What Happened to the Stars of Animal Planet's 'Gator Boys'?
From trapping and rescuing gators to wrestling and educating kids about gators, it's still about the gators for the 'Gator Boys' cast.
Published May 13 2024, 3:12 p.m. ET
What do you think the people who saved alligators on reality television about a decade ago are doing now? What if we told you they’re still alive, does that help? They didn't get eaten by alligators. As of this writing, they haven't been eaten by alligators.
The most featured boys (and one girl) from the Animal Planet show Gator Boys are doing pretty much what you hope they’d be doing. It’s good stuff! Literally good stuff!
'Gator Boys' aired for six seasons over three years.
Gator Boys aired on Animal Planet from January 2012 through September 2014. During six seasons, Paul Bedard, Jimmy Riffle, and Ashley Lawrence did their best to rescue alligators from the private property of residents of the Florida Everglades. An unscripted reality show in the truest sense, the humans on the show showed what they could do to help the humans and non-humans on screen.
Unlike most reality show stars, these folks made it to television due to their expertise. All three of them are still using that expertise, even though the cameras are no longer there. Despite the cast not being on Animal Planet anymore, they’re very much visible on social media.
Paul Bedard is still rescuing gators.
You can follow Paul’s adventures sharing alligators on his Instagram page, helpfully entitled @gatorboysalligatorrescue. He also releases much longer YouTube videos. He’s a regular and active poster, putting out over a dozen videos on his channel in May 2024 alone. As someone who isn't the biggest fan of animals that could easily kill humans, it’s comforting knowing people like Paul are out there, capturing and rescuing creatures that are scary for very valid reasons.
Jimmy Riffle is still sharing his love of gators with the world.
While he reached a large audience on Gators Boys, Jimmy is still doing his best to introduce his love of gators to others with his wildlife park and roadshow, Scales, Tails, and Teeth. The roadshow offers a wrestling demonstration option.
The roadshow page on the wildlife park website says, “Our Alligator wrestling show is based on the techniques and methods taught to our wrestlers by mentors of theirs when they were young. We will demonstrate how we catch alligators without any assistance like we did on Gator Boys.”
If you’re hoping to get up close and personal with what you’ve seen on Gator Boys, Jimmy is just an email away! He also offers non-gator wrestling options. Just because you see something on TV doesn't mean you need to see it in real life about 10 feet away.
Ashley Lawrence is also still working with alligators.
Not too surprising, another cast member from Gator Boys is still working with alligators! You can follow Ashley on Instagram at @lifeloveallthingswild, which is both a good and accurate social media handle for Ashley. Since wrapping the Animal Planet show, Ashley has worked at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and Everglades Holiday Park.
Ashely is currently working at Zoo Miami and while she doesn’t post often on her personal account pages, the zoo regularly features her in social media content.
Gator Boys is currently available to stream on Pluto TV. If you’re in southern Florida, you can find Paul capturing gators on private property, Jimmy doing tours and demonstrations, and Ashely working at the zoo. Once a gator boy, always a gator boy (or girl).
