Now that Junkyard Empire has been off the air for a few years, there are some important updates regarding some of the show’s old cast members.
The Junkyard Empire story began long before the show started airing, when Bobby Cohen decided to go into the junkyard business decades ago.
Although there have been no official updates since Junkyard Empire’s fifth season finished airing, there are some important updates regarding some of the show’s original cast members.
How Junkyard Empire began
Bobby Cohen got into the junkyard business over five decades ago. He eventually opened Cohen Recycling, which fans will now recognize as the backdrop of the successful Junkyard Empire show, in the 1990s.
Even later on, his son Andy realized that they could expand their business ventures by scouring the junkyard scrap cars for rare parts, which he would then sell through his own business, ‘Andy’s Auto Parts’.
Eventually, Andy’s enthusiastic iterations of all of the daily goings-on at the businesses under the Damascus Motors-umbrella convinced Sean Gallagher at Half Yard Productions that he had struck reality-television gold.
And then Junkyard Empire, which we all know and love today, was born.
5 updates about the original Junkyard Empire cast
When Andy and the team at Half Yard productions finally got the show up and running, it became an almost-instant fan-favorite for Discovery’s automotive-focused MotorTrend.
However, just because Junkyard Empire was extremely successful at first, this does not mean that the show always went off without a hitch.
Although the Junkyard Empire Facebook page is rife with fans asking when new episodes of the show will be coming their way, no new episodes have aired since the fifth season concluded in February of 2020.
As a result, there is still a lot of uncertainty among fans who have followed the show since the beginning, about what happened to some of the cast members who made appearances on the show in the past.
And even about why some of these cast members decided to leave. Fortunately, a deep-dive into the show and the cast’s social media pages have revealed all kinds of updates in this regard.
These might provide some clarity until such time as Andy, or the other Junkyard Empire producers, or even MotorTrend, announce news about what is to be expected for the future of the show.
Important updates regarding the show’s main characters
Whenever a popular show like Junkyard Empire unexpectedly disappears off the air for years at a time, fans are bound to have a few burning questions about the show’s cast.
In the case of Junkyard Empire, the most burning questions (which we will get to before the other important updates) unusually revolve around the two cast members who started it all – father Bobby and his son Andy Cohen. They are as follows:
| No. | Question | Answer |
| 1. | How much is Bobby Cohen from Junkyard Empire worth? | Guessing a reality television star’s worth is always tricky, but it is estimated that Bobby’s net worth is over $1 million. |
| 2. | What is Andy Cohen from Junkyard Empire’s net worth? | Andy’s impressive car collection alone is worth an estimated $230,000, but when you add all of his businesses and the show’s revenue to this figure, Andy’s net worth is likely well over $2 million (with some estimates going as high as $20 million) |
| 5. | Is Bobby from Junkyard Empire still alive? | The Andy’s Auto Parts Facebook page confirmed as recently as 14 weeks ago, that he is still alive and well. |
1. What happened to Danny Bowie on Junkyard Empire?
By the time that the fifth season of Junkyard Empire started airing, it was clear that some things were changing behind the scenes.
Among other signs, Danny Bowie, who was quickly established as one of the fan-favorite characters on the show, was being featured less and less as the season continued.
There has been no official word on whether Danny has left the show. But both the Junkyard Empire Facebook page and Danny’s personal page confirm that he is still working at the junkyard currently.
2. Why did Missy leave Junkyard Empire?
Missy Leclerc, who longtime Junkyard Empire fans will recognize as the office manager on the show, was one of the very first cast members to leave the show without any real explanation.
And although Missy seems to be quite a private person, we do now have more clarity on why she left the show.
The Andy’s Auto Parts Facebook page confirmed in the comment section of a post from 2016 that Missy left the show because she had decided to get out of the junk business.
3. What happened to Chris and Jeff on Junkyard Empire?
Jeff Worstell and Chris Smith are members of the Junkyard Empire cast who briefly made a few humorous appearances in the third and fourth seasons of the show.
Like many of the other Junkyard Empire cast members who left the show, their exit was never really officially explained.
However, since they are both extremely private individuals with no public social media pages, it is fair to assume that they have simply been working on completing their own personal projects outside of the show.
4. Why did Tommy leave Junkyard Empire?
Tom “Tommy” Bostic was one of the master fabricators who often helped Andy and the rest of the team to get their previously-junked cars back up and running on Junkyard Empire.
Tommy moved to Florida after the fifth season of Junkyard Empire aired to focus on his own design business ‘Tommy Built Design Studio.’
However, the Junkyard Empire Facebook page shared a photo in August of 2022 captioned “Hanging with Tommy in Florida!”, which confirms that he is still in contact with Andy and the rest of the team.
5. What happened to Dave Jensen from Junkyard Empire?
David “Dave” Jensen is one of the many Junkyard Empire cast members who was not a regular on the show and only made a few brief appearances on the show.
Outside of the show, Dave is an accomplished businessman, with a CNC Manufacturing business called MadMetal Inc.
He is also quite active on his Facebook page and regularly posts both Junkyard Empire and other car-related content.
