Who is Andy Bassich?
Andy Bassich was born in Washington D. C., USA, on 25 January 1958 – his zodiac sign is Aquarius and he holds American nationality. Andy is a TV personality who might be known best for his appearance in the reality TV survival show “Life Below Zero”.
Childhood and education
Andy spent the first couple of years of his life in Washington D. C. before both his parents were offered jobs in Wheaton, Maryland and thus moved there.
Andy started exploring when he was four years old. He was all around the house exploring every corner of it, and his parents occasionally had problems finding him who would hide somewhere in the house or would continue his explorations outside. He attended Kennedy High School, but wasn’t much interested in studying as he preferred to be outdoors, play sports with his friends and cycle to places they hadn’t yet visited. In 1976 Andy matriculated, and chose not to enroll at a college but to start travelling.
Career as a TV personality
Andy travel around Maryland after matriculating and just when he decided to go to Alaska, his sister invited him to her wedding, and Andy thus chose to stick around for a while. He started working as a carpenter to financially support himself, staying in the job for around a year before finally moving to Alaska, where he began living his ‘life below zero’.
Andy gained recognition in 2013 after he was invited to star in the show “Life Below Zero”, produced by Barbara Doran and Josh Freed. It aired its first episode on 19 May 2013 on National Geographic, and is about the lives of people living in secluded areas of Alaska.
Andy is just one of many people featured in the series, and is known for his 25 sled dogs and for his turbulent love life – he today lives on the Yukon River close to city Eagle. Sue Aikens is a 57 years old woman who is the only person living in the Kavik river camp while Chip and Agnes Hailstone are parents to their seven children, and are living on the Kobuk River. Glenn Villeneuve lived in Burlington in Vermont before deciding to move to Alaska in 1999, and he has since lived alone in the community Chandalar. Jessie Holmes is a hunter, dogsled racer and a fisherman, and he lives in Nenana with his 40 sled dogs.
Erik Salitan is the youngest among the cast, and is living around 67 miles (108km) from the Arctic Circle, while the final member of the cast, Ricko DeWilde, is living alone in a cabin close to Huslia in Alaska, while his children occasionally visit him.
“Life Below Zero” began airing its 14th season on 7 September 2020, and has since 2016 has won five awards. It won a 68th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program in 2016, while the following year saw it win a 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.
From 2018 to 2020, three years in a row the show won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program – it has been nominated for six other awards.
Love life and relationships
Andy met his now ex-wife Kate Bassich in 2003 at Dawson City, and after dating for around a year, Kate moved in with Andy in Calico Bluff, and the two eventually married but have kept the date of their wedding a secret. They learned everything about survival together, including how to prepare food, take care of their dogs and go hunting, and launched their own business in 2011.
In 2015, Kate had had enough of survival and decided to leave Alaska, but because Andy didn’t want to go with her, the two divorced – they don’t have children together.
He is today in a relationship with Denise Becker, whom he met while he was canoeing with a boy scouts group in Florida – the two fell in love and she moved to Alaska to be with him.
As of November 2020, Andy is dating Denise Becker, was once married and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and other interests
Andy is still a huge fan of travelling, and occasionally leaves Alaska and goes on trips around the ‘mainland’ US. Since his teenage years he’s been to every USA state, but it’s not known whether or not Andy has even been overseas.
He spends most of his time in Alaska creating maps, exploring and hunting for food, and has been seriously injured more than once. He once hurt his hip and was away from the show for half a year – Andy couldn’t have been helped where he was at, and thus had to travel to Florida to be treated there. He had his muscles and bones infected and was close to dying, and while he has since recovered, Andy now has to use crutches for the rest of his life.
He likes to read when he’s at home and there’s nothing to do, and he and his girlfriend Denise are also keen on playing cards and dominoes.
Age, height and net worth
Andy’s age is 62. He has medium long gray hair and brown eyes, his height is 5ft 11ins (1.81m) and he weighs around 150lbs (68kgs).
As of November 2020, his net worth has been estimated at over $250,000.