AMERICAN Pickers star Frank Fritz’s ex-girlfriend Diann Bankson has moved on with a new man after their nasty split.
Frank, 58, and Diann, 56, dated on-and-off for years before their relationship ended, as both accused the other of infidelity.
The Sun can exclusively reveal Diann has moved on from the former American Pickers star with a new boyfriend.
Diann is dating Davenport, Iowa resident Eric Longlett.
Eric is an Engineering Administration Manager for the city of Davenport.
Diann debuted her new man on Facebook back in February 2022 when they attended a family graduation.
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In March, she praised her boyfriend for planning the “best birthday weekend.”
She wrote on Facebook: “He took me to see Elton John's Yellow Brick Road Farewell Tour. How cool I share the same birth date as EJ… and on this weekend got to be blown away with his music. I'm a lucky girl… Love you Babe oxo.”
The couple even took a trip to Savannah, Illinois together.
NASTY SPLIT
As The Sun previously reported, Diann sued Frank for negligence on January 27, 2020.
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Diann revealed she and Frank were engaged in 2017 and were living together in his Iowa farmhouse.
In November 2018, she “walked in and caught him in bed with another woman.”
After the two reconciled, she claimed an incident took place at the farmhouse when Frank and a friend set off fireworks.
Diann claimed the men “had been drinking” at the time, as she went into the home while they lit the fireworks.
She continued in the court papers that the men were unable to light a firework.
Diann alleged: “Both defendants then put it in a closed cylinder vintage ashtray and tried to light it there. The firework did not light again and the Defendant just left it in the covered intake ashtray instead of properly disposing the firework.”
She then claimed that she wasn’t warned about the ashtray, as she used it while smoking a cigarette.
The lawsuit continued to claim: “The ashtray blew up severely burning her hand and arm with third degree burns and burnt off eyelashes and eyebrows."
She claimed Frank “refused” to “take her to the hospital” and instead told her to “toughen up.”
She went to the hospital in the following days and was “treated for third-degree burns.”
When the couple split again, she claimed he had the locks changed on a separate Iowa home they shared.
Diann demanded $50,000, claiming Frank was “negligent in the operation of fireworks.”
She claimed she has experienced pain and suffering, emotional distress and mental anguish, past and future loss of function of body and scarring, loss of earning capacity, loss of normal life and medical expenses.
On March 19, 2020, Diann dismissed the lawsuit.
FRANK'S CHEATING CLAIMS
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the American Pickers star insisted Diann is the one who was unfaithful, as he even got a tattoo to remind him of her “betrayal.”
He told The Sun: “I was going to get married, I bought a house and a big expensive ring, and then I find out my fiancée had been dating somebody else for two and a half years.
“She’s the cheater, that’s why I got a tattoo saying ‘Once a cheater always a cheater.’ I got the tattoo two years ago just to remind myself not to make the same mistake again. She cost me six figures.”
He continued to claim: “She was cheating a lot longer than me. I had someone over at the house, but that’s all it was. She didn’t catch me in the act, it was nothing like that.”
Frank and Diann have a long history, as they dated when he was 25, again at 35 and then a final time at age 55.
The couple bought a stunning Iowa home for $355,000 in March 2018.
Frank sold the mansion after their split for $358,000 in January 2021.
He said: “You’d think I would have learned, she cheated each time. I don’t think she can help herself.
“I do not need to spend one minute of my day thinking about anything to do with her. I’m no angel, but neither is she.”
As The Sun previously reported, Frank lost 65 pounds by living a healthier lifestyle and cutting out drinking.
He also attributed his weight loss to the heartbreak, as he continued: “I gave it a good shot, I tried to drink her away. I haven’t had a drink in almost nine, ten months.
“It would have been a year but I had one slip up, it was maybe for four hours, but it was enough.”
Frank said at the time that he wasn't dating, as he was “stung hard enough.”
'NOT TRUE'
Diann exclusively responded to The Sun of Frank’s cheating claims: “It's not true what he's saying. If he's trying to make me look like the bad person of course I'm going to say it's not true, because it's not.
"The bottom line is that I know the truth and that's all that matters. He's playing the victim and it's not true. I wasn't cheating on him at all, I was waiting here every two weeks when he was on the road, waiting for him to get home.
“I just want to move on because every time I think about it I get a little upset, I get hurt all over again and I can't keep doing this.
She concluded: "I don't care to have drama or chaos in my life, I'm just trying to heal right now. It's been two years, I'm ready to move on."
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Frank was fired from American Pickers in July after he took time off the series to recover from back surgery.
He currently lives in his $130,000 Iowa farmhouse and runs Frank Fritz Finds in Illinois.
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