“Storage Wars: New York” star says show is “100 percent real”

As the massively popular Storage Wars franchise comes under attack from one of its own, a star from the new spinoff has leapt to the series’ defense.

Responding to former star Dave Hester’s claims — as originally reported by Radar Online — that he was fired from the A&E cash cow after complaining to producers about the show being rigged, Storage Wars: New York star Mike Braiotta says his experience on the series was nothing but genuine.

“It’s 100 percent real,” Braiotta says. “As far as this guy’s talking about, I don’t even know. I never met the guy, I’ve never been to L.A. From what I watch on TV, he’s an a–hole anyway.”

Known on the show as “The Hustler,” Braiotta says he’s been attending storage-locker auctions since he was a boy. And while he contends that the action seen on Storage Wars is real, some viewers may have developed unrealistic expectations about how they would fare in the bidding world.

“The show changed a lot of things,” he says. “Everybody thinks you’re going to get rich constantly doing this. Nobody really comprehends how much work is actually involved in buying a storage locker. A lot of the times you see these rookie buyers come out bringing their kids’ college funds and spending two, three, four thousand dollars on a locker thinking they’re going to be rich. And I just laugh at them because, you know what, I see people make this kind of mistake all the time.”