“Is Ronnie coming back on Expedition Bigfoot?” a gentleman named Paul asked in the comments on “Expedition X and Bigfoot Teasers Released for Aug 14 Premieres.”
Wait. What? I knew something looked off about Expedition Bigfoot‘s new season announcement, but I couldn’t place it until Paul’s comment. It’d been staring me in the face all along. Right in the first sentence of the season 5 announcement:
“Primatologist Dr. Mireya Mayor and Bigfoot experts Bryce Johnson and Russell Acord return to continue their hunt for the legendary cryptid.”
How had I not noticed earlier that LeBlanc’s name was missing?
I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t expect two casting changes in one announcement. I was already trying to figure out why Jessica Chobot had left Expedition X—if the decision had even been hers to make.
Jessica Chobot
The first thing I noticed about Expedition X‘s new season announcement was they were welcoming Heather Amaro to the team, which would now consist of Phil Torres, Amaro, and Josh Gates. But no Chobot.
I immediately scoured socials to see if she’d made a statement about her departure. Others had already noticed the change too. I found questions about it posed in the comments on some of her posts, but she didn’t respond to any.
Then I found a TikTok where she announced that she was transitioning her Bizarre States: Resurrected (BSR) podcast from monthly to weekly. She said she’d explain why and what plans were ahead for BSR in an episode about two princes in a tower, but I couldn’t find that one. Perhaps the reason for her departure lives there.
I also sent her a message on Instagram explaining who I was and asked if she’d revealed anywhere why she wasn’t part of the new season. Sadly, since we don’t know each other, my message didn’t go through. Gah.
If you know, I encourage you to leave a comment. Not only will it clue me in, but it will also help others who may stop by this post looking for answers.
Ronny LeBlanc
The answer is, “Yes.”
LeBlanc thankfully spared me—and anyone else who’s wondering if he is or isn’t on the fifth season of Expedition Bigfoot—by posting a video about it on X.
“Hey, everybody,” LeBlanc starts off. “It’s been kind of a wild week with what’s been going on. And, yes, I am no longer a part of Expedition Bigfoot. I chose to leave, uh, for a multitude of reasons.”
“Multitude of reasons” is the only answer he’s giving as to why he decided to leave. Right now. Maybe he’ll elaborate later.
#ExpeditionBigfoot #DanielLeeBarnett #Bigfoot pic.twitter.com/PcEtcBdJRO
— Ronny LeBlanc (@AuthorRonny) July 30, 2024
A clue?
Nosy people like myself are going to want to know the specifics for the “multitude of reasons” for his departure. I couldn’t help but wonder if a clue lay in a post he made on the same day he left the video.
On a retweet of an @Fact post, he used a green check mark emoji and wrote, “…onto phase 2.”
He hasn’t revealed what “phase 2” is yet, but the Fact post read, “Remove negative people from your life. The people you spend time with influence your attitude, thoughts and success more than you think.”
?…onto phase 2… https://t.co/hYKE4KVEXB
— Ronny LeBlanc (@AuthorRonny) July 30, 2024
Hmm. Interesting. Perhaps all is not as copacetic on the Expedition Bigfoot set or behind the scenes as it seems? Or maybe he was referencing another issue.
Shaming the Haters
In that same video, a clearly upset LeBlanc also addressed a controversy in the Bigfoot community. Something to do with eDNA, allegedly fake evidence, and a 15-year-old autistic boy from the U.K. named Daniel Lee Barnett.
I’m not sure exactly what happened. All I know is the lack of “paraunity” has been prevalent for years. Cyberbullying and responsibility (or lack thereof) in the paranormal community was something I addressed pretty vehemently once upon a time. It’s only gotten worse as the years have gone by, and it’s why I’ve distanced myself from both the paranormal community and social media in the last year.
The Bigfoot and UFO communities always used to seem more cohesive. Friends I know who are part of both say that’s been slipping over the years, too, though. That was something else LeBlanc addressed in the video.
“It’s just disappointing to hear and to see all this crap going on in the Bigfoot community, where everyone should be supporting each other, but yet we’re starting to see this deteriorate. So I’m just disgusted with what, um, with what’s been going on. This is why you have independent researchers that are doing their own thing, uh, outside of the community and not being ‘accepted’ by them. Because you have stuff like this.”
