‘Deadliest Catch’ Star ‘Wild’ Bill Wichrowski Opens Up About Cancer Battle

Martin Holmes June 11, 2024, 7:32 am

Captain Wild Bill on Deadliest Catch — Deadliest Catch/Discovery/X

Deadliest Catch star Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski is not letting his cancer diagnosis stop him.

The Summer Bay skipper has opened up about his prostate cancer diagnosis, allowing the cameras to follow his treatment process on the upcoming 20th season of Deadliest Catch, which premieres tonight, Tuesday, June 11, on the Discovery Channel.

In a preview of the new season, we see a doctor revealing the diagnosis to Wichrowski, explaining that he will immediately need to start aggressive treatment to fight the cancer.

“When I heard it,” Wichrowski says in the clip, “one of the things I thought was, ‘You know what? I’m not going to stop [fishing]. I’m going to keep going until I actually can’t.’ How many people get diagnosed with this and they just shut down and crawl into a shell? And it just makes it worse.”

Cancer couldn’t conquer Bill’s spirit, or stop him from fearlessly taking on the Bering Sea

The new season of #DeadliestCatch premieres Tuesday, June 11 at 8p on @Discovery. pic.twitter.com/ruluEsyyyP

— Deadliest Catch (@DeadliestCatch) June 3, 2024

“The fact that I allowed the news to be broadcast, I heard from a million people, ‘Oh, I hope you’re alright,'” he continued. “They’re saying you’re gonna have all these symptoms that are gonna stop you. And I said, ‘There’s no way.'”

Wichrowski hopes that by letting the cameras follow his journey, it can help others going through similar situations.

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“I was hoping that the fact that I kept going, it would show people that if you have this, you can keep working,” he added. “You can keep your life moving. I wasn’t going to stop unless I had to.”

Back in February, Wichrowski gave an update on his treatment in response to a fan comment on his Facebook page. “My Cancer numbers are good,” he wrote. “No energy from hormones, but looks like on the back side of it for now.”

Wichrowski has been a part of Deadliest Catch since 2017, when he joined the show for its 13th season. He has captained the Summer Bay from Season 13 to the upcoming Season 20 and co-captained with author and fisher Linda Greenlaw for Season 19.

Deadliest Catch, Season 20, Premiere, Tuesday, June 11, 8/7 c, Discovery