Frank Fritz & Mike Wolfe’s Last-Minute Picker Upper

Fan favorite treasure hunter Frank Fritz’s death had one upside — it was the catalyst that healed the rift between him and his American Pickers costar Mike Wolfe, sources tell The National ENQUIRER.

Frank, 60, who’d been estranged from Mike since leaving the show in 2021, died in hospice on Sept. 30 with Mike, 60, holding his hand. But the Pickers pals, who’d met in eighth grade, managed to repair their friendship just weeks before Frank’s death.

“When Frank died, they were closer than ever,” an insider reveals.

As ENQUIRER readers know, a feud erupted after Frank took a break from the show in 2020 to recover from back surgery and deal with an admitted problem with alcohol abuse.

But the antique hound never fully recovered from a stroke in 2022 and never returned to Pickers. At the time of his death, he was mostly bedridden and unable to walk unassisted.

“Mike went to Frank’s bedside to let him know he wanted to leave any lingering tension behind them,” spills the insider. “Frank meant so much to him.

“It was clear Frank had forgiven Mike for everything that went down between them. There was no friction, just genuine affection.”

Though Frank quit booze and dropped 65 pounds in a bid to get healthier and rejoin the show, “his feelings must have really been hurt” when Mike’s brother Robbie replaced him, spills the source.

“But all that was water under the bridge,” adds the snitch. “Mike can go on knowing that he helped to lighten Frank’s load a little bit before he died.”