a name for herself, both in the entertainment world as well as in growing her businesses into what it is nowadays.

What Are Her Businesses?

Despite partially funding her studies by fixing cars, Rachel’s first official business was Purple Star Media, her marketing agency which focuses on visual content for brands. As the business’ website states, Purple Star ‘pushes the boundaries of branded story-telling across visual media platforms’, centering on using highly technological tools such as virtual reality and 360° visuals for their productions.

With Purple Star, Rachel has produced her online series “Nerdungeon”, “Wonder Spawn” and her celebrated “Gearhead Diva”, which was the show she was discovered from by “All Girls Garage” producers.

Thanks to the wide platform she had built through her TV appearances and online projects, Rachel has successfully established an online shop with her best ‘fan-powered builds’ and tools. As if that wasn’t enough, Rachel is a proud member of Specialty Equipment Marketing Association networks, just called SEMA, for Young Executives and Businesswomen.

Social Media & Gearhead Diva

You have probably noticed Rachel De Barros has been absent from her social media accounts, but there’s actually a very good explanation for that. Since she left “All Girls Garage”, Rachel has taken her career in the entertainment world by its reins, by focusing her efforts on making her Gearhead Diva brand grow.

That’s why she said goodbye to her almost 500,000 followers both on her old Instagram and Facebook accounts, moving her entire content entirely to her new Gearhead Diva pages. Despite taking such a risky decision, Rachel has successfully gathered a wider audience on Instagram than in her old personal account, while her Facebook page still grows steadily.

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Nowadays, Gearhead Diva is more than just an online series of Rachel fixing her cars. It’s become a streaming platform on which Rachel shares her best creative building techniques, teaching her audience the basics of developing a wide variety of science, automotive, tech and garden projects.

Although Gearhead Diva’s live streams are free to watch, her most dedicated fans can purchase monthly subscriptions to enjoy exclusive and interactive features such as discounts, private fan communities, giveaways, detailed map projects, unlimited video archives, and joining her Wrench Army.

All in all, while the TV project she left “All Girls Garage” for apparently didn’t see the light, Rachel is doing well on her own.

What Is “All Girls Garage”?

Premiered in 2011, “All Girls Garage” has undoubtedly changed the general perception of women-centric automotive shows, but just like most MotorTrend’s shows, it offers its audience a deep insight into some of the most complicated and worth-watching overhauls.

However, what sets the show apart from others isn’t having an entire female cast, but their expertise and approach while taking every project to completion. It’s worth noting that despite being hosted by top-level mechanics, “All Girls Garage” is without doubt an educational show, centered on actually teaching its audience every step of the process, instead of leaving important details up to the imagination, which is something very few shows in the genre could pride themselves in doing.

While the fact “All Girls Garage” rotates its cast every couple of years isn’t necessarily the audience’s favorite part of the show, there’s no doubt that the series’ success and popularity is well deserved.

Who Else Left The Show?

Besides Rachel De Barros, other “All Girls Garage” cast members have left the show at some point for diverse reasons. Here are some of them:

Cristy Lee

The most recent “All Girls Garage” star to leave the series was Cristy Lee, the avid biker and motorsport reporter of the team.

Though she started her career in the real estate industry, her love for everything automotive and adrenaline took her to new and unexpected career paths in the entertainment world. Cristy has hosted events such as the XGames and World SuperBike, and often makes public appearances in highly-praised exhibitions as a brand ambassador, though her love for bike racing remains undiminished.

Cristy became internationally recognized when she joined “All Girls Garage” back in its 2011 premiere, sticking with it until 2019, when she left the show to focus on her next project – “Garage Squad”. As Cristy admitted on a heartfelt Instagram post, she was grateful for the time she spent in the show, for the friends she made there and everything she learned: ‘Thank you @motortrendtv for creating a platform for women to empower others in the automotive media world, and believing in ME to be part of that’.

Cristy completed two “Garage Squad” seasons before leaving the show altogether in March 2020.

This second exit wasn’t entirely explained either, but given that she had just undergone an appendectomy back then, it’s assumed she left to take care of her health.

In 2021, she co-hosted the popular “Celebrity IOU Joyride”, alongside the expert mechanic Ant Anstead, so surely more opportunities are awaiting her.

Jessi Combs

Whether or not you have been watching “All Girls Garage” from the start, you surely know who Jessi Combs was. Since the early 2000s, Jessi’s hosted a wide variety of automotive shows such as “Xtreme 4×4”, “MythBusters” and “Overhaulin’”, eventually becoming an “All Girls Garage” star from its premiere in 2011 to 2014.

However, Jessi was far more than just a TV star. She was an expert steel builder and fabricator, showing enviable creative and mechanical skills. By exhibiting her graduate project at SEMA, Jessi quickly gained the attention of local media and car-centered TV networks.

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While Jessi primarily owed her fame to TV, in 2011 her passion for racing gained her second place at the SCORE Baja 1000 competition, which was the first of a long list of professional races she won. Later in 2013 Jessi broke the 4-wheel land speed record, becoming the first woman to ever run at 440.709 mph.

It was her love for racing that eventually led to her exit from “All Girls Garage”, as she wanted to focus entirely on her new career, but also to her death. She made a couple of brief appearances on TV, before unfortunately losing her life while setting the women’s land speed record at 512.71 mph on 27 August 2019.

Who Are The Current Cast?

Sarah “Bogi” Lateiner

Whether you know her from “All Girls Garage” or for other shows, it’s for sure that the name Bogi Lateiner rings more than a bell for you. Despite being a graduate in Law & Society, Bogi discovered her true passion in her early 20s, after having several bad experiences with car repairs.

Following her graduation from the Universal Technical Institute, Bogi enrolled into the BMW STEP training program, working for the company for seven years before leaving to start her own project, even though the stakes were against her accomplishing that dream: ‘I had little money in my bank account, so I called all my friends and family to bring their cars to me’, she said in an interview with Oberlin.

Though building a business from zero isn’t easy work, Bogi eventually passed from fixing cars in her driveway, to buying a building which served both as a car body shop and mechanical educational center for women in Arizona.

Following her debut in “All Girls Garage” in 2012, Bogi has hosted other automotive shows such as “Garage Squad” and “Best Of Top Gear”, also acting as a spokesperson for educational programs such as Girl Gang Garage, steadily becoming a big influence for women in the overhauling industry.

Faye Hadley

Not only is she the most recent addition to “All Girls Garage”, Faye Hadley is also the youngest one out of the cast. While Faye’s skills at mechanics might be astounding, it’s even more surprising to know that she has a degree in psychology, graduating from Harvard in 2010. Though choosing to become an automotive expert instead of her original career might not sound wise for many people, it’s turned out well for Faye. In 2021, she finally became a Master Certified Technician, in addition to joining the cast of other shows such as “Motor MythBusters” and “Holiday Hooptie Challenge”.

Seeing how far she’s gone, it’s surprising to know her career started on social media. Although she’s not a fan of video-sharing platforms, using her YouTube channel to ‘create content aimed at empowering the at-home DIYers to take control of their own vehicle maintenance’ was her primary goal back in 2013.

As her subscribers count slowly but steadily increased, so did her fame. In 2019 she was contacted by “All Girls Garage” to take Rachel’s spot after her departure, and even if later Cristy Lee left the show as well, Faye and Bogi have kept their television carshop afloat with no trouble at al.