Chumlee from “Pawn Stars” is unrecognizable after losing 160 pound

By
Monica Pop
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Ever since it first opened back in 1989, people have tried to pawn and sell a huge number of unique items to one of the most famous pawn shops there are, The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. The place now hold thousands of pieces and resembles a museum with all the historical items including hand-written letters from presidents, pistols from a number of different wars, and a lot more. In fact, it probably has to offer anything that comes to your mind.

The great thing about this store is that over the last 12 years, we’ve got to witness how it operates all thanks to the reality show Pawn Stars. The everyday encounters of the owners of the shop with different people who have a lot to offer, along with the experts who appraise the artifacts, made Pawn Stars one of the best reality shows on TV. It doesn’t really come as a surprise that it has been on air for 12 years now and that it won a number of awards, including ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for Best Television Series in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In addition, the show has been nominated for three Critics Choice Television Awards.

Source: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins

When the shop was approached with the idea to be filmed for a reality by History Chanel, the founder of the store, Richard Benjamin “The Old Man” Harrison, disliked the idea. His son, Rick Harrison, told Review-Journal. “He thought it was the craziest, stupidest thing he’d ever heard. I remember telling him, ‘Dad, you’ve got to come in Saturday for the sizzle reel.’ And he looks at me and says, ‘Rick, you’re never getting a bleeping TV show. It’s just not going to happen.’ I begged him to come in that Saturday. But we had to have him. He was the grumpy old man that everyone loves.

“At first, I just thought a season or two would be good for business,” he added. “It’s really bizarre. I’m just a fat pawnbroker, and now I’m known all over the world.”

Ever since 2009, a staggering 637 episodes have been shot.

Source: Facebook/ Chumlee

“The Old Man” passed away in 2018, and Rick took the shop over together with his son Corey and Corey’s childhood best friend Austin Russell known as Chumlee.

Chumlee became a crucial part of the show and turned into a celebrity. He’s one of those characters who make people laugh and bring all the fun.

Source: Shutterstock/s_bukley

Speaking of the start of the show, Chumlee recalled on the podcast PodKats!, “They were making a short episode and we had about 12 employees at the time. They went through everybody, saying, ‘All right, who’s going to be our fourth member?’

“I didn’t watch too much TV, but I decided I’d go watch some TV, some reality shows, and I kind of realized what was missing was the funny part of the show, the whipping boy is what I called it at the time. Someone they could make fun of and laugh with.”

Chumlee turned out to be just the guy for the role.

Source: YouTube/ Pawn Stars

While on the show, Chumlee also expanded his own business Chumlee’s Candy Shop, where he sells candy, clothes and different accessories.

“I would do a spinoff show, but everyone says the grass is greener on the other side,” Chumlee told Looper.

“But we love doing Pawn Stars, takes us about seven months to film it out of the year. I just don’t know if there’s enough in the candy shop, it’s in the shipping container right there.

“What I think we should do is a spinoff of the whole pawn [area]. There’s the barbecue next to me, I’ve got the candy shop, you know what I mean, Corey can have the pizza.”

Source: Facebook/ Chumlee

At one point of his life, Chumlee weighted 350 pounds, but he then decided to make a change in his life and turned to a healthier lifestyle, following his friend Corey’s example.

“I went in and tested for sleep apnea, I had to do something about it,” he told Looper. “I got the machine and it just wasn’t that great, so I went to the doctor, just to get a consultation on getting a balloon, and by the time I left, he had me signed up to get all my procedures done to get a lap band. I’m sorry, not a lap band, a gastric sleeve. I mess it up. A gastric sleeve.

“They actually cut my stomach out and sewed it back up into a six-inch pouch and it settles somewhere around eight or nine inches, they say. And that’s been the tool I needed because it’s still a mental battle. I still have that mental battle. I always tell people I got that big because I enjoy eating food. Enjoyed the taste of it, it’s comforting.

“So I got the surgery, it’s helped me, it’s been a mental battle. I stay in the gym, but I try to go not continuously in there. I try to go there three days a week, I miss weeks here and there, but I just try to stay focused and eat well and live healthy.”

Chumlee shared two photos of him on Facebook showing him before and after his weight loss.

“Can you believe it, I’ve lost over 150lbs !! How many people out there have always struggled with your weight like I did?” he wrote.

“What has been the hardest part about losing weight for you? Drop your questions below!! I want to see how I can help you out.”

According to his friends, he’s not planning on going back to his old self and is dedicated to his new and improved lifestyle.

