Why Ice Road Truckers' Hugh Rowland Had To Fire Everyone
Like most other shows in the genre, reality series "Ice Road Truckers" spotlights a cast of non-professional actors such that their real-life quirks translate into on-screen personas. Specifically, "Ice Road Truckers" revolves around a number of truck drivers who specialize in navigating North America's northernmost reaches, where transporting cargo requires the skill to traverse dangerous, ice-covered roads.
Of course, given their niche profession, many of its cast members' lives naturally lend themselves to reality TV. For example, "Ice Road Truckers" star Lisa Kelly started her trucking career after moving to Alaska, where she first drove busses and food delivery vehicles at different points in time. She also maintained a motocross hobby, which further developed her interest in driving. Kelly keeps in touch with some "Ice Road Truckers" co-stars, as she once detailed, likely driven by both like-minded interests and a shared experience appearing on a popular TV show.
While in Kelly's case, her TV stardom helped her develop bonds with some of her industry peers, Hugh Rowland once revealed that, while working on "Ice Road Truckers," he had to fire virtually all of his featured employees over what he perceived to be a widespread, downward trend.
Hugh Rowland felt that TV changed his drivers
In conjunction with the release of a book he authored titled "On Thin Ice," "Ice Road Truckers" cast member Hugh Rowland sat down for an interview with YouTuber Joshua Nannie, touching on various topics pertaining to his ice road trucking career. At one point, Nannie mentioned that some "Ice Road Truckers" personalities from earlier seasons were replaced as the show progressed.
"I never had any problems with any of my drivers before," Rowland replied. "As soon as they put cameras in the trucks, all them drivers of mine, they thought they were Hollywood superstars. And I ended up firing everybody."
Rowland went on to explain that History continued to spotlight some of the drivers he fired after they secured new employment, whereas he found personnel to replace them.
For what it's worth, Rowland has claimed that, after an initial adjustment period, he became unaffected by the presence of TV cameras. "They're not right in your face all the time unless they're getting some good shots. You just drive along doing what you do," he said in an interview with Hollywood Soapbox.
Rowland ultimately appeared in eight seasons of "Ice Road Truckers" and a couple of spinoffs, becoming one of the series' staples in spite of the fact that he felt the need to fire his drivers during his time on the show.