Some people are born into circumstances they spend years working to leave behind. Corey Harrison spent decades trying to prove he belonged to the life he was handed. Then one day, he just stopped fighting and walked away. His story is about family business, about learning to be seen, and about finally choosing himself — even when it meant leaving behind the only thing the world knew him for.
Quick Bio: Corey Harrison at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Richard Corey Harrison |
| Nickname | “Big Hoss” |
| Born | April 27, 1983 |
| Birthplace | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Age (as of 2026) | 42 years old |
| Father | Rick Harrison |
| Grandfather | Richard Benjamin Harrison (“The Old Man”) |
| Siblings | Adam Harrison (died 2024, overdose), Jess Harrison, Jake Harrison |
| Family Business | Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, Las Vegas |
| Nickname Origin | Dan Blocker’s character “Hoss Cartwright” from Bonanza |
| Started Working at Shop | Age 9 |
| Major Business Role | Manager, co-owner (5% partnership eventually) |
| TV Show | Pawn Stars (2009-2024) |
| First Marriage | Charlene (high school sweetheart, married 2009, divorced 2015) |
| Second Marriage | Korina “Kiki” Harrison (married May 26, 2017, divorced September 2018) |
| Children | Richard Benjamin Harrison (born October 2018) |
| Peak Weight | 402 pounds |
| Weight Loss Surgery | Lap band surgery, 2010 |
| Weight After Surgery | 210 pounds |
| Total Weight Loss | 192 pounds |
| DUI Arrest | September 8, 2023, Las Vegas |
| Motorcycle Accident | January 2026, Tulum, Mexico (near-fatal injuries) |
| Medical Bills from Accident | $130,000+ |
| Left Pawn Stars | June 2024 (announced March 2025) |
| Current Location | Tulum, Mexico (as of 2025) |
| Current Plans | Barbecue restaurant development |
| Estimated Net Worth | $5-10 million |
| Known For | Reality TV personality, family conflict storylines |
Born Into Legacy, Not Choice
Corey Harrison came into the world on April 27, 1983, in Las Vegas, Nevada. His birthplace wasn’t random. Las Vegas was where his family had built their pawn shop. It’s where he would spend his entire childhood, his teenage years, and his adult life.
His father was Rick Harrison. His grandfather was Richard Benjamin Harrison — the man the world would call “The Old Man.” These weren’t regular dads. These were businessmen running a famous shop that had been in the family for decades.
Corey’s nickname came from a TV show nobody alive really watches anymore. “Big Hoss” came from a character named Hoss Cartwright in the old Western “Bonanza.” That name would follow him his entire life, stamped on him like he was a product to be sold.
A Nine-Year-Old’s Introduction to Work
By the time Corey was nine, his childhood had largely given way to responsibility. He began working at the family’s Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at an age when most kids were still focused on school and play.
At that age, he wasn’t doing important business. He was polishing things. Making old items shine for customers. It was simple work, but it was work. Most kids were playing. He was working.
This became his normal. While other children were in school yards at recess, Corey was in a pawn shop learning how to treat customers. While many teenagers were spending their free time at parties, Corey was busy keeping track of inventory at the family business.
The shop became his world. It was his classroom, his playground, and his future all rolled into one place.
Growing Up Alongside Three Generations
The Gold & Silver Pawn Shop was a family business built and operated across three generations.His grandfather ran it the old way — tough, negotiating hard, never showing weakness. His father Rick came next, softer in personality but still demanding.
Corey was the youngest. That meant he was always trying to prove something. Trying to show his father he was worthy of the business. Trying to impress his grandfather. Trying to earn respect when the family name didn’t automatically give it to him.
This dynamic would become his whole life. Fighting to be taken seriously. Fighting to be seen as more than just “the boss’s kid.”
The Cameras Arrive: 2009
In 2009, everything changed. A film crew walked into the pawn shop. History Channel wanted to make a reality show about this family business.
Nobody expected it to become massive. But “Pawn Stars” premiered on July 19, 2009, and suddenly the Harrison family became famous. The show showed real family dynamics. Real arguing. Real tension between father and son.
Corey became part of that story. He was the young guy, sometimes hot-headed, sometimes desperate to prove himself. The camera caught his frustration when his father said no to his purchases. The camera caught his arguments with his grandfather about the value of items.
It was raw. It was real. And it made him into someone millions of people recognized.
The Weight That Nobody Talks About on Camera
While cameras were filming the shop, something darker was happening. Corey was gaining weight. A lot of it.
He reached 402 pounds at his heaviest. That’s the kind of weight that changes your body completely. That changes how people see you. That changes how you see yourself.
For years, he carried that weight through the shop. Through the TV recordings. Through his personal life. Nobody really talked about it much because it wasn’t part of the narrative the show wanted to tell.
But the weight was real. The struggle was real. And it was wearing him down.
