Moonshiners is a real hoot to watch. When it comes to guilty pleasure watching, we certainly enjoy watching these boys get up to trouble. Running from the law, building secret liquor stashes, and hiding away at secret locations to make hooch is fun to watch. We know it’s all a dramatization, but that doesn’t make things any less fun. Steve Tickle is a fan favorite, and it’s not hard to see why, but surely there’s more to him than running moonshine. We decided to poke around a bit and see what we could turn up. Here are ten things you didn’t know about Steve Tickle.
1. Poli-Tickle
Sure, we know him as a moonshiner, but Steve has higher aspirations in life than just making his cinnamon shine sell out for the holidays. More than once, Tickle has considered running for office. In 2013 Tickle was considering running against U.S. Representative Robert Hurt in Virginia for a spot in Congress. That came the year after he announced he was running for the office of the President (2012) “Everybody Gets a Sip,” is the strangest political platform we’ve heard since Joe Exotic tried to run. Given a choice between these two oddball reality stars, we’d vote Tickle.
2. Carpenter
A man’s got to have a fallback. After all, moonshine running is dangerous, and who knows how the voting will go? Fortunately, Steve is a sensible and skilled guy who has more going on than just the show and his all too brief political career. He is an experienced carpenter who lived and worked in Washington, building the popular ‘Clyde’s’ restaurant near the Verizon Center. We’re not surprised that Tickle is a guy who knows how to work with his hands making more than Moonshine. You could see hints of his skills in numerous episodes of the show.
3. Tickling Social Media
One thing all reality stars have to know is how to work a computer. Social media and internet engagement is essential to take a single appearance on a reality show and turn it into a career. You can find Tickle on Facebook, Twitter, and his own website Moonshiner Tickle. Of course, you’ll have to wait if you plan to send any private messages since it appears the reality star has gotten himself in a bit of trouble, though not for making moonshine.
4. Arrest Records
In March of 2013, Steve Tickle was arrested for, pretty much exactly what you’d expect, public intoxication. That certainly seemed to sober him up for a while. Unfortunately, in 2015, he was arrested again, this time for a sawed-off shotgun. In February of 2016, he was convicted of possessing the weapon, but he managed to skate by with a three year suspended penitentiary sentence. That would have been more than enough run-ins with the law for most folks, but not Tickle. On September 15th of that year, he was picked up for a probation violation and spent five months in. He was arrested again in 2017 for driving, and getting in an accident, on a suspended license and sentenced to eighteen months in jail.
5. Subject to a Sequel
2013 was a hectic year for Tickle. He was doing all that political campaigning, and he was on Moonshiners. However, that was also the year he got his own spinoff show, which was cleverly called “Tickle.” The show only ran for one season. Being on two shows, father of a teenager, and running for Congress was just a little too much for the star to tackle all at once.
6. Net Worth
Steve Tickle makes decent money with his career as a carpenter. When you add his reality TV earnings, which are rumored to be a million dollars a year, that’s certainly enough to keep a guy comfortable for a while. However, between legal battles, and probably having to pay for transportation since he’s had a suspended license, it looks like Tickles’ current net worth is sitting around $500,000. That’s still not too shabby for a carpenter who makes moonshine.
7. Daughter Daisy
While Steve has managed to keep most of his private life private, we do know that he has a teenage daughter named Daisy Tickle. According to Reality Star Facts, she reportedly commented once about her father also being a grandfather, though we couldn’t find any more detail on that. Does Daisy have kids? We don’t know about that. However, we do know that her father was in jail when she moved away to college.
8. Drug Problems?
We don’t like to trust sources like tabloids, but we came across an article that says Tickle may have had some issues with cocaine or other drug use. Indeed, he’s had some tough times since the show started. Between his arrests, jail time, and his father passing away, there’s plenty of incentive to try and escape reality for a while. We can’t verify the drug use, but it’s not uncommon for people who are under too much stress to turn to drugs for relief.
9. Super Secretive
Is Tickle Married? We don’t know if he is, or ever has been. In fact, there’s a lot about Steve Tickle that no one other than his friends and family could tell you, and they aren’t saying. He’s one of the more elusive and secretive reality stars. We’re all for respecting people’s privacy, but it’s pretty hard to run for office without exposing your life to all sorts of scrutiny. Perhaps that’s why he never made a serious bid. Then again, maybe it was all a joke. It’s hard to tell sometimes.
10. Not an Outlaw (At Least Not the Kind You Think)
Remember all those times you saw Tickle make moonshine or run from the police? No, you don’t. Just because you ‘saw’ something on TV doesn’t mean it ever really happened. That’s why the show is a dramatization. The local law enforcement has been a part of the filming more than a few times, and they’ve vetted the show. No one on Moonshiners is making secret booze in a camp in the woods. At least, not on camera.
Final Thoughts
Real or not, we always enjoy watching the guys on Moonshiners scramble to make their illegal booze and get it where it needs to go. Moreover, Tickle is a lot of fun, and we always enjoy his antics. Whether it’s running for president or racing the clock and local law enforcement, he’s always so animated and hilarious to see in action. We hope you enjoyed our facts about Steve Tickle. If you know any more Tickle Facts that we missed, tell us all about it in the comments section below.
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