Like the Hansens, once Hillstrand was also a big family name among the cast members of ‘Deadliest Catch.’ However, sadly as of the latest season 21 of the series, only John Hillstrand, the Captain of the Time Bandit, remains, and he too had already retired a couple of seasons back and is only returning as a favor. At these times, we remember John’s brother, Andy Hillstrand, who was also a part of the show at one time.
What happened to Andy Hillstrand?
Andy Hillstrand appeared on Deadliest Catch from 2013, all the way till 2017. He also has IMDb credits in various TV specials for the show like ‘Deadliest Catch: Jonathan Hill Legacy‘ in 2018 and ‘Deadliest Catch: Captain Vs Captain‘ in 2021.
So, he still appears on the show but has very little screen time.
Why Andy Left?
Andy Hillstrand’s decision to leave Deadliest Catch in 2017 came after facing ongoing issues with the show producers regarding his schedules for the shoots. He sat down with Entertainment Tonight to explain how he would often face conflicts with the producers on this matter.
According to him, there were many misunderstandings between them, but the most important one was the schedule. Andy and the rest of his crew would think they were done when the camera crew wrapped up filming. However, the filming crew will then show up, telling them how they have to reshoot some scenes causing inconvenience to him and others who already had other plans in mind.
After continuously facing this problem with the producers and the crew, Andy decided to quit the show. It worked out for the best as we felt that Andy did not have the same passion as his older brother, Jonathan.
He never found his place in the business, shuffling between positions from deck boss to co-captain to even a captain in his brother’s absence.
Where is He Now? What is He Doing?
After he left, Jonathan Hillstrand informed us of his whereabouts. He also said that Andy was taking care of the family business on land. The Hillstrands may not be a big family name on the show, but they have multiple successful family businesses outside the show like Hillstrand Constructions and Time Bandit Fireworks.
Business is important, but it seems like his family and personal life are what Andy Hillstrand is primarily focused in.
‘Republic World’ reports that Andy was briefly laid off from work in construction due to surgery.
At that time, he was living in the Seattle-Tacoma area. However, his Facebook posts recently show his current place of residence to be a 17-acres Indiana ranch named ‘Hobby Horse Acres’ together with his wife and dog.
He seems to be enjoying his life on the ranch too. We are just glad that he is happy and content, we guess.