Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman wanted to die before his late wife Beth Chapman.
The ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ star tragically lost his wife when she passed away in June following a battle with throat cancer, and he has now admitted that he apologised to his and Beth’s children – Dominic, 34, and Cecily, 26, whom Beth had from previous relationships, and Bonnie, 20, and Garry, 18, whom she had with Duane – for not being the first parent to die.
He said: "Each one copes differently, there is a few that really barely making it. We don’t know what to do. We haven’t read, we weren’t prepared. I lost my mother first, and when my mom passed away, I’m like, ‘I wish dad would have died first’, you know, because I love my mummy. So I went to them and said, ‘I’m so sorry that I didn’t die first and mum did.’
"And they were like, ‘Yeah dad, why?’ So I was like, ‘Oh my god, I know what that feels like, I should’ve been the one. The guy goes first.’ "
The 66-year-old star – who adopted Beth’s daughter Cecily – never used to be the one to punish his children, and says he’s struggling to adapt to life as a single parent.
He added: "So that’s hard for them. … And I guess I’m the softy of the group, because I never wanted to punish. I said, ‘Your mom is gonna get you if you don’t do that.’ So now I gotta be the one that does that, and I don’t like that and they don’t either."
And whilst he gets help from his brood when it comes to making meals, most of the household duties still fall on him.
Speaking to People magazine, he said: "Its not been that long. They are helping cook, because Beth was a fantastic cook. I am doing their laundry, I’m vacuuming, making my own bed. So I don’t wanna lie, they do nothing. They’re kids. … It’s just, ‘Dad’s there, he can do it.’ "
Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman: I should have died before Beth Chapman
