'Storage Wars’ Star Dave Hester Reacts to Darrell Sheets’ Shocking Death (Exclusive)
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“Storage Wars” star Dave Hester is mourning co-star Darrell Sheets’ death by suicide.
“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke to Hester, who opened up about how he learned of the tragic news.
"'Storage Wars' has been going on for 17 seasons," Dave said. "Darrell, me, [we] were there at the very beginning and we worked for probably over 100 episodes." He added, "We were rivals but we respected each other."
Dave noted, "You're only as good as you're competition, so he brought out the best in me.”
Dave shared, “I got text from one of the TV channels, one reaching out for comment and they said that they had some very bad news about somebody close to me and I just happened to be green-screening that day and I reached out and said, ‘Has anybody in the 'Storage’ force family died or something?’”
“Brandy walked into the lunchroom and said, ‘Darrell passed away,' and then after that, the phone was ringing off the hook, you know, going back and forth.”
As for if he’s been able to process Darrell’s death, Dave answered, “As you get older, you know that, things happen in life and you don’t know what people do what they do, but you know, I’ll just wait and see what it actually turns out to be because we don’t know if he was sick, what was going on with him, if he was in pain.”
When asked about the cyberbullying that Darrell may have faced before his death, Dave said, "I’d like to wait to see what really happens, if that had anything to do with anything.”
"Being in the business, you kind of have to have tough skin, thick skin… It’s out there,” Hester emphasized. “I turn that off. If somebody wants to do that to me, I just click the channel. I don’t even respond to it.”
Dave stressed the importance of asking for help if anyone is struggling.
He said, “If you’re ever thinking about that, get some help. Talk to your parents, talk to your brothers or sisters, your best friends."
Over the years, Dave and Darrell would check in on each other amid their own health issues.
Dave shared, “I do recall when he had his heart attack, I texted him to say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry to hear that you lived’, just jokingly with him. He goes, ‘Yes, I did and I’ll be here to see you’ and then a few months later, I had a kind of little brain bleed and he text me, and said, ‘Hey, I guess we’re going to end up being roommates in that convalescent hospital or something.’"
Dave is praying for Darrell’s family amid the tragedy, saying, “I hope they can get through this and we just pray for them."
Dave remembered Darrell as a “family man” off camera, sharing, “He really loved his grandchild.”
