Former lead mechanic of Fast N’ Loud reveals what actually happened behind the scenes

The former lead mechanic of Fast N’ Loud, a certain Mr. Aaron Kaufman, has revealed what actually happened behind the scenes.

Fast N’ Loud was a reality-esque TV show based out of Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, Texas, starring TV’s strangest car-based on-screen duo, Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman.

In 2016, the world of automotive TV was rocked when Kaufman announced that he’d be leaving the Discovery show.

Despite running for 16 seasons, in 2020, Rawlings announced that Fast N’ Loud was finishing, and finally, the former lead mechanic, Aaron Kaufman, has spoken out about what it was like on set behind the scenes.

EXPLORE SBX CARS – Supercar auctions starting soon powered by Supercar Blondie

What actually happened behind the scenes

Any gearhead worth their salt has watched any number of combinations of the holy trinity of car shows: MTV’s Pimp My Ride, BBC’s Top Gear, and, of course, the Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud.

While Fast N’ Loud played somewhat fast and’ loose with grammar and punctuation, it was an extremely popular reality-based car show filmed at Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, Texas.

The show was hosted by Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman, TV’s most unconventional on-screen duo, but that sort of chemistry seemed impossible to fake.

Turns out, though, when the cameras weren’t rolling, the two never hung out.

The former lead mechanic of Fast N’ Loud speaks out

In a recent interview with D Magazine, Aaron Kaufman shared a little about what happened on the set of Fast N’ Loud while promoting his new car show.

Back in 2016, the world of car-based reality-ish TV shows was rocked when Kaufman announced he was leaving the show. It wasn’t exactly on bad terms, but not great ones either.

Kaufman was simply exhausted by the tight turnaround when it came to buying a clunky old car and fixing it in often nine days or less. Meaning that a project that would normally take months was condensed into a few days.

The show’s former lead mechanic talked about falling asleep in cars he was renovating in the garage and sometimes working up to 110 hours a week, with travel involved, too.

For people who enjoyed Rawlings’ and Kaufman’s easy rapport, it was a shame when Rawlings told D Magazine:

“Everybody thought we were these buddies and everything, and actually [Kaufman] was just my employee from the time he was 20 until two years ago. Fourteen years. But we didn’t hang out outside of work,”

After 16 seasons, Fast N’ Loud finished in 2020, and while the two are very car famous, it’s sad they’re not the best friends we all believed they were.

It seems like Fast N’ Loud ended slowly and quietly.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie