Over the years, Port Protection’s cast members have either left the show, passed away, or continued to live their lives as usual in Port Protection.
The cast of Port Protection, just like the cast of many other survival documentaries, just go about their daily lives in the extreme Alaskan Wilderness.
Through the years, the show has lost many cast members due to logistics and death, but some of the fan-favourite cast members still reside in Port Protection to this day and will be featured in future seasons of the show.
What does the cast do on Port Protection?
Port Protection, also called Life Below Zero: Port Protection, first aired on National Geographic Channel back in 2015.
Since the show had the same producers as other Alaskan survival documentaries like Life Below Zero, audiences knew that they could expect to see the incredible stories of the Port Protection community surviving against all odds before the show aired.
Just as expected, the show mainly focuses on the daily lives of the dwindling community of Port Protection in Alaska as they attempt to survive in the harsh and unforgiving conditions of the Alaskan wilderness.
What happened to the cast of Port Protection?
Although it may seem difficult to imagine why people choose to brave the rough seas, vicious predators, and incredibly cold weather to build their homes and lives in places like Port Protection, these documentaries certainly help to elucidate the sense of community in these remote towns.
In Port Protection, this is especially evident, as the community only has about 100 residents to begin with. However, even so, this does not mean that this community has not changed over time.
The second season of the show aired in 2016 and the third season of the show, now under the new name of Life Below Zero: Port Protection, only returned in 2020.
Although fans were glad to see the show return, many of the fan-favourite cast members, including Amanda Makar, Hans Porter, and Timbi Porter left the show.
Fortunately, these cast members were replaced by several other Port Protection locals for the following seasons. Gary Muehlberger, who immediately made an impression with his “Gary rig” plumbing, was joined by Curly Leach, Sam Carlson, Matt Carlson, and Kaylee Burk as new cast members on the show.
Unfortunately, just as the show was entering its fifth season, it announced that Gary Muehlberger had passed away and soon after that, fans found out that Litzi Botello had also passed away. For now, the rest of the cast seems to be healthy and ready to film the next season of the show.
Why did Amanda Makar, Hans Porter, and Timbi Porter leave the show?
The team behind the show has been very vague about the changes that happened in Port Protection during the break between 2016 and 2020. This includes the reasons why the original cast members did not return to the reality series.
S insiders reported that the reason why Amanda Makar, Hans Porter, and Timbi Porter did not return is because they moved away in the two-year filming break before 2018.
However, Amanda, Hans, and Timbi have not confirmed this themselves and the show has not released an official statement confirming this.
Which of the cast members have passed away?
The only thing that saddened fans more than finding out that their favourite cast members would not be returning to the series was finding out that these cast members had actually passed away.
The Life Below Zero Facebook page made the announcement that Gary had passed away as a result of a fire that started in his home on 17 March 2021.
Shortly after this, Litzi Botello’s husband, John Dean, announced that she had lost her battle with cancer in June of the same year. As a result, these two cast members would not be featured in the fifth season of the show.
Which cast members are still happily residing in Port Protection?
There is no denying that the cast of Port Protection has faced a myriad of challenges on and off screen over the last couple of years, but despite this, many of the cast members are still going strong.
Sam Carlson remains one of the longest-living residents of Port Protection, except for a serious health scare in 2022.
Sam and his son, Matt, as well as Matt’s family, will be featured in future seasons of the show.
Curly Leach is also reportedly still healthy and happy to fish on his boat with his two dogs.
The same is true for David Squibb and Mary Miller, who still reside in Port Protection and may be part of the show in the future.
