Danielle Colby | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

On "American Pickers," Danielle originally operated the Antique Archaeology office, tracked down leads, contacted collectors, and sent Mike and Frank across the country in search of motorcycles, advertising signs, vintage clothing, folk art, and other pieces of Americana. As the series evolved, she increasingly appeared on picks herself, particularly when discoveries involved vintage clothing, textiles, circus memorabilia, and burlesque history. By 2026, "American Pickers" had reached 27 seasons and more than 400 episodes.

Outside television, Colby has spent decades immersed in burlesque under the stage name Dannie Diesel. She founded a burlesque troupe, operated a burlesque academy, produced live performances, amassed an extensive archive of costumes and memorabilia, and executive produced the documentary "Tempest Storm." In 2025, she and her husband opened the Ecdysiast Arts Museum in Davenport, Iowa, a museum, archive, performance space, and community center dedicated to preserving the history of burlesque and stripping.

Early Life

Danielle Colby was born on December 3, 1975, in Davenport, Iowa. She grew up in a strict Jehovah's Witness household and has described her upbringing as loving but highly structured.

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Danielle has two sisters, Tara and Ann. Ann later performed in burlesque under the stage name Carbomb Betty and appeared alongside Danielle in Burlesque Le' Moustache.

Colby developed interests in performance, vintage clothing, photography, and unusual historical objects at a young age. Her father was a photographer, and Danielle has recalled assisting with some of his photography work as she got older.

Long before reality television, she gravitated toward subcultures that combined performance, visual style, history, and collecting. Those interests eventually converged in both her television career and her work preserving burlesque artifacts.

Roller Derby and Burlesque

Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments

Before "American Pickers," Colby spent approximately three years involved in roller derby with a team called the Big Mouth Mickies. She was both a skater and an owner of the team before repeated injuries pushed her away from the sport.

Her next major creative outlet was burlesque.

While living in Chicago, Danielle attended a burlesque performance featuring comedian Margaret Cho and legendary performer Satan's Angel. The show had a profound effect on her and helped convince her to pursue burlesque herself.

Performing as Dannie Diesel, Colby became involved in the Midwestern burlesque community and founded Burlesque Le' Moustache, a troupe based around the Quad Cities region of Iowa and Illinois. The group toured and staged elaborate performances built around costuming, dance, humor, and classic striptease traditions.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

Danielle later opened Dannie Diesel's Bump 'n' Grind Academy, where she taught burlesque performance and helped newer performers develop stage skills.

Vintage Fashion and 4 Miles 2 Memphis

Danielle's interest in clothing history extended well beyond stage costumes. She operated a vintage-fashion business called 4 Miles 2 Memphis, selling clothing, accessories, and collectibles selected for their design and history.

The business had physical retail locations in Iowa and later Chicago. Although the stores eventually closed, vintage clothing remained one of Danielle's primary collecting specialties.

That expertise became particularly useful on "American Pickers." While Mike and Frank were often focused on motorcycles, signs, cars, toys, and mechanical objects, Danielle could identify vintage garments and textiles whose significance was easy for other collectors to overlook.

Over time, she became particularly interested in performance costumes and the stories of the women who had worn them.

Getty

"American Pickers"

Danielle had known Mike Wolfe for years before "American Pickers" became a television series. When Wolfe finally succeeded in developing the concept for History Channel, he asked Colby to become part of the project.

Wolfe has explained that Danielle's unconventional appearance and personality were exactly what he wanted. Rather than presenting antiques as a stuffy hobby, he wanted viewers to see that collecting could be exciting, strange, creative, and accessible to people outside the traditional antique-dealer world.

"American Pickers" premiered on January 18, 2010, and attracted more than three million viewers. It became History's highest-rated debut since "Ice Road Truckers" and developed into one of the network's longest-running franchises.

Danielle initially functioned as the operation's headquarters. She searched for leads, contacted collectors, researched potential picks, and coordinated Mike and Frank's routes from Antique Archaeology.

Her role expanded over time. Danielle began traveling more frequently and participating directly in picks, particularly when collections involved vintage fashion, circus objects, women's history, or performance memorabilia.

After Frank Fritz stopped appearing regularly, the traveling cast changed substantially, with Robbie Wolfe and Jersey Jon becoming more prominent. Danielle remained with the program and provided continuity connecting the newer seasons to the show's original lineup.

By 2026, History listed "American Pickers" at 27 seasons and 416 episodes, with Danielle continuing as one of its principal cast members.

Frank Fritz

Danielle worked alongside Frank Fritz throughout the period when "American Pickers" became a major television hit.

Frank's health and personal difficulties eventually removed him from the series. He suffered a major stroke in 2022 and died on September 30, 2024, at the age of 60.

Following his death, Danielle publicly shared photos and memories of Frank and paid tribute to the personality viewers knew from years of traveling with Mike.

Frank's death left Danielle and Mike as the two remaining members of the central trio that had defined the earliest and most successful years of "American Pickers."

Burlesque History and "Tempest Storm"

As Danielle's television profile grew, she increasingly used the income and access generated by "American Pickers" to pursue a much more specialized historical interest: preserving the history of burlesque and striptease.

She began acquiring costumes, photographs, posters, books, personal papers, oral histories, and memorabilia connected to performers whose careers were often poorly documented by mainstream cultural institutions.

Danielle became particularly fascinated by the women who performed during burlesque's mid-20th-century heyday and began seeking out surviving performers to record their stories directly.

One of those figures was Tempest Storm, one of the most famous burlesque dancers of the 20th century. Danielle served as an executive producer of the 2016 documentary "Tempest Storm," which examined the performer's extraordinary career and personal life.

Her collecting increasingly moved beyond personal interest and toward archival preservation. Danielle began presenting historic costumes in educational performances and exhibitions designed to connect the physical artifacts with the lives of the people who had worn them.

Ecdysiast Arts Museum

Danielle's decades of collecting ultimately evolved into the Ecdysiast Arts Museum in downtown Davenport, Iowa.

The museum officially opened in June 2025 in an historic building at 322 North Brady Street. Danielle founded the institution with the goal of creating a permanent home for the history of burlesque, stripping, performance, costume design, and related forms of entertainment that she believed were frequently ignored by conventional museums.

The roughly 4,000-square-foot operation functions as more than a conventional exhibition space. It includes an archive, library, performance venue, educational space, and community gathering place.

Objects in Danielle's collection include vintage costumes, photographs, posters, books, artwork, and personal records connected to performers from several generations. The museum has also developed permanent and rotating installations highlighting performers whose contributions might otherwise have disappeared from the historical record.

Danielle and her husband, Jeremy Scheuch, operate the museum together. It also hosts burlesque classes, live performances, open-mic events, lectures, and community programs.

By 2026, Colby increasingly described her professional transition as moving from "picker life" toward life as a curator and preservationist. She also delivered a TEDx talk examining the meaning and history of the term "ecdysiast" and the importance of preserving the stories of performers working outside traditional entertainment institutions.

Puerto Rico and Humanitarian Work

Danielle has maintained a home in Puerto Rico and spent significant time on the island.

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, she became involved with recovery efforts and community organizations. Her work has included assistance involving orphanages, animal rescue, food distribution, and organizations addressing human trafficking.

Puerto Rico also became part of her burlesque work. Danielle has performed and produced shows on the island and researched connections between Puerto Rican performance culture and American burlesque.

Some pieces from her extensive costume and archival collection have also been maintained there.

Marriage and Children

Danielle has two children, a daughter named Memphis and a son named Miles, from her marriage to Chad Cushman.

Danielle and Chad married in 2004 and divorced in 2012. She later said that the dramatic increase in fame and public attention resulting from "American Pickers" created significant pressure on their relationship.

Danielle later had a brief marriage to French graphic designer Alexandre De Meyer.

She subsequently began a long-term relationship with artist and photographer Jeremy Scheuch. After roughly six years together, Danielle proposed to Jeremy during a birthday burlesque performance in 2020.

The couple married in February 2024 in an intimate ceremony in Puerto Rico overlooking the ocean.

Jeremy has become deeply involved in Danielle's historical and artistic projects. Together, they developed the Ecdysiast Arts Museum and have worked on preserving, displaying, and documenting her expanding collection of burlesque artifacts.

Real Estate

In August 2018, Danielle paid $295,000 for a farmhouse in Erie, Illinois.

The approximately 1,584-square-foot home sits on 4.56 acres and includes a stream, pond, and substantial outdoor space.

Danielle has also maintained a residence in Puerto Rico, where she and Jeremy have spent significant amounts of time while participating in community projects and burlesque performances.

Her later professional activities brought her increasingly back to the Quad Cities, where the Ecdysiast Arts Museum opened in downtown Davenport in 2025.

Colby

Wolfe