The Doctor’s Moment
In 2010, a doctor told Corey something that scared him. He was heading toward diabetes. His body was breaking down from the excess weight.
It was like someone flipped a switch. That moment pushed Corey in a way nothing else had. He wasn’t going to accept diabetes. He wasn’t going to let his body fail him.
He drove directly from that doctor’s office to a weight loss surgery center. He got lap band surgery almost immediately. It cost him a fortune — he charged it across four credit cards because the surgery was that expensive.
But he did it anyway.
The Transformation
The results were fast. In the first six weeks after surgery, he lost 50 pounds. In the first year, he lost another 100 pounds.
By the end, he had dropped 192 pounds total. From 402 pounds to 210 pounds. That’s a new person. That’s someone different.
People who watched the show saw him get thinner over time. But they didn’t see the sacrifice. They didn’t see the daily struggle with the lap band. They didn’t see him learning to eat differently, to exercise, to rebuild his whole relationship with his body.
He did boxing. He did strength training. He changed how he lived in the world.
The Conflict with His Father
Corey’s main storyline on Pawn Stars was his conflict with his father and grandfather. He wanted to buy something? They questioned him. He wanted to make a deal? They argued with him.
One episode, he bought a hot air balloon for $35,000 without telling his father first. The argument that followed was genuine. His father was genuinely upset. Corey was genuinely defensive.
This happened over and over. The show thrived on that conflict. Viewers loved watching a son fight his father for respect and independence.
But here’s the thing: that conflict was real. It wasn’t acted. Corey really did want his father to respect his judgment. Rick really did doubt his son sometimes.
The Business Partnership Fight
In Season 7, filmed in 2012, Corey drew a line. He gave his father and grandfather an ultimatum: either grant him a 10% ownership stake in the business, or he would leave and find work elsewhere.
Rick didn’t give him 10%. Instead, he gave Corey a raise and a 5% partnership. It wasn’t everything Corey wanted, but it was something. It was acknowledgment.
Corey stayed. He took the deal. He kept working in the shop.
The DUI: September 2023
In September 2023, Corey got arrested in Las Vegas. He was driving his white Ford pickup truck when an officer saw him swerving between lanes.
When the officer pulled him over, they smelled alcohol. Corey was drunk. The arrest was made.
This wasn’t part of the Pawn Stars narrative. This wasn’t the conflict with his father that viewers loved. This was just a man making a bad choice.
A DUI is humiliating. It’s public. It’s the kind of thing that follows you forever.
The Pressure of Playing Himself
By 2024, Corey had been on Pawn Stars for 15 years. He was in his 40s, but he was still expected to act like he was in his 20s or 30s.
The show had a formula. It needed conflict. It needed him to be the young guy fighting with the old guys. It needed him to make impulsive purchases. It needed him to lose arguments to his father.
But Corey wasn’t that young guy anymore. He was tired of playing a version of himself.
In a 2024 statement, he said it directly: “At this stage of the game, we’re all playing a character on Pawn Stars. I can’t play another season of 41-year-old me pretending to be 23. “I’ve really enjoyed making the show and being part of it, but the last few years have been challenging. I feel it’s time to move forward.”
The Departure: 2024-2025
In June 2024, Corey stopped appearing on new episodes of Pawn Stars. He didn’t make a big announcement. He didn’t do a farewell tour.
He just… left.
Then in 2025, he officially announced he wasn’t renewing his contract with the History Channel. It was done.
After 15 years of being “Big Hoss,” he was just Corey again.
Moving to Mexico
When Corey left Las Vegas, he moved to Tulum, Mexico. This wasn’t a vacation. He was building a new life.
He had plans to open a barbecue restaurant. He was thinking about what came next. He was getting away from the cameras, the expectations, and the need to be “Big Hoss” every single day.
It seemed like he was finally going to get what he wanted: peace. Privacy. A life that was his own.
The Motorcycle Accident: January 2026
Then, in January 2026, everything changed again.
Corey was riding a motorcycle in Tulum with a friend named Valentino. They were going fast. Faster than they should have been.
Something happened. The bike went out of control. They crashed.
Corey’s injuries were catastrophic. He was bleeding from his head, nose, and mouth and was unable to move. Seeing his condition, his friend feared he wasn’t going to survive.
Other riders passed them. Some of them taunted Corey as he lay on the road broken and bleeding.
But Corey’s mind stayed sharp even when his body was shattered. He asked for a cigarette. He was fighting to stay conscious.
The Recovery and the Fundraiser
Corey survived the crash, but barely. He had severe injuries that required extensive medical care.
In March 2026, Corey did something that surprised a lot of people. He started a GoFundMe campaign asking fans for help paying his medical bills. The bills had stacked up to more than $130,000.
Some people criticized him. They said a famous reality TV star shouldn’t need to ask fans for money. They said he was already rich.
