Reality T.V. Has Been ‘Licked’

When you drive down Highway 97, you’ll pass dirt roads and stretching acres of bean and tobacco fields and if you don’t blink, you’ll come up to the little town of Lizard Lick, N.C., a speck on the map where everybody knows everybody and as of recently, is home to truTV’s newest reality show, Lizard Lick Towing.

Owner of Lizard Lick Towing and Auto Recovery, Ron Shirley, a 6’5″ colossal of a man sporting a bleached flat top and a country-fried way of life has landed a spot on national television along with co-owner, champion weight lifting wife, Amy and good friend Bobby Brantley.

Meeting through their shared obsession of heavy weight lifting, Amy and Ron’s life is nothing short of extraordinary and has caught more than the attention of Lizard Lick natives.

ABC’s Wife Swap first contacted the Shirley’s in hopes of getting a contract for an episode. Ron and Shirley weren’t too fond of having a stranger look after their three children, so it didn’t work out. “I’m very family oriented,” Ron said.

Even though the pair shot down swapping wives, the duo caught the attention of truTV.

“We really fell in love with Lizard Lick,” Robyn Hutt, a truTV executive said. “[Ron and Amy] are dynamic and entertaining characters.”

truTV has “been licked”, Ron said in a recent article from The News and Observer. In other words, Lizard Lick’s contagious attributes seem to captivate everyone in some way.

In response to truTV’s interest, Ron allowed their cameraman to spend a day accompanying him on common everyday jobs.

But little did the cameraman know what he was getting himself into.

“The first job we went on the camera man got shot at,” Ron said. “I think that’s what hooked them.”

Premiering on February 7th, the show was the second most watched premier of the 19-year history of the truTV network according to a tweeter feed by Lizard Lick Towing.

The show follows Ron and Bobby as they tow away machinery and vehicles from owners that have failed to reach payment deadlines. Most of the time, the owners aren’t too happy with the repossession and go to the shop to try and reclaim their belongings.

That is if they can get past Amy first.

Holding up the Lizard Lick headquarters, Amy takes on the tidal wave of anger that crashes in from clients after Ron and Bobby tow away their vehicle.

“She’s tougher than a $2 steak,” Ron said of his wife.

Ron claims that he hasn’t thought much about taking it easy after all the things he’s been through.

“Stuff that happens to me doesn’t bother me too much,” Ron said of the insane encounters from angry customers “People are going to be mad, you have to prepare yourself for that.”

The only time he questions the worthiness of towing is when his three children are caught in the crossfire.

“My kids had a teacher that we repoed,” Ron explained, “and the teacher gave them a real hard time.”

“When my kids have been put in harms way is the only time I think twice about what I do,” Ron said. “What I do should not affect those who I love.”

Despite being threatened by countless irate customers, Ron and the rest of the crew are always looking for ways to give back to the community, even to those they repossessed.

“If we burn a bridge, we can rebuild it,” Ron said.

As an ordained minister, Shirley runs what he calls the “Dirt Church”, where he preaches to anyone willing to listen of the love and kindness God has to offer.

The church, Shirley said, is “more about being with the people, because I am one of the people.”

Even with his company being plastered all over truTV and with the show gaining popularity, Shirley claims that it has not helped his business.

“The show has actuality slowed things down,” Shirley said.

Reality T.V., according to Shirley isn’t exactly a bank buster either.

“We don’t make much money,” Shirley admits. “I still have to work every day, 65 hours a week.”

Other towing companies around Lizard Lick feel bitterly about Ron’s climb to fame, blaming him for the redneck stereotypes North Carolina is all too familiar with.

Stephenie Kopil, a junior majoring in social work doesn’t think this show gives North Carolina a bad name, but she does agree that it might give people the wrong impression.

“It’s not the greatest portrayal of life in North Carolina” Kopil said.

But Ron, with his calm and bubbly demeanor takes these negative comments as a grain of salt.

“Every now and again you’re gonna’ burn a piece of bacon,” he said with a chuckle. “If they were in this situation, they would be acting the same way we are.”

On the other hand, Mattie Flowers, a senior in fashion and textile management feels the show is entertaining.

 ”I think it’s great that N.C. is on TV,” Flowers said. “The show is pretty funny.”

Hitting doorways at a gawking 6 foot 5 inches and benching more than 600 pounds, Ron isn’t the poster child for a sensitive guy, but he continues to surprise.

“Poetry has been always been my first love,” Ron confesses. “I’m a real romantic.”

And that he is. Shirley proposed to Amy at a Titanic exhibit reciting a poem that he wrote himself and armed with a ring. Of course, Amy accepted.

Ron has also published a book called Lizard Tales that tells stories of hard learned lessons accumulated over the years and the popular “Ronisms” such as, “Just because you were born in a oven don’t make you a biscuit.”

Aside from being able to bend a crowbar in half, as seen on lizardlicktowing.com, Ron knows how to pamper himself.

“I dye it like clockwork,” Ron said of his wrestler-inspired bleach-blonde flat top. “It separates me from everyone else, plus it keeps the gray off”.

Despite the shows increasing popularity, Ron says he has not let the semi-stardom get to his head.

“I look in the mirror just like everyone else,” Shirley said of his climb to fame. “It’s people who make you who you are, not being on TV”.

And so, even with the camera crews rolling and gawking passerbys trying to get a glimpse of the rising reality stars, Ron still takes everyday as if it were any other. Working for the greater good of Lizard Lick, helping (or towing) one person at a time. As Ron puts it “we’re just good ole’ country folk. God opened up the door and we walked in.”

The Lizard Lick crew will be at the Dixie Deer Classic at N.C. State fairgrounds March 4th – 6th and is more than happy to meet and greet with fans.