"American Chopper" Star Talks Choppers, Family, and Faith

well he wowed millions of viewers for 10 years on reality TV with his jaw-dropping Chopper builds he also got fired from his job in front of the cameras by his very own dad take a look Paul Tuttle jr. is a custom motorcycle designer who spent 10 years living his life in front of the camera as one of the stars of the hit Discovery Channel shows American Chopper and American Chopper senior versus jr. millions of viewers witnessed Paul Jr's creative genius in designing and building custom bikes each week in his book the bill Paul shares behind-the-scenes stories from the show his life growing up and how his faith has kept him steady despite the rocky relationship with his father please welcome to the 700 club Paul Tuttle Jr Paul it's so nice to meet ya nice to meet you I wore my leather for you I know I love it it's great what tell us about you I know it was very popular was on the air for 10 years a lot of people were fans but what was the basic premise you know it's just the father-son building motorcycles we were found by a production company called pilgrim films and television we were net we never aspired for TV and before you knew it we were on Discovery Channel and they basically just covered us doing what we were already doing which was building bikes and having somewhat of a tumultuous relationship and it just seemed to resonate with fans a lot of people are suspect of reality TV saying it's staged is not really real but in your case it was really real then especially the volatile relationship between you and your dad yes and you know when our show started there was no precedent for reality television we were really the first reality show we and again we didn't really set out to it because again we didn't aspire to television so I think that's what translated that kind of organic nature of what the show was and yeah we argued and we fought and I think that was very relatable and I think that's what transcends age gender culture that's why we have such a broad audience but in the end of it all we built these beautiful motorcycles sure did will you say the day your father fired you on live television that that was the best day of your life well that's a little extreme idea I do think it was good for me and all the years I did work with my father even though our relationship was a tough one I learned a lot from that and and and I love my father and we did get along a lot as well but ultimately it was not a great dynamic so when I was able to get out from under that oppressive type of a relationship I started to flourish I grew creatively spiritually you know you get out from under that environment and you're able to become the person that God has created you to be you're not so much who your father says you are you you become who your Heavenly Father says that's so good I want to get back to that but you were eight years into the show right when you got fired that's right yeah it's the straw that broke the camel's back you know you know I just think it came down to it was enough was enough I think I I can't really say because we had so many fights before where it wasn't an official firing but I was asked to leave a few times but I think it just came down to it and I think the timing was what it was and it was just time for me to be on my own and I don't think I was gonna do it on my own so I think it really took my father firing me because I wouldn't have left on my own now you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior when you were just 12 years old but then that sort of got put on the back burner until you met your beautiful wife Rachel what's the story there well I mean really uh so yes I accepted Christ at 12 and and and always he it happened that day you know and for many years you know I went through the struggles of life as a teenager and things of that nature but yes later on in life when I met my wife Rachel it was a game changer and I I have to tell you you know a good woman is a hard thing to find and in you know the predestined nature of our relationship has been absolutely unbelievable and I thank God every day for my wife and she has just been she's just kept me on the right path sometimes you could be your own worst enemy and she just kept me on the straight and narrow yeah why is that so many guys hey it takes a good woman before they go back to church I think by design sometimes we need that book you know well we need you guys do so it's a win-win now that time has passed how is your relationship with your father these days you know it's improving I think that it's been challenging I think more recently we've started to get along a little bit better but what we've just started to come into some new challenges and I think life is just that way so you know my determination is to leave the past behind and just keep moving forward because if you live in the past you can never you can't move on so have you forgiven him for not coming to your wedding yes oh yeah absolutely and you know there's so much to that and and you know everybody has their past and it makes up kind of who they are and so everybody's in a different place with that stuff and I think you know for me right now I have my own son my son Hudson who's at home watching the door so he's a little a towhead right yeah that's his first bass right there yeah so and you know so for that reason too you know you get more motivated you become a father you relate more with your father you understand the struggles a little bit more and then you want more so your son to have a relationship with his grandfather because I had a great relationship with my grandparents and I want him to have that how will you do it differently than your dad with Hudson well you know I think for one I would just encourage him more and I think we're able through Christ to break those generational curses and I think that's a huge factor you know just as far as how we move forward I'm a different person than my father and my father is a great guy so but I'm just Who I am and he's who he is and I feel like I'm just trying to do the best I can to put my son before myself well after five years off the air Discovery Channel is bringing your show back American Chopper with you and your dad yes so and you're starting filming in just about a week yeah the 15th we start filming again well you know he has his shop I have mine we have we want to keep our identities and our brand separate but we want to come together and that is the challenge that we are walking through because it's reality formulas not figured out yet but we are working towards making that magic that we made in the beginning but we are up against a bit of a challenge which is the fact that we're not in the same shop what do you do if the producers want you guys to start you know being volatile again and you don't want to go there yeah I don't think I don't think anybody really wants that anymore but I do think that we have to get into a situation where there is some risk reward you know we have to get back and I really want that I want to start working with my father again in some capacity not necessarily in a business relationship but just in a relationship dynamic we did have a lot of fun and I want to start to I want to bring that fun back I've got to ask you about your bikes because I know a lot of people are wondering what was your favorite bike or of all the bikes that you've built and what's your personal favorite my oh that is very difficult ten years of a lot of really great bikes one of my favorites is the 9/11 memorial bike just because of what it means I think we have it back their middle bike you know represents the New World Trade Center it was commissioned by Dan Tishman who Tishman construction did the first World Trade Center and they're do it they did the new project and they came to us and they could have went anywhere in the world and had any artists function in any medium but they came to us to build a bike that represents that that whole space down there and and I was reading in your book there's something you do for each bike that is first thing fundamental that sort of says okay this is the kind of this is gonna make it set it apart what is that well you know I operate in theme and that is the the gift that God has given me so I can take anything you can imagine and I can incorporate it creatively into the design of a motorcycle and and that's what I do so what kind of bike do you see me on my leather today well I could just go with the leather theme work that right you know and you know again we do a lot of corporate a lot of charitable we do for individuals and that that's what we love to do I love design and creativity I have no I have no higher education in it so it is a god-given natural gift that I have and when we build we build in real space and time with no drawings or anything like that we just build and people get to watch it actually unfold well I have a really good feeling about you're so coming back God is a God of redemption your stores the years and I think people are gonna see a new father-son team and affiliation some incredible bikes thank you so much and Paul's book is called the bill designing my life of choppers family and faith and it's available wherever books are sold it's incredible you can also watch our social exclusive interview with Paul on Facebook just go to facebook.com slash 700 club Paul god bless ya good luck on any show thanks for having

Channel: The 700 Club

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Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 10 2018