He declined to call out anyone by name, but he didn’t mince words when he said, “There’s a couple people…you know who you are. And you need to stop this shit right now.”
If anyone can maybe snap folks in line to be kind, it’s LeBlanc. But it’s unlikely even he’ll have luck because to quote Taylor Swift, “the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
Shake It Off
Hopefully, there are non-contentious reasons for Chobot and LeBlanc’s departures from their shows. Sometimes, people just need a change and are ready to move on. Whatever the case, here’s wishing them well. I know fans will continue to watch and see where their paths take them.
Check-In
What’s the most positive thing anyone has ever said to you when you changed jobs, moved homes, or made any other big life change?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I can’t remember if you’ve covered this, but there’s been stuff going on with the new owner of the Conjuring House. Apparently, the owner is erratic and has created a hostile work environment. You might want to check out Jason Hawes’ YouTube channel. There are three videos, one is a group conversation.
Oh my…no I hadn’t heard anything about it. I wasn’t even sure if it was still open after it sold. I thought the previous owners had some kind of stipulation in the sale about how the house should be used or something, but I may not be remembering that right. I didn’t check out Jason Hawes’ YouTube channel (wasn’t;t he anti-YouTube? Now he has a channel? But that’s a whole other issue. lol). But thanks to you I Googled it and an article came up about it. Wow. Drama! THANKS for the heads up. You keep me informed on all the ‘sip. lol
Hmm, do my cats count? As in “Thank GOODNESS our world stopped moving!” ROFL!
I’m not surprised Jason Hawes and others are on YouTube these days. Travel channel (aka David Zaslav) has jettisoned nearly everyone, so YouTube is the only place to go for their content. I’ve been watching Jason and his friend Jimmy explore properties, and they’re a lot of fun to watch. I think Ghost Brothers just posted content from Waverly Asylum, and of course Dakota Laden and his friends are thriving there. They all seem to have the same comment: no more executives deciding where they could and couldn’t go and waiting for people to come to any decision on any proposal. They make the arrangements, then they go.
HA!!!!!
Oh wait. I wasn’t clear enough. The ONLY reason I said I was surprised about Jason Hawes was because one interview I watched him in, he said he got asked a lot about whether he’d ever transition to YouTube. He poo-pooed the idea and made a comment about probably not. Who really watches? He doesn’t. But clearly now he sees the benefit of “YouTube SchmuTube.” lol (NOT that he really used that term, but he definitely gave a “YouTube is beneath me, I was a TV star” vibes. lol)
Oh, and Dakota and the Fear crew are planning to go to England. Looking forward to that.
The Ghost Brothers are definitely moving to YouTube. Dalen Spratt said as much in a recent video.
That should be interesting. Didn’t they go to Ireland at the end of one of their seasons? Or during it sometime? I bet they’ll have a blast across the pond investigating!
Oh wow. They’re not there yet? I’m sort of surprised about that one.
BTW: I’m so grateful for all you keep up with and share, Maria, because Life has been a little cuckoo lately. I’m not plugged in like I once was…and at this rate I’m not sure I ever will be again. We’ll see. (All is well. Just changing. lol)
Le Blanc left just in time, EB just proved how fake it all is. Had some purple haired FOOL on an episode that was lying about being an animal behavior expert. This barely sentient trull claimed that animals are never monogamous. Okay, that is absolutely not true, and in no way even close to the most ridiculous lie she spouted either. Her entire presentation was unintentionally hilarious, with every assertion she made (punctuated with cretinous giggles), can be easily dismantled by Google, 5th grade science textbooks. If validation is what EB was after, she set their credibility back to zero.
Your supposed picture of “Ronny” at the top of the article is actually Russell Acord. He is another member of the cast.
Go here to see Ronny. (https://www.ronnyleblanc.com/)
Pretty weak when the readers have to proof your articles.
Oh no. That’s really dismaying to hear they didn’t have a better expert on. Especially because they did seem to strive to be credible. I have been gone and have not watched any of the new season but so far people are not pleased with it for different reasons. Shoot. Sorry to hear that. But I love you took the time to leave a comment and share your thoughts. Thank you!
I knew something didn’t look right about that photo. I had meant to pull Ronny over and put him in Russell’s place but as you saw, I didn’t. Thanks for pointing out my goof. Corrected it now.