But Corey responded with honesty: “Please, I’m asking nicely — don’t kick a person when they are already down. Thank you to all the people who have said something kind or have donated. It truly means a lot.”
He promised that once he could work again, he’d donate money to a children’s hospital.
The Loss of His Brother
In January 2024, months before the motorcycle crash, Corey faced a different kind of personal tragedy. His brother Adam died from an accidental drug overdose involving fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Adam was 39 years old. He was Corey’s younger brother, but he had never wanted to be on Pawn Stars. He worked as a plumber later in life.
Adam’s death shook the whole family. It was a reminder that fame and money don’t protect you from life’s hardest moments.
His Marriages and Personal Life
Corey married his high school sweetheart, Charlene, in 2009. They divorced in 2015. The marriage lasted six years, but it didn’t last through the intensity of Pawn Stars fame.
In 2017, he married Korina “Kiki” Harrison. They had a son together — Richard Benjamin Harrison, born in October 2018. The boy was named after Corey’s late grandfather.
But Corey and Kiki’s marriage also didn’t work. They divorced in September 2018, just months after their son was born.
Corey cited their competitive work schedules as the reason. He was filming Pawn Stars constantly. She was working too. They couldn’t make it work.
Now Corey co-parents his son, but he’s not in a traditional family situation anymore.
Why He Really Left
People asked for years why Corey stayed on the show if it was making him unhappy. Why not just leave?
The answer is complicated. It’s his family business. His father runs it. His grandfather built it. Leaving meant disappointing people he loved.
It also meant walking away from a substantial amount of money. Pawn Stars had become a massive success, and Corey was earning a significant income from the show.
But eventually, the money and the family obligation didn’t matter as much as his own sanity. He needed to get out.
What He Lost and What He Gained
By leaving Pawn Stars, Corey lost his main source of income. He lost his fame. He lost the platform that had made him recognizable.
But he also gained something: the ability to just be himself. To not perform. To not fight with his father on camera. To not play “Big Hoss” for millions of viewers.
In Tulum, before the motorcycle accident, he was probably closer to being just Corey than he’d been since age nine.
The Question That Haunts
Here’s the hard question: Was it worth it?
Corey spent his entire adult life on a reality TV show that made him famous but also trapped him. Viewers regularly saw him arguing with members of his family on camera. He struggled with his weight. He had a DUI. His marriages failed.
Then he finally got out. He moved to Mexico. He started to build a new life.
And then a motorcycle accident nearly killed him.
Is that tragic? Is that cosmic punishment? Or is that just life?
Final Words
Corey Harrison’s story is proof that being born into something famous doesn’t mean you get to be happy. It’s proof that money and exposure don’t solve human problems.
He tried to earn his father’s respect by proving himself in the family business. He lost nearly 200 pounds to be healthier. He started over in Mexico to escape the cameras.
And even with all those changes, life still found ways to hurt him.
But he’s still here. He’s still fighting. He’s still trying to figure out what comes next.
That’s what matters.
FAQ About Corey Harrison
Q1. Who is Corey Harrison?
He is an American businessman and reality television personality best known for his role on the History Channel series “Pawn Stars.” He is the son of Rick Harrison and grandson of Richard Benjamin Harrison.
Q2. When was Corey Harrison born?
He was born on April 27, 1983, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is currently 42 years old.
Q3. What is Corey Harrison’s nickname and where did it come from?
His nickname is “Big Hoss,” which comes from the character Hoss Cartwright from the TV series “Bonanza.” The nickname was given to him because of his larger size.
Q4. When did Corey start working at the pawn shop?
He began working at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at age nine, doing simple jobs like polishing items to make them more appealing to customers.
Q5. When did Pawn Stars premiere and how long was Corey on the show?
“Pawn Stars” premiered on July 19, 2009. Corey was a main cast member for approximately 15 years until he stopped appearing on new episodes in June 2024.
Q6. What was Corey’s highest weight and how much did he lose?
At his heaviest, Corey weighed 402 pounds. After undergoing lap band surgery in 2010, he lost 192 pounds and dropped to 210 pounds.
Q7. Why did Corey get weight loss surgery?
His doctor put him on preventative diabetes medication in 2010, which was a wake-up call. He immediately drove to a weight loss surgery center and had lap band surgery because he refused to develop diabetes.
Q8. How much did Corey pay for his weight loss surgery?
He put the surgery on four credit cards because it was too expensive to pay in one lump sum. He stated it was money he had to spend to avoid diabetes.
Q9. Was Corey ever arrested?
Yes. On September 8, 2023, he was arrested in Las Vegas for DUI after an officer observed him swerving between lanes in his white Ford pickup truck.
Q10. When did Corey leave Pawn Stars?
He stopped appearing on new episodes in June 2024 and officially announced in March 2025 that he did not renew his contract with the History Channel.
