Usually, when it comes to reality shows, we tend to think that most of the drama occurs in the editing process. But in the case of Deadliest Catch, Captain Keith Colburn believes that the cameras don’t catch nearly as much chaos as what actually happens both on and off the water. And with how tense the job already seems, that’s saying a lot.
Between the sound effects and edited clips, it’s easy to make a small disagreement seem like a huge altercation on a reality show. One snippy remark can be used in the show’s promo with the promise of a nail-biting incident. However, Colburn assured that the Deadliest Catch is not one to tease out small moments like these. In fact, crews even missed an actual brawl that happened between the Colburns and the Hillstrands following one heated trip on the icy Bering Sea.
In the episode after the incident, the show mentioned the fight and how it played into the Deadliest Catch captains’ current situation. Of course, with the evidence not on camera, fans were skeptical that the fight ever even happened. But Colburn insisted that the show just barely touched on the intense moment.
“The producers DID NOT play that up, that was an actual occurrence,” Colburn explained to Crabwizard. “That was a good ol fashion Dutch Harbor, after the bar closed, dust-up and it was, you know what, I think at the end of the day everybody had a good time, nobody got hurt, nobody went to jail. That’s a good night out in Dutch for the boys.”
‘Deadliest Catch’ Brothers Have a History of Fighting
The Deadliest Catch captain seemed to chalk up the incident to too much alcohol and not enough sleep. But that didn’t make the situation any less violent. Thankfully, though, the only casualty was a guitar.
“One of the producers was outside and they didn’t have any cameras and they literally went back to the room crying,” Colburn continued. “To watch Andy shatter a guitar over my brothers [sic] head was a site to behold.”
This wasn’t the only time that the Colburns went head-to-head with the Hillstrands. During a past episode of Deadliest Catch, camera crews caught the moment when Johnathan Hillstrand approached Colburn and announced that they had a problem.
In a matter of moments, the two were nose-to-nose. That’s when Hillstrand shoved his competitor to the ground on top of some metal. According to the steamed star, Colburn had stabbed him in the back for the last time. Just as before, no one ended up in a hospital bed or handcuffs, but the moment seemed to cement the feud between the two families.
Watch the interaction between the Deadliest Catch captains here.
