Who is Billy the Exterminator?
William “Billy” Bretherton was born on 16 September 1968, in the United States of America, and is a reality television personality, best known for being the star of the A&E series entitled “Billy the Exterminator”. The show follows his life and career as a pest exterminator.
The Wealth of Billy the Exterminator
How rich is Billy the Exterminator? As of early-2019, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $250,000, earned largely through a successful career in reality television, plus a significant amount from his exterminator business. As he continues his endeavors, it is expected that his wealth will also continue to increase.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
While there is limited details about Billy’s family, it is known that he grew up with his younger brother Ricky, raised by their parents ‘Big Bill’ and Donnie Bretherton. He didn’t initially think of a career in pest control, and was intent on a career in law enforcement.
After matriculating from high school, he decided that his best path forward was to enter the US Air Force, which he entered at age 19; his military entrance tests showed that he had an particular aptitude for physical science. He was subsequently sent to study biology and entomology, leading his career towards extermination. His career officially began while he was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base located in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
BIlly the Exterminator
There is no info regarding Billy’s length of service, but he apparently started his business before ending his career in the Air Force as a Senior Airman, then settled in Benton, Louisiana, and launched his company Vexcon Animal and Pest Control.
He was mainly out of the spotlight, but he did get a feature during the first seasons of the show “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe”, which led him to get noticed by television producers. Around that time, the company Pilgrim Films wanted to shoot a pilot for a Discovery Channel series focused on reality pest control.
Billy the Exterminator
According to an interview, Pilgrim interviewed about 200 companies, and settled on Billy after scouts spent time with him throughout a day of work.
The show was originally called “The Exterminators”, and was aired through A&E in 2009, being renamed to “Billy the Exterminator” before the second season, the proprietor of his business, and an expert in field control, mainly servicing the Shreveport-Bossier metropolitan area.
His character quickly caught on to audiences, thanks to his unusual fashion style consisting of Goth-like garments coupled with large jewelry and spikes. His family, including his parents and his brother often appear on the show. He is a proponent of natural methods of control and relocating captured animals.
In each episode, he describes pests, and gives more information about them including the diseases they might carry.
He had developed an allergy to bee stings after being stung plenty of times though he later recovered from it, which caused him to research the problem and possible antidotes.
Series Progression
During the show’s fourth season, Billy took a different approach with the show, this time showcasing him travelling with his brother to various areas in the US, and are seen assisting with local rescue services and exterminators with pest control. They also tend to return to Louisiana for jobs.
The opening shot of the show was also redone to help identify more with his personality. The following season, the show aired two new episodes on Saturdays, and the sixth season of the show began a few months later in late-2012, with the same time slot before moving one hour ahead.
After the sixth season, he felt that he had developed a lot of personal and family issues with the company, and decided to leave Vexcon to move to Illinois, which marked an official end to “Billy the Exterminator”. He was quiet for a few years, but then returned through the website YouTube alongside his brother, hosting the series “Vexcon The Exterminators”.
In 2016, he collaborated with Corus Entertainment for an original series to be aired on CMT in Canada, entitled “Billy Goes North”. The following year, it was picked up by the US as the seventh season of “Billy the Exterminator”, but since then no new episodes of the show have been aired, but it is believed that he is still continuing with his exterminator business.
Personal Life and Social Media
For his personal life, it is known that Billy is married to Mary Bretherton. She was initially featured during the early seasons of “Billy the Exterminator”, but later surrendered, and her name was subsequently removed from the opening credits.
There were rumors spreading around that the two had actually broken up, leading her to leave the show but this was not the case. Mary didn’t have any problems with the show prior to surrendering, and Billy mentioned that it was her decision to leave the show, and he supported her.
The two made local headlines in Louisiana after they were arrested by the police for marijuana possession in Bossier City. According to the report, the police investigated a 911 hang up call at a Louisiana Boardwalk hotel, leading them to discover the couple smoking at the hotel.
They were arrested on possession charges but were later released on bond. It was noted that they were smoking synthetic marijuana which was often sold in convenience stores illegally.
9 photos of the "Billy the Exterminator: Bio, Wiki, Death, Net Worth, & News"
