Who Remembers That Time Mike Rowe Had to Climb the Mighty Mac?

Mike Rowe really has done it all.

If you somehow don't know, Mike Rowe is the host of the show Dirty Jobs. The show focuses on and highlights various "dirty jobs" that people do every day across America. He's been doing this since 2005 and has covered SO many dirty jobs.

Things like:

snake catcher
sewer inspector
high-rise window washer
toilet crusher
garbage collector

And many more (often) thankless jobs. He talks about the 5 grossest jobs he's done here.

Now, I wouldn't call the Mackinac Bridge gross by any means. But, that doesn't mean I'm in a hurry to climb it. Mike Rowe, however, took the challenge head-on.

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Back in 2007, in Season 3 Episode 14, Mike decided to see what it takes to change the lightbulbs on the Mackinac Bridge. And, just like in every episode of Dirty Jobs, he didn't just talk to a maintenance worker to learn this information. He suited up and hopped on the bridge himself:

Armed with a harness and other safety gear, Mike successfully (and perhaps shakily) scaled the nearly 600 feet to the top of the bridge tower.

Recently, Mike took to Facebook to reminisce about his time on the Mackinac Bridge while simultaneously promoting Knobel Spirits, a handcrafted Tennessee Whiskey, "made on the behalf of Mike Rowe." On that post, someone named Colleen Sun commented,

Didn’t you realize when the helicopters were flying by that you were unhooked? I think I remember this story from a podcast. I will be looking here in the mitten for your whiskey! Cheers

I'm sure Colleen didn't expect an answer from Mr. Rowe. But, he did write back saying,

I did. It was a big moment. I try not to think about it much anymore, but it happened.

Sorry, he was up on that bridge and WASN'T hooked up to the harness at one point? That's a big NOPE from me. See the post and all of the comments here.

If you'd like to catch up on past episodes of Dirty Jobs, you can find them on the Discovery+ app.

Outside of educating the rest of us about dirty jobs happening across the country, Mike Rowe also started his Works foundation. Through that foundation, he's encouraging people to seek out trade jobs that are in demand instead of having to give into the pressure of spending thousands of dollars for a 4-year college degree (that might not even land you a job.)

The foundation also offers scholarships to help those that are interested in trade work get started on their new path. Read more about his foundation here.

Before You Go

When Mike Rowe comes up in conversation, I always feel the need to share my favorite tidbit about the man...that he used to be an opera singer.

Here he is on a live news segment demonstrating his skills (skip to 1:18):

Truly, he is a man of many talents. A talent he also utilized when he worked for QVC back in the day:

Clearly, I'm a fan.

Mike Rowe may be a celebrity that has visited Michigan. But, he's not from here. However, there's a long list of big celebrities that are from the mitten state. Check it out: