Why Keith Colburn Felt He Was Misjudged In The Early Seasons Of Deadliest Catch

As the captains and crews prepared for another season of fishing on the Bering Sea — and also another season in front of the cameras on The Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" — captain of the Wizard, Keith Colburn, shared why he thought he got a bad rap from fans in the early seasons of the show in an interview with Matt Forte with BUILD. Colburn made his first appearance on the show at the helm of the 155-foot Wizard and went on to appear regularly for over a decade. But, going from crab boat captain to TV star isn't the easiest transition, especially for someone who thought they weren't necessarily being portrayed as who they really were.

"Early on in the years of the show, I was really portrayed as the bad guy," Colburn said in his interview with Forte. What his bad guy persona was coming from was a series of clips over many seasons on the show of Colburn getting into altercations with crew members, other captains, and even a cameraman, whom he physically slammed into the wall during the seventh season of the show. But what The Discovery Channel chose to air about Colburn and the crew on the Wizard on episodes of "The Deadliest Catch" might not have been the whole story.

Keith Colburn's fiery personality and short fuse were the perfect fuel for Discovery Channel producers to paint Colburn a certain way, or at least that is what he would like you to believe. "They didn't show any of the moments where I'm the life coach, the principal, the kindergarten teacher, you know, the educator, the therapist. And all of those are a part of a captain's job but also the enforcer. And, um, unfortunately, I have a pretty explosive personality, and it has been shown many times on TV," Colburn said in his interview with Matt Forte.

And whether or not Colburn is actually the person that "Deadliest Catch" portrays him to be, he says that it has been hard hearing negative opinions from fans, "To be honest it was really difficult, because remember, they take a lot of footage, and they edit this show." Colburn was even a target in a Reddit thread discussing users' most and least favorite captains: "Unfortunately he just comes across as a real a**hole to everyone," one Redditor commented.

However, after learning more about Colburn, it becomes a little harder to see why he was so misjudged in the earlier seasons of the show. The guy is quite a personable character, as apparent during a crab cooking demonstration he did in 2015, and he even is known for taking risks, so his crew doesn't have to. But ultimately, it is up to the audience to decide what they think about each captain on the show and whether or not they believe they are being portrayed correctly by the show's producers.