The original cast members featured in Junkyard Empire may no longer be seen in front of the cameras, but they still work for the Cohens behind the scenes.
Junkyard Empire is one of the most interesting car restoration programs on television. It focuses on Andy and Bobby Cohen’s real-life junk and restoration businesses.
Many of the cast members who originally signed on to do the show have since retired from the small screen, but they still work for the Cohens’ businesses to this day.
About Junkyard Empire
While most of the car restoration and repair programs on television have their fair share of junky and broken down cars, Andy, Bobby and the rest of the Junkyard Empire team literally only have scraps and junk to deal with.
Junkyard Empire has been on Discovery’s Motor Trend channel since 2015.
The dynamic father-son duo behind the Damascus Motors and Cohen Recycling businesses which form the backdrop of the show, have been fan-favorites ever since.
What happened to original cast of Junkyard Empire?
Andy and Bobby’s continuous on-screen bickering and dissimilar ways of doing business have always been a great source of entertainment throughout the show’s run.
But there is no doubt that they would not be able to run any of their businesses successfully if it was not for their teams.
Both Cohen Recycling and Damascus Motors had been well-established businesses long before Sean Gallagher, the CEO and executive producer at Half Yard Productions, had the idea to create a reality show around them.
Hence, several of the real-life employees of the business signed on from the very first season.
This includes characters like Danny Bowie, who longtime Junkyard Empire fans will recognize as the yard manager and all-around funny guy from the first few seasons of the show.
It also includes Tommy Bostic, the fabricator responsible for bringing many of Andy’s out-of-the-box builds to life and Tim Jumbelick, the general manager responsible for making sure that all of the Cohens’ projects stay on track, on time, and on budget.
Even though Junkyard Empire is still one of the most popular car restoration shows in Discovery’s lineup, there are still many details about the future of the show which are up in the air at this point.
What we do know, however, is that although some of these original cast members like Danny and Tommy have left the show, they have certainly not left Damascus Motors behind the scenes.
Although these cast members keep their personal lives fairly private, their LinkedIn profiles do confirm that Danny is still working as the yard manager, Tommy is still the head fabricator and Tim is managing things at Andy’s Auto Parts, even to this day.
It is likely that they simply left the show to focus on their day jobs, instead.
The people responsible for Junkyard Empire behind the scenes
Junkyard Empire is one of the few reality shows on television for which the stars of the series, namely Andy and Bobby, did not originally come up with the idea to create the show.
Actually, Sean Gallagher was reportedly so impressed with Andy’s campfire storytelling at a family camping weekend, that he was the one to pitch the idea for the show.
It did take a couple of years, but Half Yard Productions eventually also convinced the executives at Discovery Velocity to bring the show to air.
Will there be another season of Junkyard Empire?
The most recent fifth season of Junkyard Empire aired back in 2019 and 2020, and although the show has not been officially renewed just yet, it has also not officially been cancelled.
Hopefully, this means that it is just a matter of time before the current Junkyard Empire cast and crew return for the sixth season.
There seems to be plenty of interest from fans after all, and the Junkyard Empire Facebook page is simply flooded with comments like “We need new episodes” and “Can’t wait!!!”.
What happened to Bobby and Andy Cohen?
Since it has been a few years since we got to see the Cohens and the rest of their team in action, many fans have wondered whether they have managed to survive and carry on outside of the show.
Fortunately, it is good news on all fronts. Bobby retired a few years ago, and according to the Andy’s Auto Parts Facebook page he is still alive and doing well.
Andy, on the other hand, recently had quite a serious health scare when he fell off of his roof, but fortunately, he has fully recovered from his injuries. In fact, he even had enough vigor to share a silly video celebrating his return to work.
