Summary

After his breakthrough exposure on a few episodes of the reality seriesDirty Jobs , A&E go about Billy the Exterminator to have a show of his own . ab initio calledThe exterminator — a queerly generic name give that Billy himself is the obvious principal attractiveness — producers changed the deed to the more fittingBilly the Exterminatorfollowing the first season . Like any compelling realism show , Billy the Exterminatorisn’t just about its lead character but the people around him , in this eccentric , his colleagues .

This dwell largely of his own family . Billy ’s collaborator in rodent remotion is his brother Ricky , whose x - wife Pam was concisely still part of the show despite their already being disunite . Billy ’s parents — Big Bill and Donnie — are a frequent source of comic easing . And in keeping with the custom of married person quickly exiting , Billy ’s married woman , Mary , also left after the first season under somewhat contested circumstances , though the pair remain married . Getting rid of gadfly is a foul job , as theunique line of work documentaryshowed , and the series was spring to have some dirty closed book .

From the early day of Candid Camera and MTV ’s The Real World , here are 20 of the early reality idiot box shows to debut , list chronologically .

Split image of stars of Real People, The Real World and Candid Camera

Billy’s Sunglasses Have An Importance

The Lighting Of Reality TV Caused Problems

Billy the Exterminator ’s personality is similar to a alloy head , wear leather crownwork , t - shirt feature metal band , and chunky jewelry , as well as frisk a grey mullet . Given Billy ’s stylistic choice , it ’s easy to take on his ever - present sunglasses are another portion of his rock - n - roll ensemble . In reality , there was a running purpose for his sunglasses — to combat the bright lights of the camera crew .

Billy has said that the " hot lights " behind the television camera irritate his centre , and he started have on shades all the time as a outcome . At A&E ’s pressure , he even had to custom - make sunglasses that would n’t always reflect the light and the camera crew ( viaBullz - Eye ) .

" They ’ve got raging light on me forever , and I just ca n’t reckon into the light . It drives me harebrained . I start wearing sunglasses , but they said , ' No , you ca n’t do that , because you could see the reflection of the photographic camera . ' I say , ' If I can get a pair that does n’t mull , can I bust them ? ' They said , ' Sure . ' So I slimmed up a couplet of safety glasses and , using a grinder , I trim them down … and they could n’t see any reflection . "

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Billy’s Might’ve Been Married In The 80s

Was Mary Billy’s First Wife?

For a realness star , Billy the Exterminator is famously guard about his personal life story . It prove tough to even reassert whether he was still married to Mary follow her passing from the show — and asking him such questions point - blank does n’t get anyone very far . There were alsorumors that Mary was n’t Billy ’s first wifeand the exterminator was briefly wed in the ' fourscore follow his time in the war machine . Billy never officially deny that rumor , and it remains one of many mysterious panorama of his individual liveliness .

Billy Only Saves The Cute Animals

Billy Acts Humanely In Only Certain Circumstances

Much has been made of the length Billy is uncoerced to go to , sohe can keep open some of the animals he " exterminates,“humanely catch and relocate them whenever possible . He has also been an outspoken supporter of natural methods of pestilence and rodent ascendency . However , as many TV audience have noticed , Billy can be a fleck inconsistent in his supposed love for living things . He does n’t think twice about lethally gassing insects and cockroach .

Few would fault him for the latter , but some have an issue with him not try intemperately to deliver bees and wasp , as they can be crucial portion of local ecosystems . When it comes to pests of the furry sort , Billy seems to favour the cuter animal . He once told an interviewer , " I ’ll never have intercourse a rat , " ( viaBullz - Eye ) despite his pressure that he does n’t show preference for one brute over another .

" I ’m firmly of the feeling that those are execration and plague , not part of the instinctive order that we should love . I ’ll never love a so-and-so , and I ’ll never roll in the hay a roach . "

The Moment of Truth and Cheaters promo shots

He Over Explains Things For The Audience

Billy The Exterminator Uses Billy & Ricky To Deliver Exposition

Reality demonstrate need to have a small bit of expo to get the consultation up to speed on certain things , and various shows have different ways of dealing with this job . It is most commonly via a narrator or on - screen text that relay the essential selective information that audiences need to know . InBilly the Exterminator , thatexposition comes from those chats between Billy and Rickyon the way to each job .

The brother are skilled old hand of the pest control subject field , and they do n’t need to go into great point with each other about how to lure a raccoon out of a crawlspace or why a slyboots would take up mansion house in someone ’s attic . But they do so during the show , and that ’s wholly for the consultation ’s benefit . This allows viewers to have sex all the relevant information before they get at their destination .

Scenes Are Cleverly Edit-Proofed

Billy & Ricky Once Again Over-Explains To Fix Editing Choices

In addition to the pre - job oversharing , the ins and out of filming a tv set show also make the duo ingeminate themselves a portion more than they normally would . While a Book of Job is film , nobody has any fashion of get it on which pellet will make it to publicise . It can prove tricky trying to delete together shots that may be slenderly out of chronological sequence because it have a scene flux easily . It ’s also wild to rationalize a shot out entirely as it may omit essential info .

As a way around this , producers ofBilly the ExterminatorhaveBilly and Ricky continually re - explicate what they ’re doing , the facts of the creatures at bridge player , and so on , as a way to ensure that no key information is lost , no matter what shots or scene end up being slue .

There Was A Blow-Up Over Pregnancy Rumors

The Reason Billy’s Wife Left The Show

The near matter to an officialexplanation of Mary Bretherton ’s passing from the showis that she just was n’t a big rooter of being on television system . An entirely believable chronicle , as not everyone is built to be a reality TV principal but some buzz has suggested that Mary ’s exit fromBilly the Exterminatorwas at Billy ’s insistency . It was reportedly due to a major competitiveness between him and Mary over ( untrue ) rumor around the office that she was pregnant .

That she was punished for rumors about herself seems strange , though the theory is that Billy has zero tolerance for office gossip and Mary cease up being the fall guy for that particular rung of rumor - mongering .

Billy’s “Dirty Jobs” Haircut Was Different

Why Was Billy The Exterminator Missing His Mullet?

Billy Bretherton ’s television introduction came by way of his appearanceon the TV seriesDirty Jobs , which abide by a variety of people with elusive and/or maverick profession . While a lot of the elan and persona that issue forth to define Billy as a reality TV ace was intact from the moment he was on television camera , there was one detectable difference : the distance of his hair .

As Billy would later excuse , his mother insisted he foreshorten his long rocker locksto have a more clean - cut appearance on boob tube ( viaBullz - Eye ) . Billy sound out that Donnie also tried to talk him into toning down his edgy looking even further by wearing a Marco Polo and khakis instead of his trademark uniform of leather and slide fastener , but he did n’t budge on that . The haircut was as far as he was uncoerced to go to placate his mom .

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Billy the Exterminator montage

Ricky’s Mom May Have Caused His Divorce From Pam

What Led To Rock’s Divorce?

A bunch of composition indicated that Billy the Exterminator ’s mother , Donnie , frequently march fountainhead with Ricky ’s married woman , Pam , even while they were married . Ricky was known to work that down as the pair were too much alike and the bickering was mostly good - natured . Other sources tightlipped to the clan have claim that Donnie ’s disdain for Pam was a major component in Ricky and Pam ’s eventual divorce . However , while it seemed none of the kin liked Pam , everyone seemed to get along with Mary ( viaCelebrity Dig ) .

Billy Has A Tendency To Push Women Off The Show

Very Few Women Lasted On Billy The Exterminator

After Pam and Ricky saw their marriage end , it caused a backlash when it came toBilly the Exterminator . Pam and Ricky disunite before the showeven start . There was a point in fourth dimension when all parties involved determine that Pam could keep working for Vexcon even after her divorce from Ricky , up to and including being ramble on the show .

It was a source of dramatic tension to have a pair of ex - spouse work together . Once the first season ended , Billy had her removed from the show . The cause for Pam ’s loss is reportedly due , once again , to Billy ’s on the face of it lowly patience for dramatic play involving women . Pam was move , and some claimed she was thrust to resign by Billy , who just was n’t fond of her and did n’t want to deal with her anymore .

Billy & Ricky Fake Being Shocked

Billy & Ricky Know What Is Coming & Act Shocked For Drama

It should n’t add up as a surprisal to anyone that theproducers ofBilly the Exterminatorpick which task are telecasting - worthyand which ones are n’t . It would n’t be interesting to look out a routine cockroach fumigation or a quick , incident - free rodent removal . The job that are chosen to be boast on the show are of course going to be a morsel more interesting / dangerous than the median extermination job .

The fact that Billy and Ricky — who have been doing this for years and look as though they screw what they do — seem to have a " What have we gotten ourselves into?“attitude before and/or during every jobon the reality show feel a little disingenuous . That ’s because it is , with their say seismic disturbance at the gimmick and turns of each task play up for dramatic tenseness .

Billy Is Freaked Out By Crowds

Billy Is More Of An Introvert

the great unwashed who are into animals are n’t always particularly fond of their fellow humans . That is somewhat the sheath with Billy , as he revealed to an interviewer that he is n’t a enceinte sports fan of large gathering of mass . Billy narrate the blog Bullz - Eye thathe has always been " tripped out in large crowds"and that he tends to forfend pop off to things like concerts and sporting event because he is n’t comfortable being in configurations with a lot of other people .

He went on to say that his uneasiness with group configurations has been aggravate since becoming renowned , as he is often pile when he ’s out in public — though he tries his honest to always be patient with his fans , even when he ’s feel " tripped out " by them .

Over the years , the realness idiot box humanity has seen some realism TV shows earn a lot of criticism due to their unpopular and controversial premise .

Billy the Exterminator posing for the camera.

Billy Redirected The Show Away From Family Drama

Billy Wanted Less Personal Drama On The Show

Just because a person agree to be on a reality show , it does n’t needfully stand for that they want it to get too into their personal lives . That ’s where Billy was afraid that his show was headed in its early episode , focusing too much on the interpersonal drama between himself and his kinsfolk and not enough on rodent removal .

The stubbornly private Billy did n’t care how much of his secret life– and the lifetime of his loved ones– was on exhibit duringThe Exterminator ’s first time of year . He insisted the show be revise going fore to bemore about the Immigration and Naturalization Service and out of the exterminationbusiness and less about relationship and dramatic event . While some of that certainly continue in the transition toBilly the Exterminatorand beyond , the serial publication has never again been as soapy as it was during season one .

Billy The Exterminator Has A Rabid Fan

Lilith, The Mystical Fan

A plebeian question for a ace of any sort is whether they are aware of any fans that people may find surprising . Typically , this doubt gives a subject the apology to name - drop cloth some celebrity who is a fan , or otherwise tell some sort of interesting anecdote . When you ask a guy like Billy Bretherton if he has any surprising fan , he gives a weird reply .

IBilly initially answer with , " I ’d have to say Lilith . " Pressed for elucidation , Billy said there is a woman who locomote by Lilith who is a fanof the show and went on to not only excuse the mythic significance of the name but even arrogate that his fan Lilith has " glowing eyes . "

The Show Never Had An Off-Season

Good TV Doesn’t Take A Sick Day

Surprisingly , being sick on television makes Billy more interestingfor the viewer . In what must not have been Billy ’s estimation , there have been several installment ofBilly the Exterminatorin which he is ghastly or otherwise is n’t at his common strong-arm or mental capacity . It constitute Billy mess up and do thing that make the job a little more dangerous than it ask to be . It seems unnecessary to summate to an already bad business , but it produce exciting idiot box .

Ricky Had Substance Charges

Ricky Was Arrested For Drug Possession

In April 2010 , Ricky Bretherton was pulled over for a quotidian traffic full stop in his aboriginal Louisiana when the officer found something more illegal than a move violation . Ricky was in possession of illegal substances , and he and the unnamed woman he was travel with were charged with felony marijuana possession and felony drug paraphernalia possession .

The judge set Ricky ’s bail at most $ 5,000 , which was quickly paid , and he was release shortly thereafter on his own recognisance ( viaTMZ ) . Nothing is known about whether the female rider was booked , made bail , or any other entropy .

Billy & Mary Were Also Arrested

The Billy The Exterminator Star Also Had Drug Violations

Ricky is n’t the only Bretherton to get arrest on drug charges . Two years after his brother ’s run - in with the jurisprudence , Billy and his wife Mary were arrestedafter a 911 call lead police to the twosome ’s hotel elbow room where they found synthetical marijuana as well as a gadget usually used to fume it . Billy was dispatch with a $ 500 mulct , which have in mind he did n’t have to serve his 60 - day prison house time ( viaTMZ ) . He was also ordered to complete residential area service and rehab as he serve out his probation .

Conversely , for reasons not made in public clear , the drug charge against Mary was drop , as was the paraphernalia boot for both of them . It is wide take the arrest and ensuing rehab were at the beginning of the personal time off that Ricky took from the show in 2015 before returning with the retooled , Canada - basedBilly Goes North , which eventually morphed back intoBilly the Exterminator .

Billy and Ricky Bretherton Billy the Exterminator

Billy and Ricky on set Billy the Exterminator

Billy & Mary Bretherton from Billy the Exterminator

Billy Bretherton & Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs.

Donnie Bretherton from Billy the Exterminator.

Pam on Billy the Exterminator.

Billy with tractor Billy the Exterminator

Billy Bretherton on Billy the Exterminator.

Lilith in Supernatural

Ricky Bretherton and his mugshot in Billy the Exterminator

Billy Bretherton and Mary Bretherton mugshots on Billy the Exterminator