# Storage Hunters

Storage Hunters is a reality television series presented by Sean Kelly (as the auctioneer). It originally ran in the United States from 2011 to 2013 on TruTV and has been shown in the UK on the digital channel Dave. A domestic UK version, also featuring Kelly, ran from 2014 to 2016.
The series has also been shown on New Zealand's TV3.

## Background

Sean Kelly grew up in Germany. After leaving school, he worked as a store detective before joining the Army, becoming a German interpreter, and then being stationed in Iraq. He then worked as an auctioneer, and compering comedy clubs at night. After a fight broke out at an auction, he came up with the idea for the show, describing it as "Antiques Roadshow meets WWF!"

## Format

For the US series, bidders Brandon and Lori Bernier. It continued with the Taylor Brothers, Jesse McClure, Tarrell "T-Money" Wright, Ron "Papa Bear" Kirkpatrick, Kashuna, Wade, FJ, Gary "Goal Machine" Madine, Scott and Chrissy Tassone, the Alvardo Brothers, "Desert Dan," Mone Smith, Will and Nick Eastwood, Soccer Mom and the lock cutters/security guards, Will C. (Season 1), Cameron "Green Mile" Rowe (Season 2-Season 3). The series was cancelled on TruTV after Season 3 ended.
In the UK and Ireland the show has been broadcast and repeated on the digital channel Dave. In 2014, Dave commissioned a spin-off series called Storage Hunters UK, featuring Kelly reprising his role as auctioneer with a series of UK bidders hunting for valuables across the UK. Dave renewed the UK version for two more series in 2015, with the second series beginning on 2 June and featuring US regulars Jesse and T-Money. Series 3 of the show premiered on 15 September 2015.
A fifth series was commissioned to air from April 2016, with Kelly returning alongside regular bidders from series 4.
A one-off UK celebrity special aired at Christmas 2015, with any money made being donated to the celebrity individual charities. This was followed by a series of 5 more celebrity episodes that aired at the end of 2016.

## Series overview

| Series | Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| Series | Series | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| US Series |||||
| | Season 1 | 23 | 21 June 2011 | September 2011 |
| | Season 2 | 24 | June 2012 | September 2012 |
| | Season 3 | 24 | June 2013 | 17 December 2013 |
| UK Series |||||
| | Series 1 | 10 | 2014 | 2014 |
| | Series 2 | 10 | 2014 | 2014 |
| | Series 3 | 10 | 2014 | 2014 |
| | Series 4 | 10 | 2015 | 2015 |
| | Series 5 | 10 | April 2016 | 2016 |
| UK Celebrity Series |||||
| | Christmas Special | 1 | 20 December 2015 | 20 December 2015 |
| | Series 1 | 5 | 18 October 2016 | 15 November 2016 |

## Reception

The show has been well received in Britain, with the first episode of Storage Hunters UK being watched by over 1.1 million viewers, beating ratings for several prime time television shows broadcast that week.
The Guardian's Rhik Samadder described Kelly's auctioneering style "like someone has attached electrodes to a woodpecker". Tom Eames writing in Digital Spy described it as "one of the least authentic and most fake shows you will ever see, and comes under the umbrella of 'trashy reality' programmes that the US are very good at", but adding that "somehow, it is strangely addictive and enjoyable, and has clearly become a big guilty pleasure of many UK viewers."
Presenter Sean Kelly has attributed the success of the show to the participants' lack of social skills and compared it to "watching a carnival". In an interview for Digital Spy he speculated that the strong popularity of the show in the UK may lead to a revival of the US series.

## Buyers
### Main Buyers US

| Name | Nickname | Season | Season | Season |
| Name | Nickname | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Brandon Bernier and Lori Bernier | Team Brandori | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jesse McClure | Jesse | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tarrell Wright | T-Money | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ronald Kirkpatrick | Papa Bear | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| James and Dustin Taylor | The Taylor Brothers | Yes | Yes (Dustin only) | No |
| Scott and Chrissy Tassone | Scott and Chrissy | No | Yes | No |
| Mone Smith | FauxHawk | No | No | Yes |

### Main Buyers UK

| Name | Nickname | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season |
| Name | Nickname | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| John and Natalie Maddox | John and Natalie | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Colin Newell | Heavy D aka The Boominator | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Linda Lambert | Linda | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Daniel Hill | Dapper Dan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barry and Darren Elford | Barry and Darren | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| George Johnson | George | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

### Main Celebrity Buyers UK

| Name | Season |
| Name | 1 |
| Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer | Yes |
| Charlotte Crosby and Holly Hagan | Yes |
| Theo Paphitis | Yes |
| Tim Vine | Yes |
| Nancy Dell'Olio | Yes |
| Bez & Shaun Ryder | Yes |
| Jenny Eclair and Lizzie Roper | Yes |
| Johnny Vegas | Yes |
| Katherine Ryan | Yes |
| Chris Kamara | Yes |
| Ainsley Harriott | Yes |
| Phil Tufnell | Yes |
| Janet Street-Porter | Yes |
| Ulrika Jonsson | Yes |
| Christopher Biggins | Yes |

### Minor Buyers US

| Name | Season | Season | Season |
| Name | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Desert Dan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Wade Gallagher | Yes | No | No |
| FJ | Yes | No | No |
| Kashuna Perfected | Yes | No | No |
| The Alvarado Brothers | No | Yes | No |
| Danarchy | No | No | Yes |

### Minor Buyers UK

| Name | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season |
| Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jesse McClure | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Tarrell Wright | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Samantha Bartlett | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Boudicca Scherazade | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rupert | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Scotty | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |