Mike Wolfe was with this ‘American Pickers’ star when he took his last breath

Mike Wolfe is now opening up about mending his friendship with Frank Fitz and the emotional moment the two experienced before he died.

In an exclusive interview with People , the " American Pickers " star remembered Fitz, his late best friend.

"He was a lot like he was on camera. He was very sensitive. He was very caring. He was extremely funny. His sense of comedic timing was unbelievable," Wolfe, 60, described. "Actually, the crew and myself would always tell him that he should do stand-up because he was always very self-deprecating.

"He was one of those guys, no matter who we talked to, he could always make people feel comfortable and let them know that they're being heard," he continued, mentioning that the two grew closer due to dealing with similar life struggles.

The two first met in middle school, as both were raised without fathers present. This gave way to obstacles "moving throughout life," which brought them closer.

"He was an extremely hard worker. He was like no one I'd ever met in my whole life," Wolfe told the outlet.

When Wolfe came up with the idea to pitch " American Pickers ," a reality show spanning over 15 seasons, Fritz was all for it and believed the idea could turn into something great.

And when season 1 debuted on the History Channel in 2010, their lives were forever changed.

But fame and success didn't mean that life's challenges had suddenly vanished.

In a 2021 interview with The Sun , Fritz talked about seeking treatment for alcohol abuse right before leaving the reality show. He also noted that he hadn't spoken to Wolfe in two years and discussed feeling a step behind Wolfe as he was considered "No. 1" when it came to the show.

"There was a lot of noise. That's a nice way to put it," Wolfe said of Fritz's interview. "This is so hard for me to talk about, because there were a lot of things that were said that weren't true, and I always continued to pray for him. But unfortunately, the things that we want for someone ... sometimes [it's] just not enough, and they have to want these things for themselves."

During the pandemic, while moving things around at home, Fritz hurt his back around that time and had to undergo surgery.

"With that time off and him having surgery, it was like the perfect storm," Wolfe said. "He became addicted to opioids, and that's when everything changed.

"Here's the deal," he continued. "I don't have the right to tell his story — only he does. But I do have, I feel, the right to tell the personal story of how myself and so many people struggled to navigate what was going on in his life."

There were many attempts where Wolfe tried to help Fritz during his addiction struggles, one including a staged intervention with Fritz's family members and other people who loved him.

"I remember running into him like a month later. He said he was just going to handle everything on his own, and I asked him how he was doing. He said, 'I'm fine. I'm fine. No, I'm really fine.' And then like a month later, he was gone," he recalled. "And so watching Frank doing some of the things that he was doing, it was really hard."

When filming began again, Wolfe was aware of Fritz's continued struggle with addiction and "fought really hard to get him into rehab," adding that he "never, ever gave up" on his friend.

But when production requested negative drug tests, Fritz was unable to provide them.

"The network just finally made the decision," Wolfe said. "They're just like, 'Listen, we have to move on. We have to keep going with this.' I had mixed emotions about doing that ... and we were just trying to figure out what we were going to do."

After Fritz left the show, Wolfe was left to feel like "the last man standing," he recounted.

"I was just kind of left to fend for myself in a lot of ways. I could finish his sentences. He could finish my sentences," he says. "I'm a left-handed person, but with him I felt ambidextrous."

To Wolfe, losing the friendship was like "losing a brother,"

"And that's why it was so hard to hear him say the things that he said," he continued. "I just wish that he didn't have to deal with all of those things in the shadows ... We can tell him how much we love him, and that we support him and we're encouraging him, [but] he could just never get it back together."

Wolfe admitted to the rift between the two longtime friends but overall says that they "never disconnected."

Later, when the two came back together, it was an emotional reunion for both and there were even talks about Fritz returning to the show.

"It was beautiful. He was struggling with addiction. I know how judgmental the public can be. And so that's why when we did end up speaking again, it was so easy for me to forgive him because I knew it wasn't him talking. It was his addiction talking," Wolfe said.

But that didn't come to fruition because in 2022, Fritz was hospitalized after suffering a crippling stroke, to which a return was seen by Wolfe as next to impossible.

Fritz never recovered and died on Sept. 30 from stroke complications at age 60. Upon taking his last breath, Wolfe, his mother and Fritz's late mother's best friend Annette were by his side.

"I got the call that he wasn't doing well. I just feel blessed that I was able to get there," Wolfe recalled. "I was there for about an hour before he passed, and I was holding his hand and rubbing his chest when he took his last breath. I took my fingers and I closed his eyes."

During the final moments, "I just told him that I wasn't mad at him and that I loved him and that I cared about him so much," Wolfe said. "And then when I could see that he was struggling, I just said, 'Just go find your mom. Go find her right now. Just go find her.'"

Though it might have been heartbreaking to say goodbye, Wolfe could say that the two stayed close to the end.

"Once he had the stroke and he went into a facility, I saw him so many times and I was able to speak to him very candidly, and very lovingly, about everything that I ever wanted to say to him," he said.