Last year, he took to Twitter to remind his followers of what’s important in life. “Success shouldn’t change you,” he wrote. “Any more than you’re normally, naturally gonna change and evolve as a person, which I think everyone does. But, if you let success change you, you’re not being true to yourself. I just stay true to myself, and if I make myself happy, along the way, I’m sure plenty of other people will be happy.”

We are so happy Chumlee is feeling the best he has ever had.

Military dad reunites with daughter after being deployed when she was just 10 days old

By
Monica Pop
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0

When we say that our military men and women sacrifice a lot when serving the country and getting deployed in far away lands, we mean it. Just imagine missing out on such meaningful events such as birthdays, holidays, celebrations, and many times, missing out on seeing your child grow up.

Unfortunately, a huge number of children are “robbed” of the opportunity to be around their military mom or dad, but they know that there’s a lot at stake, and that’s the freedom of our country and the safety of its citizens.

The best part about deployment are the reunions. Over the years, we have witnessed many touching reunions between parents and their kids, and the following is likely one of the best we’ve ever seen.

When Jordan, 24, and his wife Sophie Hatt, 22, decided to tie the knot, they were both perfectly aware of the fact that Jordan would be away for quite some time. Three months after the wedding, Sophie got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl whom they named Lily.

However, when Lily turned 10 days old, Jordan was deployed. He was forced to say goodbye to his tiny bundle of joy, but he knew duty was calling, and he accepted that call.

Almost a year later, in May 2021, the father returned home in Florida.

The video mom Sophie took melted thousands of hearts. She said, “He felt bad leaving me alone to raise our first child and I was dreading being without him and doing it on my own.”

Luckily, they are now together and can watch their girl turning into a lady.

Cleo Smith’s mother shares crushing update after her four-year-old daughter vanished in remote WA

By
Monica Pop
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0

The search for 4-year-old Cleo Smith who vanished from a campsite in rural Western Australia is still ongoing.

The family said that when they woke up on Saturday morning, at around 6am, the girl wasn’t there. She was wearing a one piece pajama suit and they last saw her at about 1.30am on Saturday near the Blowholes Campground at Macleod, some 50km north of Carnarvon where the family was staying. According to the police, she woke up at that time to ask for a glass of water and then fell asleep again.

Source: 7NEWS

WA Police senior inspector Jon Munday said they are all hoping the little girl is still alive.

“We are throwing all stops at this,” he said. “We hold grave concerns for Cleo. Every hour and every day that goes on we get more and more concerned.

“We have the best investigators from state crime with forensic working as hard as they can to cover all bases.”

The search, which started on Saturday, was resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a three-hour stop because of the bad weather.

Land, air and sea crews led the search up and down the coastline and around the campgrounds where the family had been camping. The entire area has been covered in posters as locals and other campers also joined in the extensive search for the little girl. SES and helicopter crews have been deployed as well.

Thousands of people are sharing Cleo’s mother, Ellie Smith’s, Facebook pleas in an attempt to help with the search.

Speaking to news.com.au, Inspector Munday said “It’s a very, very harsh environment. Until today it has been quiet warm, and there’s limited freshwater around. If she is out in the area, we do have grave concerns for her.”

At the time, the police and everyone involved are considering two scenarios, Cleo either wandering off, or being taken by someone.

Munday added that their concerns are getting more and more grave.

According to the family, who spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday morning, Cleo’s sleeping bag was also missing at the time they realized the girl had vanished.

We are all praying for a positive outcome.

Richard Gere’s wife Alejandra shares details on their private life

By
Monica Pop
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Richard Gere isn’t only an awesome actor who landed a number of iconic roles throughout his career, but he’s also a heartthrob loved and adored by millions.

Speaking of his childhood, Gere describes it as “normal and all-American.” During his young years, he was both into music and gymnastics, and says there’s still a photo of him with a side horse in his high-school and he even took his son there once to see it.

Being in love with music, Gere even wrote some songs himself, and soon, he found himself getting a lead role in the rock musical Soon in New York.

Instagram/RichardGere

Shortly after that, he decided to try his luck in London where he played the role of Danny Zuko in the musical Grease. However, as the production was later set up in New York, Gere returned to the States. In the early 1970s, Gere found his place in Broadway and then did what many other actors have done, he turned to the big screen.

Throughout his rich career, Gere was part of some of the most awe-inspiring movies, including American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol, An Officer and a Gentleman, and one of the greatest romcoms, Pretty Woman.

Speaking of Pretty Woman, Gere revealed that he was hesitating whether to accept the role, but it was Julia Roberts who convinced him to stare opposite her.

“To be honest, I didn’t know if I was doing this movie yet. She’s across the desk, we’re getting to know each other, we’re flirty-flirty, nice-nice,” Gere told Smooth Radio in 2015.

“And [Marshall] calls up and it’s kind of like, ‘How’s it going?’ And I’m going, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and she takes a piece of paper. She turns it around, and she pushes it to me. It said, ‘Please say yes.’ It was so sweet. And I was like [miming talking on the phone], ‘I just said yes.’”

Instagram/RichardGere

Richard Gere has been married three times. His first marriage, with Cindy Crawford, lasted for four years. In 2002, he married Carey Lowell, with whom he has son Homer James Jigme Gere, who is now 21 and resembles his famous father a lot.

In 2018, Gere tied the knot for the third time, this time with Alejandra Silva who is 33 years his junior. So how did the two meet?

According to people close to the couple, they first met when they were quite young as their parents were friends. But it took a lot of years for them to be re-introduced to each other again by a mutual friend.

The moment they reconnected was when they felt there was chemistry between them.

Silva grew up in Spain and is working as a human rights activist. She’s also the founder of the non-profit initiative Beautiful Life Fund.

Speaking of her relationship with Gere, Silva told Hola! back in 2015: “Our karma was attracted the moment we saw each other. I’m not ignoring our age difference and what it means to be with a Hollywood star, but when there’s such a strong karmic energy, the problems disappear.

“Love stories with a complicated beginning, where you have to overcome difficulties together, can bring you closer,” she explained. “I’m sure I did [have some doubt] at some point. In the beginning, he was more convinced than me. But from very early on, we felt that we were destined to be together.”

Instagram/AlejandraSilva

The two have two children together. Silva gave birth to their first son in 2019 and a year later they welcomed their second baby boy. She said that she’s living a fairytale and loves her man, because as she says, what could be more beautiful and more romantic than a man who writes you songs every day.

Before moving to New York, Silva converted to Buddhism and says that decision changed her life forever.

“In this life it had to be like this. He has promised me at least 20 good years,” she said on their age difference. “I have to confess that he has much more energy than me; he’s much more active. I find it hard to keep up with him. He’s not human! Everyone who sees you together says Richard’s crazy about you.

“He knows I love him madly, ” she added. “I think I bring him stability. Above all, it helped I wasn’t an actress or a model. I never had any interest in that. What has united us the most is our desire to help other people who need it, our commitment to Buddhism and the Tibetan people. And he was able to see my unconditional commitment as a humanitarian, as a person, as a woman… It’s the sweetest, most romantic dream I’ve ever had. That’s why I’ve decided to stay in it!”

The actor is as happy and as fulfilled as his wife. He says she’s his soulmate and admires her for being an incredible mother to their children.

When it comes to these two, age truly is just a number.

Gabby Petito died by strangulation, coroner confirms

By
Monica Pop
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0

Gabby Petito’s case attracted the attention of the entire country when she failed to return home after her trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. In fact, he returned to his parents’ home in Florida in September all by himself and refused to tell where Gabby was.

Her parents filed a missing person report and were hoping for a positive outcome. Unfortunately, Gabby’s body was found shortly after in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Brian Laundrie became the sole person of interest in the homicide case but he fled his parents’ home and has been on the run ever since.

Source: Instagram/gabspetito

After the videos of Gabby taken by two police officers were shared online, all eyes were on the case.

As the police is doing all in their power to get to Laundrie, others are also involved in his tracking. Dog the Bounty Hunter is one of those who is helping in the process. He’s sharing updates of his personal investigation on his social media sites.

“Just got an update from Dog the Bounty Hunter’s team. They say he’s headed back to Colorado soon to meet with his doctor after injuring his ankle in the search,” reporter Josh Benson shared on Twitter.

“He (Chapman) says he will continue to process leads in Colorado while he’s there.”

Source: Instagram/gabspetito

As Laundrie remains the only person of interest, so far, he’s only been charged with using Gabby’s credit card without authorization.

The family of Gabby was waiting for the coroner’s report in order to learn how their daughter died. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, during a news conference, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue revealed that 22-year-old Gabby Petito died by strangulation. He also added that the process took some time because he wanted everything to be right having in mind that Gabby’s body was in the wilderness for around three weeks before it was found.

Laundrie family lawyer, Steven Bertolino, issued a statement to remind people that Brian has only been “currently charged with the unauthorized use of a debit card belonging to Gabby” and added that his client is “only considered a person of interest in relation to Gabby Petito’s demise.” He described Gabby’s death as a “tragedy.”

Referring to his statement, Gabby’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, told ABC 7 News: “His words are garbage. Keep talking.”

Rest in peace, Gabby. You are dearly missed.

Paul McCartney opens up about life after his wife’s passing: “I cried for a year when Linda died”

By
Monica Pop
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0

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr changed the world of music forever. Their band, The Beatles, is the most popular and certainly most influential band in popular music history. People from every corner of Earth were so in love and so obsessed with these four Englishmen that a phenomenon called “Beatlemania” was shaking the world back in the day.

Their popularity was causing mass hysteria and fans, especially girls, were going crazy over their idols.

Flickr

One would say these four legends could have as many girls as they wanted, but still, Paul McCartney fell in love with wife Linda who stole his heart the moment he laid eyes on her and they stayed together until the very end. Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away on April 17, 1998, aged 56. Today, 22 years after her death, Paul is still mourning her loss and does his best to keep the memory of the love of his life alive.

The Paul McCartney collection

Paul and Linda, who was a professional photographer, first met at the legendary Shea Stadium in New York, after a concert with The Beatles. Linda was there to take photos of the boys and met her idol John Lennon. “It was John who interested me at the start. He was my Beatle hero. But when I met him the fascination faded fast, and I found it was Paul I liked,” Linda is reported to have said, according to the book The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia.

The second meeting between the two took place around a year later, in a crowded bar. Linda had a date with another guy that night but seeing Paul made her change her plans.

“The night Linda and I met, I spotted her across a crowded club, and although I would normally have been nervous chatting her up, I realized I had to … Pushiness worked for me that night!,” Paul McCartney said. ”I was quite shameless really. I was with somebody else [that night] … and I saw Paul at the other side of the room. He looked so beautiful that I made up my mind I would have to pick him up,” Linda said of that serendipitous night.

Three years after this meeting, the pair tied the knot in an intimate ceremony with fans waiting for the newlyweds in front of the Marylebone Register Office in London.

None of the members of The Beatles was present at the wedding. ”I really don’t remember whether or not I invited any of the band to the wedding. Why not? I’m a total bastard, I suppose – I don’t know, really. Maybe it was because the group was breaking up. We were all pissed off with each other,” Paul explained in the book “Many Years From Now”, written by Barry Miles.

Paulmccartney.com

Before marrying Paul, Linda was a successful photographer. A photo of Eric Clapton that she took appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1968. Later, she focused on taking photos of the people from her surrounding.

After the break up of The Beatles, Paul and Linda started a band together, Wings, and were active for 10 years, and although they had concerts and hits that topped the charts, fans would say they weren’t really a real band as Linda didn’t actually played. “I taught Linda the basics of the keyboard … She took a couple of lessons and learned some bluesy things … she did very well and made it look easier than it was … The critics would say, ‘She’s not really playing’ or ‘Look at her—she’s playing with one finger.’ But what they didn’t know is that sometimes she was playing a thing called a Minimoog, which could only be played with one finger. It was monophonic,” Paul said.

The two were very happy together and raised four children, one from Linda’s previous marriage, but everything changed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer that quickly spread to her liver. Until the very end, Linda was active and did many things together with the man she loved so much. The couple was on vacation and rode horses together just days before she said the final goodbye.

Paul was crushed. He lost two important women in his life, his mother and his wife, from the same illness.

His mom died of breast cancer when he was just 14 years old and he remembers his dad hiding and crying. “We had no idea what my mum had died of because no-one talked about it. She just died. The worse thing about that was everyone was very stoic, everyone kept a stiff upper lip and then one evening you’d hear my dad crying in the next room,” Paul told BBC in 2019.

When Linda died, Paul confessed that he cried for a year, and even now, he can’t get over the fact that she’s no longer by his side. “You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them. I cried a lot. It was almost embarrassing except it seemed the only thing to do,” he said.

We are very saddened by the loss of such an incredible woman like Linda.

Loretta Lynn shares the devastating news of her ranch foreman’s passing in the floods last week

By
Monica Pop
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0

Few female country singers impacted the music industry as profoundly as Loretta Lynn.

This incredible woman experienced a lot throughout her life, including personal tragedies which filled her heart with grief. She lost two of her children, son Jack and daughter Betty Sue Lynn, and her husband of many years, Oliver “Doo” Lynn. Now, she shared on Facebook that her ranch foreman, Wayne Spears, died in the Tennessee floods.

Shutterstock

Loretta met and married Oliver when she was just 15 years old. He was 21 at the time. They lived in a ranch and she was quite busy taking care of her home and her many children. During the younger years of her life, Loretta was a typical housewife, but then her love for music changed it all.

When she first started singing, she thought to herself: “Gee whiz, this is an easy job.”

Her first song, which was her ticket to the world of music was the piece I’m a Honky Tonk Girl. She wrote the song in 20 minutes on a $17 guitar her husband had bought her as an anniversary present.

“I just sat down with my guitar,” she told NPR Music. “I was outside and leaning up against the toilet in Washington State. And I sat there and wrote ‘Honky Tonk Girl’ and ‘Whispering Sea.’”

The song led to a contract with Decca Records after which she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.

Songs which started topping the charts started coming out one by one, and soon after, the name Loretta Lynn became very-well known around the country. Her music was controversial at times, but that didn’t force the young singer to “shut down” her outspoken mind. Some of the songs which caused a stir at the time were Dear Uncle Sam, told from the perspective of a wife whose spouse is entering the Vietnam War and one of the first country songs which spoke of the war, and The Pill, which tackled the controversial topic of birth control.

Loretta’s autobiography, Coal Miner’s Daughter, which lent the name from one of her most popular songs, became a New York Times Best Seller. It was later adapted into a film which received numerous awards and several Academy Awards nominations. Sissy Spacek, who played the role of Loretta, received an Oscar for her brilliant performance.

In 1988, Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Among the rest, Loretta revealed in her autobiography that her marriage was troublesome at times because Oliver was an alcoholic, but the two always stayed strong together. “I miss him so much. He kind of kept things going, like me recording. He’d always tell me how good I was, and that always helped a lot,” she told NPR Music. “He would say, ‘You know, we need to get a new record out,’ or whatever. He always kept me moving. And if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have been singing, period. Because he thought I could sing and he put me to work.”

Despite being 89 years old, Loretta is still very active. Her career spans six decades. In 2010, she was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2013 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama himself. 

Shutterstock

A few days ago, she posted a touching tribute to her ranch foreman who sadly lost his life after he was swept away by the flood in Tennessee.

“There are no words at the ranch today…only tears. Our ranch family is our family. We lost my amazing ranch foreman, Wayne in this devastating flood.

“He took such good care of things here on the ranch for us. He’s one of us and the whole Lynn family Is heartbroken. Please pray for his precious family and friends.”

She continued: “With the heaviest of hearts we are saddened to report that our beloved foreman Wayne Spears did not survive being swept up in the flood waters.

“Wayne has been a family friend to the Lynns and a fixture to the Ranch for decades and we are all devastated by his passing.”

We are very sorry for her loss. Our hearts go out to Loretta during these sad times for her and the family.

Courageous teen steps in when stranger behaves inappropriately with girl in store

By
Nicole
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0

Weird or unpleasant situations may occur everywhere and to anyone. When people encounter weirdly acting people, they usually try to avoid them and get out of the potential danger.

However, Cameron Cook, age 17, from Boston did just the opposite.
Cameron was with his mother at Target in Boston. While the mother was shopping, Cameron noticed something very strange. He saw a man approaching a little girl.

The man was touching himself and was gazing at the girl. That made Cameron think that something was indeed worrying.

Cameron says that the man had a ‘demonic look’ and knew something was very wrong.

His mother insisted they stay away, but Cameron refused that. Speaking of the incident, he told CBS:

“I seen the guy grabbing himself, and my mom goes, ‘Cam let’s go, keep walking.’ I was like, no, something’s going on.”

Source:YouTube/ CBS Boston

Cameron turned out to be a very brave young man. This is something that even his mother did not know.

She was also not aware that Cameron was about to save the girl from a terrible misfortune.

He took a closer look at the man and smelled on liquor so the young boy knew he needed to act fast.

As soon as Cameron reached the man, he asked him if he knew the girl. The man’s response was: “I’m not a pervert! I’m not a pervert!” to what Cameron replied: “I didn’t ask you that, sir.”

Source:YouTube/ CBS Boston

Cameron’s persistence paid off. He continued confronting the man. Therefore, the weird man became uncomfortable and ran out of the store.

Thanks to Cameron, the girl remained safe and sound. If it was otherwise, the girl’s fate would be totally different.

The Boston Police Department also advices the parents to keep an eye on their kids.

For Boston Herald, Cameron says that he does not want a recognition for his action. What he wants to achieve is to inspire others to be brave and confront such people.

He also added:

“Anybody should just have the courage to stand up. It’s not even about courage, it’s just being a person, a human — anyone can step up and do something like that.”

Well done Cameron. You did the right thing. Our society would be a better place to live in if we have more people like you.

For his bravery, Cameron was honored by his city council and the Boston Celtics basketball team.

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